Sue Draheim
In writing her short biography in 1970 to accompany the album notes for Berkeley Farms, Draheim gives us some background on that transition: I've lived around the Bay Area most of my life.[17]Draheim quickly got involved in American mountain string band music, forming a group called the "Diesel Duck Revue" in 1967 with Mac Benford, Hank Bradley, Sue Rosenberg, and Rick Shubb,[18][19] performing with them at Berkeley's Freight & Salvage in 1968.[20] At about the same time she started playing with a Colby Street group that, when she performed with them at the Sky River Rock Festival (Tenino, Washington in 1968 and 1969), called themselves "Dr. Humbead's New Tranquility String Band and Medicine Show".[23] Draheim and Dr. Humbead's New Tranquility String Band also appeared at the 1969 Third Annual San Diego State Folk Festival;[24] links to recordings of their performance there are provided on folkartsrarerecords.com's website.[25] Colby Street housed other groups as well, one of them being the "Golden Toad", featuring mandolinist and guitarist Will Spires;[26] she joined them for the summer solstice concert at Grace Cathedral in 1970.She and others joined Cooley to perform Saturday nights at San Francisco's long-standing Irish pub, the Harrington Bar,[29] making up the band which they called "Gráinneog Céilidh.Impressed by Draheim's old West Clare style which she'd learned from Joe Cooley, John Renbourn observed: "I found out more about Irish music from Sue than I could ever have imagined.Anne's Reel) for the BBC radio show called Top Gear,[50] which also featured contemporary musicians; the recording was later released in 1994 on Ashley Hutchings's compilation The Guv'nor vol 1.One of Draheim's hallmarks was her eclecticism, and the first half of the 80s found her recording with a variety of artists including ethereal, new wave pagan/wiccan Gwydion Pendderwen,[61] the more solidly traditional Cajun and country Delta Sisters,[62] and Rory McNamara with his blend of Irish and American music.[66][67] Additionally, during the 1990s nearly a dozen retrospective compilation albums (including three by John Renbourn) were released which featured earlier recordings with Draheim, some of them going as far back as the 1970s (see discography).[91] Among those performing in recognition of her contributions to music were musicians Eric & Suzy Thompson, Jody Stecher & Kate Brislin, and Will Spires (who had played with Draheim in the early years of her career),[92] Tempest, Golden Bough, and Kathy Kallick, (who had played with Draheim when her career had been firmly established), as well as Laurie Lewis & Tom Rozum, Tony Marcus & Patrice Haan, Paul Hale String Quartet, Live Oak Ceili Band with the Patricia Kennelly Irish Step Dancers, Don Burnham & the Bolos, Johnny Harper, Delilah Lewis & Karen Leigh, Harry & Cindy Liedstrand, and Gerry Tenney & the Hard Times Orchestra.