Spillwater Drive -- the name is unique yet unassuming. It was derived from a common point geographically between the residences of the four band members who live in southwest Missouri and northeast Arkansas.
"It's just kind of a geographical location," Jake Stogdill said. "If you put a dot between where all of us are, it's near Roaring River (Mo.). Our sound has a lot of drive. It seems to have a nice colorful sound, a nice ring," he said.
Performance schedule
Aug. 3: Neosho Big Spring Bluegrass and BBQ Festival - Time TBA
Sept. 28: Carl Junction, Mo., Bluegrass Festival - 11 a.m.
Oct. 5: Seneca, Mo., - Pam’s Place Anniversary Show - 7 p.m.
Band members are Sam Cobb of Mountain View, Stogdill of Washburn, Mo., Adam Ash of Gateway and Gary Cook of Monett, Mo.
The foursome play bluegrass generally, with a little country woven in. Each of the men has a career outside of the band.
Cook, high school speech and debate teacher in Monett, Mo., said: "I'm married to my job." He said he grew up playing music with his father, Lonny Dunn, who played bluegrass in the Monet area for over 30 years. "I eventually played with them as well."
Laughing, he said he started playing bass when he was about 9 years old and was so short he had to have a stepladder to play. "I have sang every since I can remember."
Cobb, a software engineer for J.B. Hunt, said he started playing at about 5 years of age then took it up more seriously at about 8.
"I started on the piano then learned the mandolin then the guitar," Cobb said.
Ash, assistant manager for Ben General Store, Washburn, Mo., said he began playing when he was about 13. He said when he started playing the banjo, he was already playing guitar a little. He and his wife, Leann, have a daughter, Kellie, 2.
Stogdill, manager for Ben General Store, and his wife, Michelle, have two children, Nevaeh, 12, and Noah, 10. He said he started playing musical instruments while he was in his mid-teens -- about 14 or 15. "I had a late start," he grinned. His father, Boyd Stogdill, had a band -- Spillwater Junction and played Crazy Mule for about a decade all over the Midwest, he said. He said he had been in a band which broke up and he was out of practice, but when the opportunity arose to create this group, they each saw a lot of potential in it.
All four sing -- Ash sings tenor; Stogdill sings baritone; Cook is general lead; and Cobb is usually a lead.
"Everyone kind of does everything," Stogdill said.
"We mix and match," Cook added.
"We play gigs when they come up. We've all played for years," Stogdill said. "All of us have had more than one job offer to play professionally, but we're more rooted in the community than that.
"We played Silver Dollar City," he said, explaining that they played at the biggest bluegrass festival in the world. "We're just doing it for fun!"
Recently, the group has been "hit with a ton of gigs" so have played standard material they all knew. They have worked on some original material and plan to create more "once things settle down," Stogdill said.
One piece, "The Old Ragged Bible," was written by Cook.
"Its a great tune -- a very meaningful song and it's fun to play," Cobb said.
"It was just amazing how easy it came together," Cook said.
The band has a website and a Facebook page through which they can be contacted to schedule a performance.
Community on 07/10/2019