By George Nostrand — Local musician, writer, and rabble-rouser

I pull my van off the side of the road, just before where the Stevenson family has its farm stand. Corn is in season and I make a mental note to grab some on the way out. I steer my van under a clothesline, with cats and chickens running about. I can hear the boys before I can see them, and I follow the sound of bluegrass music around the bendc where the Bird Mountain String Band is working on a couple of tunes.

The Bird Mountain String Band is made up of Adam Stevenson, his two sons, Zenon (19) and Micah (16) and Sam Merwin. They came together as a band post-COVID, when things were opening up, storming and forming at Poultney Pub’s weekly bluegrass jam.

Adam Stevenson has been farming in Castleton for the last 23 years. He describes himself as having started as a campfire bluegrass player in college. But when the boys started playing, he got back into it and has been taking it more seriously.

“I’m working as hard playing bluegrass as I am in the fields,” says Adam.

Zenon said he started playing because his brother Micah and his dad were playing and going to the jam. He wanted to be able to play the jam too.

“So, I just bought a banjo,” says Zenon with a laugh. “Being able to play with Micah and other people has been an enjoyable way to learn to play.”

Micah, who plays both guitar and mandolin, took to music at an early age. The family has some videos of him playing an old beater guitar when he was five or six. His dad says he’s always had a really good ear and ability to find the right key for a song. Micah was only ten or eleven when he took the stage at Poultney Pub’s bluegrass jam and quickly got people’s attention and respect.

Rounding out the band is Sam Merwin. Sam’s been playing bass since he was around sixteen. He moved to Poultney around the time that Adam and the boys started playing the jam at Poultney Pub. Something clicked and, before long, they asked him to become a member.

Adam states adamantly that Sam rounds out the band as a quartet and at this point there wouldn’t be a band without him. The band all agrees that having a bass player fills out the sound and makes them sound more like a traditional bluegrass band.

All four of the members of Bird Mountain String band have strong feelings when it comes to bluegrass and the format of that jam at Poultney Pub.

“It’s a bluegrass jam and follows bluegrass etiquette and we play all bluegrass songs,” says Zenon. “I think this is somewhat unique, talking to other players across the state. There aren’t a lot of jams that are strictly bluegrass.”

“It’s formulaic but in a fun way,” says Sam. “There’s a lane for everyone and everyone has a place in a jam if they know the rules and abide by them. It means beginners can play with pros and no one is stepping on each other’s toes.”

Adam feels like it’s important that the jam stay bluegrass-centric.

“In a way you have to be a hard ass to weed out things that aren’t bluegrass,” he says. “There’s plenty of other jams where you can do what you want but we’re here to do a specific thing. So, when everybody is in that mindset, it’s a pretty harmonious thing. In bluegrass when we’re all playing together, we all know where we are going right down to the note.”

“In bluegrass there are sort of little windows for each instrument to make a sound,” Adam continues. “Most of the instruments will take a break. The jam is pretty cool for that. At one of our regular gigs, we wouldn’t take ten breaks in the same song. But because there might be eighteen people at the jam there could be ten breaks.”

The band does get out of The Pub every once and a while. In the last couple of years, they have played the Tinmouth Fire House, Orwell Farmers Market, Champlain Orchard and have even played a few weddings. But ultimately, they describe Poultney Pub as their hangout, and the boys have grown up watching and playing there.

Bird Mountain String band will be playing Poultney Pub, Friday, Nov. 20 th at 6 p.m. The Bluegrass jam happens every Tuesday, 7 – 10 p.m. Bring your instrument or come along just to listen. Say hello to the Bird Mountain boys for me.