[Deathwatch] Mark Vann, "Leftover Salmon" banjo player, 38

[Deathwatch Central <cdw@slick.org>]

Banjo player Mark Vann dies

Part of Boulder's Leftover Salmon

By G. Brown 
Denver Post Popular Music Writer

Tuesday, March 05, 2002 - Mark Vann, banjo player for the Boulder-based
bluegrass/jam band Leftover Salmon, died at home Monday afternoon. He
was 38. 

Vann was diagnosed at the beginning of October with the skin cancer
melanoma. He had been undergoing intensive chemotherapy for months. 

Leftover Salmon's management said the rest of the group wasn't prepared
to immediately comment on Vann's passing. A statement will be issued
today regarding memorial services. 

Salmon was formed in 1990 when vocalist and acoustic guitarist Vince
Herman combined his band the Salmon Heads with Drew Emmit's Left Hand
String Band. Herman had met Vann in 1989 in Telluride and persuaded him
to give up his deck-building business and move from Virginia to
Boulder. 

The band emerged through constant touring, winning fans across America
through joyous, free-form sets at traditional events (the Telluride
Bluegrass Festival) and raucous rock jaunts (the H.O.R.D.E. tour). The
band's "polyethnic Cajun slamgrass" blend of music - bluegrass-based
boogie that draws from miscellaneous influences - was inspired by the
diverse backgrounds of the musicians. Vann grew up listening to
straight bluegrass music, and won several competitions as a teenager
for his prowess on the banjo. With Leftover Salmon, he played an
electric banjo made from a tree stump, and a five-string dobro. 

"If Earl Scruggs invented the bluegrass banjo, and Bela Fleck invented
the jazz banjo, Mark was the guy who put them both together," said
Chuck Morris, who managed Leftover Salmon for six years. 

In November, Leftover Salmon and many musical friends - Bela Fleck,
Peter Rowan, Pete Wernick, Bill Payne and Paul Barrere from Little
Feat, Todd Park Mohr, Tony Furtado and String Cheese Incident guitarist
Billy Nershi, among others - put on a series of benefit concerts for
Vann, culminating with a sold-out show at the Fillmore Auditorium. Vann
got to watch at his home via cybercast, and the members of Salmon and
all the guests came on stage to call him. As they got him on the phone,
Nershi had the crowd scream, "We love you, Mark." 

He is survived by his wife, Jennifer, of Boulder. An account has been
established to help with Vann's expenses. Donations can be sent to P.O.
Box 393, Nederland, CO 80466.