Byron Berline Band & Barry Patton

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More photos of the Byron Berline Band can be seen on the page about Frenchie Burke.
More pictures of Byron can be seen throughout the site.

The Byron Berline Band will knock your socks off if you haven't already had the privilege of seeing this energized band before. If you are looking to enjoy traditional bluegrass and Western swing music, join three time national fiddle champion Byron Berline and his band; John Hickman on banjo, Jim Fish on guitar, Richard Sharp and Steve Short. Berline's early career included playing fiddle with bluegrass legends such as Bill Monroe, Dillard and Clark and Country Gazette. After moving to Los Angeles in 1969, he soon became one of the most popular fiddlers in the music business. His long list of performing and recording credits includes The Rolling Stones, The Eagles, The Byrds, Elton John, Alabama, Rod Stewart, Emmylou Harris, Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson and many more. He also has extensive television sound track credits and has appeared in Star Trek, Blaze, and Back to the Future III. Berline has recorded seven solo albums including his highly acclaimed "FIDDLE & A SONG" with guest performances from Vince Gill, Mason Williams, Earl Scruggs and Bill Monroe. In 1996 the album was nominated for two Grammy awards, 'Best Album of the Year' and ' Best Song of the Year'. In 1995 Byron returned to his home state of Oklahoma where he opened the Double Stop Fiddle Shop in Guthrie, for the purpose of "visiting, trading and jamming" with folks who enjoy music like himself. As a natural progression a band was formed to entertain regularly in the Music Hall above the Fiddle Shop. The Byron Berline Band found themselves in great demand around the state, as well as surrounding states, and has extended their music through Europe. Barry Patton's first exposure to playing the bones was as a child in the sixties. A bones player named Cecil Hiatt had joined Patton's grandfather, the fiddler Lou Berline. It turned out Hiatt had learned his bones technique from a player in an old west medicine show. Several years later, it was Hiatt who gave Patton his first set of bones and taught him his first clicks.

All photos © 2009 by Don Shorock