Herb Pedersen
Best known for
Banjo
Herb Pedersen is one of the foundational figures of the West Coast country-rock and progressive-bluegrass scene, a banjo and guitar player whose high-tenor harmony vocals helped define the sound of the Dillards, the Desert Rose Band, and a generation of Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris recordings.
- Born Herbert Joseph Pedersen on April 27, 1944 in Berkeley, California; came up through the early-1960s San Francisco Bay Area bluegrass scene with the Pine Valley Boys and Vern & Ray.
- Joined the Dillards in 1968, replacing Doug Dillard on banjo; appeared on the genre-bending Wheatstraw Suite (1968) and Copperfields (1970), records widely cited as foundational to country-rock.
- Played in the short-lived Old & In the Way alongside Jerry Garcia, David Grisman, Peter Rowan, and Vassar Clements.
- Co-founded the Desert Rose Band in 1985 with Chris Hillman and John Jorgenson; the group charted multiple country hits across albums on MCA between 1987 and 1991.
- Sustained a deep session-musician second life through the 1970s and 1980s — harmony vocals and banjo on Linda Ronstadt's Heart Like a Wheel (1974), Emmylou Harris's Pieces of the Sky (1975) and Elite Hotel (1975), Gram Parsons's Grievous Angel (1974), plus John Denver, Jackson Browne, and Tom Petty's Mudcrutch reunion (2016).
- Released the solo albums Southwest (1976, Epic), Sandman (1977, Epic), and Lonesome Feeling (1984, Sugar Hill); led the Laurel Canyon Ramblers across three Sugar Hill albums in the mid-1990s.
- Has performed and recorded as a duo with Chris Hillman since the mid-1990s, including Bakersfield Bound (1996), Way Out West (2002), and At Edwards Barn (2010).
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David GrismanPlayed on recordings with David Grisman
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Bluegrass ReunionPlayed on recordings with Bluegrass Reunion
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Chris HillmanPlayed on recordings with Chris Hillman
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Laurel Canyon RamblersPlayed on recordings with Laurel Canyon Ramblers
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Rice, Rice, Hillman and PedersenPlayed on recordings with Rice, Rice, Hillman and Pedersen
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The DillardsPlayed on recordings with The Dillards
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Herb PedersenPlayed on recordings with Herb Pedersen
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Chris Hillman and Herb PedersenPlayed on recording with Chris Hillman and Herb Pedersen
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Dan CraryPlayed on recording with Dan Crary
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Emmylou HarrisPlayed on recording with Emmylou Harris
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Old and in the GrayPlayed on recording with Old and in the Gray
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Old and in the WayPlayed on recording with Old and in the Way
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The Kentucky ColonelsPlayed on recording with The Kentucky Colonels
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Vern and RayPlayed on recording with Vern and Ray
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Vern and Ray With Herb PedersenPlayed on recording with Vern and Ray With Herb Pedersen