Byron Berline

Like his contemporary <a href="spotify:artist:3kRUvBTtkaTGxDczyLC4fU">Vassar Clements</a>, fiddler Byron Berline expanded the sonic possibilities of bluegrass, adding elements of jazz, pop, blues, rock, and traditional country to the genre. In addition to being a popular solo act, he performed as a session musician on a number of albums, including records by <a href="spotify:artist:0rESpKEusFHxhW59MIf7eM">the Flying Burrito Brothers</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4WlSvDKaq1PA2Nr7cCIPxX">Stephen Stills</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3WAkTbMThUvVRq5keECFtS">the Dillards</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:5s6TJEuHTr9GR894wc6VfP">Emmylou Harris</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:0vn7UBvSQECKJm2817Yf1P">James Taylor</a>.

Berline learned to play from his father, an old-time fiddler. After graduating from high school, he attended the University of Oklahoma, where he played music with a campus folk group. In 1963, <a href="spotify:artist:3WAkTbMThUvVRq5keECFtS">the Dillards</a> played a concert on the University of Oklahoma campus. A friend of Berline's arranged an audition for him with <a href="spotify:artist:40bbzCyICujp6RwxBotac6">Doug Dillard</a>, who was so impressed he invited the young fiddler to join them for a number. Berline then joined the Cleveland Country Ramblers, and in 1964, he appeared on <a href="spotify:artist:3WAkTbMThUvVRq5keECFtS">the Dillards</a>' Pickin' and Fiddlin' and won the National Fiddle Championship in Missoula, Missouri. He played the Newport Folk Festival in 1965, where he met <a href="spotify:artist:5CWbfANRpZbnxdstzcNg5H">Bill Monroe</a>, who told Berline that he wanted him to join <a href="spotify:artist:64vAECmFoB6mi7n1zTRwR8">the Blue Grass Boys</a>. In 1967, he graduated with a B.A. in education, but chose to join <a href="spotify:artist:5CWbfANRpZbnxdstzcNg5H">Monroe</a>; his first appearance with the band was a show at the Grand Ole Opry. Six months after he joined <a href="spotify:artist:64vAECmFoB6mi7n1zTRwR8">the Blue Grass Boys</a>, he was drafted into the Army.

Just before Berline was discharged in 1969, he was invited to join the Dillard & Clark Expedition. He remained with them until 1971, when the group disbanded. While with them, he played sessions for a number of other artists, including <a href="spotify:artist:0rESpKEusFHxhW59MIf7eM">the Flying Burrito Brothers</a>' debut album, The Gilded Palace of Sin. Following the breakup of <a href="spotify:artist:3QcM2tU8CDY3LyzvwCj1CI">Dillard & Clark</a>, Berline played with the Dillard Expedition. In 1970, he scored the ABC television movie Run Simon Run, the first of many films he would score. In 1971, he toured with a revamped version of <a href="spotify:artist:0rESpKEusFHxhW59MIf7eM">the Flying Burrito Brothers</a>. Following the tour, Berline and fellow <a href="spotify:artist:0rESpKEusFHxhW59MIf7eM">Burritos</a> Roger Bush and Kenny Wertz formed <a href="spotify:artist:1VUUpsdQfbaJg0zIVOWG0J">the Country Gazette</a>. During this time, he also continued with his session work, appearing on albums by <a href="spotify:artist:1KA3WXYMPLxomNuoE22LYd">Gram Parsons</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:1FqG6mhiJbhbMg43ohCT6D">Bert Jansch</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:30yVqa41V5oNH00p6CBWB9">Ian Matthews & Southern Comfort</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:5TKEKLhk0wTKM5m61BtKQC">Bill Wyman</a>.

In 1975, Berline left <a href="spotify:artist:1VUUpsdQfbaJg0zIVOWG0J">Country Gazette</a> and moved to Los Angeles with his family, where he intended to concentrate on songwriting, session work, and scoring films. Later that year, he founded Sundance with <a href="spotify:artist:7MNoJalBLtqKoDbjvjPqt5">Dan Crary</a>, Jack Skinner, <a href="spotify:artist:32wFBGZOIY1FRH7ioqKGJD">John Hickman</a>, Allen Wald, and Skip Conover; the following year, <a href="spotify:artist:3IhWQSrLj8EJjdvjFTpCyo">Vince Gill</a> and Mark Cohen joined the band. Sundance recorded one eponymous album in 1976 before disbanding. In the late '70s, Berline recruited <a href="spotify:artist:7MNoJalBLtqKoDbjvjPqt5">Crary</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:32wFBGZOIY1FRH7ioqKGJD">Hickman</a> for a tour of Japan. Afterward, the trio recorded three albums for <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Sugar+Hill%22">Sugar Hill</a>; concurrently, Berline also founded the L.A. Fiddle Band.

In 1980, Berline founded the production company BCH with <a href="spotify:artist:7MNoJalBLtqKoDbjvjPqt5">Crary</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:32wFBGZOIY1FRH7ioqKGJD">Hickman</a>, and released a solo album, Outrageous, on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Flying+Fish%22">Flying Fish</a>. In 1981, the L.A. Fiddle Band released an eponymous solo album for <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Sugar+Hill%22">Sugar Hill</a>. Berline worked on <a href="spotify:artist:70FybmH2MMz9fHewhnLvjs">Chris Hillman</a>'s 1984 album Desert Rose and also on an album of duets with fiddler <a href="spotify:artist:32wFBGZOIY1FRH7ioqKGJD">Hickman</a> in 1986. Two years later, Berline, <a href="spotify:artist:7MNoJalBLtqKoDbjvjPqt5">Crary</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:32wFBGZOIY1FRH7ioqKGJD">Hickman</a> changed the name of their trio to BCH and added bassist <a href="spotify:artist:7J2jlqxALaeSeoU0SOOJrg">Steve Spurgin</a> to their lineup. The new incarnation of BCH released Now They Are Four in 1988. The group added mandolinist/guitarist John Moore in 1990; following his addition, the bandmembers renamed themselves California, and released their first album, Traveler, in 1992. Berline also continued releasing his own efforts, including Fiddle & a Song (1995) and Flatbroke Fiddler (2005). In the latter years, Berline owned and operated Byron’s Double Stop Fiddle Shop and Music Hall in Guthrie, Oklahoma, which not only sold a variety of stringed instruments but also served as an ongoing venue for Berline’s performing outfit, the Byron Berline Band, a group formed by the fiddler in 1996. Byron Berline died in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma due to complications from a stroke on July 10, 2021. He was 77 years old. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi