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Tales of dust bowls, stage coaches, loggers are music to the ears

Tiffany Tuell

(Updated: Thursday, April 15, 2010, 3:50 PM)

Local musician and North Fork native Jean Butterfield has been serenading audiences for years with bluegrass, folk and jazz tunes while at the same time teaching local and family history.

Butterfield picked up the fiddle at 15 years old, then the bass at age 17 so she could join her first band -- the Generic Bluegrass Band -- which she did at age 18. Her songs include not only catchy lyrics but a history of her family.

Butterfield's family history began in Arkansas and led to California during the Great Depression. Like many others, her grandfather, W.L. Roope, heard about the Great Northwest and "hobo'd" out to California on a train. He began working at a sawmill in Beiber, located in Northeast California near the Oregon border.

After working for a while, he "hobo'd" his way back to Arkansas where his wife was ready and waiting. They hopped into their Model A and drove back to Beiber. Later, after having two children (which included Butterfield's mother) they brought their mill equipment down to North Fork (around 1942) and helped start the North Fork Mill.

Butterfield has written a couple songs that refer to this history: "Window of Time" and "Homestead."

"My mom has told these stories of Grandpa for years and of his adventures and the mill. It was very interesting to me and I wanted to put it down in song...in a way telling a story of what happened."

Butterfield's family on her father's side also has a strong American history. Her family started the Butterfield Stage in the Midwest, she said, which moved everything from money and mail to people. Later they partnered and were known as Wells and Butterfield Stage, which eventually became Wells Fargo.

"I see that people get enjoyment out of what I'm singing whether it's about nature or history," Butterfield said. "I feel good because they're being touched by it and people can relate to these things and have similar family experiences."

Initially Butterfield's songs came from her historical family background but now she has begun writing a lot of music about nature due to her love for hiking. She also gets inspiration by listening to other artists, she said, such as folk singers Kate Wolf, Joni Mitchell, Joan Baez and Nancy Griffith and country singer Emmy Lou Harris.

Butterfield plans to have her first CD -- "Brothers in Time" -- completed and available in June. She has already planned a second and third CD. Each CD will be a different genre of music.

"When I first started playing a friend pointed out that when songwriters write songs, they all begin to sound the same and that stuck with me," she said. "I want my songs to sound different for the audience to enjoy."

Butterfield plays 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. every Sunday at The Grind. The Jean Butterfield band will perform at the Raymond Parade from 1 to 3 p.m., Saturday, April 17. Her band members include Jeff Gurule, Joe Nelson and Glenn Franklin.

Details: Jean Butterfield (559) 760-9825 or jeanbutterfield.com