McKendree Spring
McKendree Spring is a progressive folk-rock band, formed in 1968 and particularly active in the early 1970s. The band, originally known as McKendree Spring Quartet, formed at Adirondack Community College in Queensbury, New York. The group's leader was Fran McKendree ; their first bass player was Larry Tucker, followed by Fred Holman; Dr. Michael Dreyfuss ; and Martin Slutsky. Christopher Bishop replaced Holman on bass as of the 1973 release Spring Suite. Some of their music ventured into avant-garde or experimental territory, such as "God Bless the Conspiracy" from their album 3, with its violin/viola/synthesizer solo by Dreyfuss.
Steve Anderson and Alan Stoker were added for the "Live at the Beachland" live performance recording and 2007 release. In addition, Dave Morrison also played on the live album.
In the summer of 2010, Christopher Bishop rejoined the group for the recording of 5 songs for "McKendree Spring: Recording No. 9". This recording also featured Alan Stoker, Paul Hollowell and Fred Mollin.
The band reunited for one final show at the legendary Douglas Corner club in Nashville, May 2013, which was video recorded and released in Dec. 2015 on DVD as McKendree Spring: Times Like These. Fran McKendree, Mike 'Doc' Dreyfuss, and Marty Slutsky, the three founding members of the band, are supported by bassist Chris Bishop, keyboardist Paul Hollowell, Nashville standouts Alan Stoker and Rock Williams on sax, along with harmony singing by Carol Anderson and Sharon Ferrara Slutsky.
According to the official site, Michael Dreyfuss died on September 25, 2017.
Fran McKendree died of cancer on June 10, 2021, at age 74.