The Pied Pumkin String Ensemble
AKA:  The Pied Pair 1976-1980
Vancouver, British Columbia
1974 - 1976
1980
1990 - Present

Members
 

Joe Mock ~ Guitar, Piano, Vocals
Shari Ulrich ~ Fiddle, Flute, Vocals
Rick Scott ~ Dulcimer, Vocals
 

This band is falls under the folk and humor labels. Guitarist Joe Mock had previously led the jazz-rock group Mock Duck back in the late 1960's, and Shari Ulrich (fiddle, flute and vocals) had made the journey north from San Francisco, and Rick Scott was a budding children's entertainer.

 

    After quickly becoming favorites on the festival and small concert stage, they recorded their first album live at the Simon Fraser University on top of Burnaby Mountain from the back of a truck in 1974. They released their LP on one of Canada's first truly independent record companies, namely their own Squash Records (what else?). A second LP was released in 1976 (Pied Pumkin Allah Mode), but they lost Shari Ulrich when she joined up with Claire Lawrence in The Hometown Band. The duo continued as Pied Pair, and release a new LP in 1978 called "The Pair Of Pied Pumkin".

    After Shari Ulrich's time with The Hometown Band, she started a very successful solo career under the production and guidance of Claire Lawrence. Hit singles and hit albums followed, but she took time to rejoin Mock and Scott in 1980 for a new album, "Pied Who? Pear What?".

    Joe Mock went back to doing a solo gig, this time in Japan, where he found an audience of curious Japanese and homesick North Americans looking for the real thing. Joe is currently living in Europe where he still makes a living singing and playing his guitar. All three have released CDs in the last few years.

http://www.piedpumkin.com/

 

The photos were taken by Taki Blusinger (the "lick"), Judy Weiser (live, color). The b/w crowd photo is by unknown. Zoom in on the crowd in that photo and see that almost every face has a big smile.

Roger Stomperud (R.I.P.), bass with Kickin' Horse, 3 April 2004