All about BumpKin Pie
THEY WOULD SOON MAKE MUSIC AS BUMPKINS, BUT…
...when Michael Dunkley and Suzanne Ives first met on that warm September day in Charlottesville, they heard only bells. Michael was sitting on the lawn at UVA with friend and fellow Mindless Wonders (later called Coup de Grass) bluegrass bandmate Larry Benade, when Suzanne and a friend approached on their way back to the old dorms. She couldn't resist the lure of two guys with guitars picking bluegrass tunes (one of whom had long blond hair to the middle of his back), so with a smile and a tilt of the head, she veered off the path to where the two were sitting. Michael and Suzanne exchanged phone numbers and, having established their friendship, eventually began dating. Seven years later, after innumerable bluegrass gigs and the release of Coup de Grass' album “Rhythm and Bluegrass” (Suzanne was still just tagging along taking mental notes, not performing), they were married. More bells!
Though they were making beautiful music together, they played music together (both on guitar) only very occasionally. Finally, many years later (think "Rumpelstiltskin," well, almost), Suzanne signed up for SummerSongs, a songwriter's camp in Ashokan, NY founded by Penny Nichols. After the initial--but necessary--agony of breaking out of one's shell, she discovered that people actually enjoyed hearing her sing and listening to her songs. (For more on this, see the Washington Post MP3 Notables article on the Press page.) Invited to perform by the gifted cowboy singer Dennis Jay, Suzanne and Michael decided their group needed a name and one day, while playing around with phrases, "BumpKin Pie" was born. Jeff Campbell, who founded the nonprofit organization Hungry For Music, heard them perform, liked what he heard, and asked if they had a Christmas song they'd like to put on a CD. Why, sure! So Suzanne wrote one. They soon recorded "Make the Angels Sigh" with Dave McKittrick's kind and capable assistance at his Cheeze Factory II studio. The Washington Post singled it out in a review of the disc as one by new performers that was "worth hearing." You bet it is! The song appeared on Holiday Feast VI and is also on the just released compilation of favorites of the series, "Crème de la Crème." They also had a post-Christmas lament called “Take the Tree Out to the Curb” on Vol. 7. Now, we have Vol. 8 and the rockin' "Party In The Stable." Download it from the Music page.
Their own long-awaited CD is now in production.
Stay tuned...