Josiah Payne gets homesick. The Pagosa Springs-raised mandolin player set his musical sights for something bigger over a dozen years ago, and the Pacific Northwest was his destination. But sometimes you just need to come home.
Bluegrass fans may remember him as part of The Pagosa Hot Strings, the band he played in as a kid; joined by brother Jared Payne on guitar, cousin Carson Park on fiddle and uncle Dan Park on bass, the Paynes and Carson were musical wiz kids. Josiah, the oldest of the three, was barely a teen when they won the band contest at the Rockygrass Festival in 1997 and was learning to drive when they won the contest in Telluride two years later. During that time he also won the Colorado Mandolin Championship and the Mandolin Contest at the Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield, Kansas. In 2005, they became The Hot Strings, released another record, and soon after Payne took off to Portland.
Josiah and Jared now perform as Brothers Payne, performing regionally for the next three weekends, with Durango shows happening Saturday at 11th Street Station, and Aug. 26 at The Balcony. Saturday’s show will feature Robin Davis sitting in with the brothers, and on Aug. 26, banjo player Isaac Cantor will be in the band, with the Robin Davis Duo also playing on the bill.
If you go
WHAT: The Brothers Payne play newgrass.
WHEN: 6 p.m. Saturday.
WHERE: 11th Street Station, 1101 Main Ave.
Tickets: No cover.
MORE INFORMATION: Call (970) 422-8482.
Playing music is a great reason return to the area.
“I try to find an excuse to come home,” Payne said. “I feel like music is a great excuse.”
Geographically, Josiah and Jared are 1,200 miles apart, and unlike when they were teenagers, aren’t playing music together daily. Some things, however, you don’t forget: The muscle memory kicks in, you dig into the song catalog in the back of your head, and you go for it.
“It almost feels like we’re picking up where we left off, and time just gets erased as far as the music goes,” Payne said. “And it’s fun! Over time, we’ve just learned new songs and do different things, and then we can incorporate that into it, which keeps it interesting.”
They are rattling their memory banks, going through the dozens of songs they’ve written dating back to when they were teenagers, along with scores more from the blue and newgrass canon. Those are some of the songs that will appear in the set list when they play these shows.
“We have this fun text thread going right now where we’re all throwing out ideas. Isaac has some original music. Then Jared’s throwing in some stuff that we would do with The Hot Strings, then some new songs he’s been working on, and the same with me,” Payne said. “So, we’re dipping into the Hot Strings material but then also we’re throwing in some bluegrass traditionals people would recognize if they’re into the bluegrass realm. And I’m throwing in some originals I’ve been writing.”
Payne looks at the building of the set list as the building of a band, laying the groundwork for future Brothers Payne shows.
“What I’m hoping for is this is the first year of booking shows in the hopes that we can use this project as a catalyst for doing the same thing in the coming years,” he said. “And the set list is a huge part of that, building and catering it to be what we want it to be. That’s the fun part.”
Building a set list with the brother you’ve played music with your whole life is like digging out an old photo album and reminiscing about your past. However, those photo albums are songs.
“It’s revisiting our past and celebrating the gift of music that we have,” Payne said. “Here we are, 20 years later, and we can still do it. It’s pretty exciting.”
Bryant Liggett is a freelance writer and KDUR station manager. Reach him at liggett_b@fortlewis.edu.
