|
Who is Grandstaff?
The Reid cousins, who seem more like brothers, have sung together as Grandstaff for over 15 years. They are energetic, enthusiastic, and above all, very, very talented. Along with their outstanding harmony, which is an inherent trademark from their fathers, Harold and Don Reid, members of the Statler Brothers, Wil and Langdon are prolific songwriters who have had over 30 songs published and recorded. They can also play many different instruments, which makes an impressive portfolio and contributes to their unique style. But when Wil and Langdon plug up and strap on their electric guitars and turn on their natural entertaining abilities, you can expect to be fulfilled with a musical delight.
Wil and Langdon have always held music close to their hearts, even through the growing years of their lives. Both young men graduated from Robert E. Lee High School in Staunton, Virginia. Langdon was a star southpaw pitcher for the baseball team, while Wil played football his junior and senior years. After high school, they both attended Mary Baldwin College, through their adult degree program. Langdon studied Philosophy and Religion, and Wil got his degree in Communications. They remained in their hometown to pursue their musical dreams, all the time wanting a career in the music business.
Our Story: An Overview
The Lion’s Club of our hometown was sponsoring a talent show at an area high school. We were baby-faced clean-shaven ninth and eleventh graders getting ready to pursue our almighty and elusive dreams! So we learned our best three songs and hit the stage. No looking back now! Thankfully, after that debut performance, we only got better. We had officially caught the ‘music bug’ and one talent show led to another private party that led to a small festival up the road that eventually filled up a healthy regional itinerary of dates. So we decided we needed some comfortable and affordable transportation to connect these dates. So we headed to Music City, USA.
Through various contacts, hearsay and word of mouth, we found ourselves on a rainy Monday morning atop a loft of a rundown barn on Jerry Rivers' farm. We were in the loft knocking off cobwebs of the blue vinyl seats of our newly-purchased airport shuttle bus from Mrs. Rivers. It was perfect; storage in the back for equipment, four bunks, two rows of charter bus seats and it was something we could all drive. By the way, Jerry Rivers was the fiddle player of the Drifting Cowboys, Hank Williams’ band.
We only broke down twice on
the 500 mile trek back to
Staunton, VA. And the last
break down was on the
parking lot of the Staunton
Mall three miles from the
house. But we had a touring
bus.
We packed our bags, loaded
up and traveled from
Virginia to Michigan to
Minnesota to Texas to
Tennessee and back to
Virginia in the dead of
winter spreading the country
music love. And we spent
more time on the side of the
road than the middle. So we
decided to begin "Operation
Hillbilly Conversion" and
leave Jerry Rivers' ghost
behind. After a couple of months in a RV garage and
a brand new paint job, we “were the first ones on the bus and ready to ride.” We can’t begin to tell you all of the mechanical woes this shuttle bus gave us through the years, but one morning it needed some attention so we stopped
by the Eagle’s Nest, a well-known bus shop in Nashville. The guy at the gate asked what year Eagle bus we had and our driver quipped, “This ain’t no Eagle, it’s more like a buzzard.” It was forevermore known as The Buzzard.
We both have been blessed with opportunities that have afforded our talents, and two blessings came at a very formative time for us. Wil wrote a fiery solid country song with a comical twist called
"Dynamite." It was pitched to The Statlers for their upcoming All American Country album and soon became the second cut. Langdon then wrote a powerhouse gospel song,
"He’s Always There For You", which the Statlers recorded for their Home cd. These two songs proved they could hang with the big boy writers in the industry and paved the way for multiple cuts and songwriting success. To date, we both have had 29 songs published and recorded.
We then made our way past the receptionist at Buddy Lee Attractions, a very popular and successful booking agency in Nashville, and got a meeting with its president, Tony Conway. We quickly became friends and on a handshake deal, he put us to work. To be more accurate, we were introduced to Joan Saltel, a wonderful and an A class lady, who worked in BLA’s Missouri office. We hit it off immediately with her and are so grateful for all the work she gave us and everything we learned from her. Thanks Joanie, you’re the best!
 Also at this time, you may remember a little number one rated television show for seven years on TNN,
"The Statler Brothers Show."
Our debut performance on the
show was an opportunity that
we will never forget. We got
to sing the first song we
had written together called
"What We Love To Do" which
the Stalers recorded. And if
this wasn't the pinnacle of
our career we were invited
back to be on a segment called Music Mail Time. There was a spot up for grabs and we were asked to fill the job. We'd tell the story, sing the song and then throw it over to the other regular, Suzy Bogguss, and then we’d all seven meet center stage at the end of the bit and Saturday nights at eight o’clock, television was our new best friend.
 Since we were in Nashville recording
TV and some demos, we found it best to start hooking up with some other big name writers and join forces behind the almighty pen. So we did. We did lunches, sat through showcases, scoped out the talent on Music Row and Printer’s Alley, visited publishing houses and then ultimately set up some writing appointments. We’ve written with our Tennessee brother, Bryan Kennedy ("She Don’t Love Me More Than NASCAR"), his double Grammy-award winning brother and our buddy, Gordon Kennedy ("Lighter Shade of Blue",
"April Maybe June", "Lately I Like You"), chart-topping songwriter Philip White ("I Can’t Get Away From You"), tall and strong songwriting talent Don Ellis ("Us",
"New Year’s Day"),
and mainstream pure country tunesmith Jimmy Melton ("Paris, Texas") to namedrop a few. Oh yeah, did we mention we’ve written with our dads, too? They’re pretty good writers and all.
So by making our way around Nashville, we made our way to the Yell Records office. We sat down with this independent record label’s president, Doug Grau, and sang and talked our way right into a record deal. Doug is a great guy with great vision and we’re thankful for our musical relationship with him because he was the one who saw the potential and supported our first national release, Circles.
What in the World does ‘Grandstaff’ mean?
To answer your first question, no, it’s not German. In fact, it’s Native American. The name Grandstaff derives from a great-great-great-great-uncle of ours who was captured by the Indians and named Grandstaff by his captors because they admired his courage and strength and thought he carried himself like a “grand staff.” After his release, he maintained Grandstaff and passed it on as a family name. We thought it was different and had a musical ring to it because in music theory, the bass and treble clef together is known as the Grand Staff. Plus we like to think that we have courage and strength!
Songs Written by Us & Recorded by The Statlers
|
Dynamite
He’s Always There For You
That Haunted Old House
Chet, You’re the Reason
What We Love To Do
Lifetime of Loving You in Vain
|
Keep Your Eyes On Jesus
I Should Have Known You Lord
Jesus Living Next To Me
All I’ll Need From You
You Just Haven’t Done It Yet
It’s Too Late For Roses
A Place On Calvary
|
|
The Band
 Pat Wertman – Pat is a bassist extraordinaire, plain and simple. The first time we played with him, we called him last minute to fill in on a date 900 miles away from home. We played the date, Pat did great and we were good friends by the time we got back home. Other than being one of the nicest guys in the world and earning the title of “Mr. Reliable”, Pat’s rock solid bass talents go way beyond the normal range of playing for most bass players. He plays more on the bass than some lead guitar players!
 Steve Harris – After you listen to just one song of Steve playing the drums, it’s obvious this guy grew up listening to and watching every tom, cymbal and rhythm that Ronnie Tutt ever played. (By the way, Mr. Tutt was Elvis’ drummer during the later years and he was awesome!) Well, Steve is awesome, too. If there is ever a hole to be filled musically, Steve is there to fill it up. Steve and Pat played together in the post high-school years in a rock/blues band. And you’d never know this unless you were at one of our practices. And, oh yeah, Steve does some great impersonations. Like Johnny Mathis as a bellhop carrying Paul Linde’s luggage! So, basically, Steve is one funny guy and one great drummer.
|
