Hitting the ‘Motherlode’
Motherlode consists of a trio of three women in the Charleston area.
The band’s members include Gaye Harrison, who plays mandolin and fiddle; Althea Pendergast, the lead singer and bassist; and Wendy Meyer, the guitar player.
“We have been playing for 25 years as a trio,” Harrison said. “We met when we were already mothers, since about 1985.”
Harrison said the band started out as just a thing to do for fun.
“We started off as friends, just playing not for profit, then were started getting hired for functions and have been playing ever since,” Harrison said.
Harrison was asked if she wanted to play at the Uptowner Bar in the Charleston Square.
The group’s singer, however, had a class and was unable to attend the show.
Harrison said she knew Pendergast sang, so she asked her to sing in her friend’s place.
At the show, she met Meyer.
“And the rest is history,” Harrison said.
Harrison said the band started playing in local bars for fun.
“We weren’t really known to get paid, until the community wanted to hear more,” Harrison said.
Motherlode’s name comes from the name given to a large of vein of gold in a gold mine. After the band thought of the name, Harrison said the band believed they had “struck gold.”
Motherlode’s style of music varies from different genres. The band particularly likes old music like square dancing, and will also play The Beatles, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, and Elvis Presley.
Although not known to most Eastern students, Harrison said most Charleston residents know about Motherlode.
“We were always a part of Peace Fest in the (Eastern’s) South Quad and the Tarble Arts Center on campus,” Harrison said.
Harrison said she does not consider those loyal to the band to be fans, but more as friends.
“We have been playing in the community for a long time,” Harrison said.
They so were so well known that the Charleston Chamber of Commerce named them “Citizens of the Year” on Jan. 25, 2010.
“It’s always nice to be honored by your peers,” Harrison said.
Motherlode will play for the Dolly Parkman fundraiser Imagination Literacy for Children on May 10 in Paris, Ill.
There will also be another show with Lieutenant Governor Sheila Simon in Mattoon on May 10. It will be a fundraiser for the Democratic Party.
Michael Knuth can
be reached at 581-2812
