The Backup, the Push and 30 Years of Harmony

By Marie Kennedy, The Mountain Times

When the musicians gathered for their first performance at the Mount Hood Village Salmon Festival in 1995, they had rehearsed the songs.

They just hadn't settled on a name.

"When I arrived, there was a whiteboard that said, 'Live Music by Back Up and Push,'" recalled fiddler Susie Anderson, the band's only remaining original member. "I asked Phil why he called us that, and he said, 'Well, it's the first song we're playing, and I couldn't think of anything else.'" 

It turns out, Phil’s choice was perfect. More than 30 years later, the name has endured.

So has the band.

What began as an informal gathering of friends has become one of the Mount Hood area's longest-running musical groups, performing a blend of bluegrass, folk, country, and Americana at festivals, breweries, community celebrations, and local venues. While the lineup has evolved over the years, the spirit that first brought the musicians together remains unchanged.

It all started when mountain resident and Scottish national Phil Todd asked Susie if she'd be interested in helping form a bluegrass band.

The original lineup included Phil and Hanna Todd, Jamie Grandy, June Olson and Susie. Phil was a multi-instrumentalist, moving between fiddle, banjo, bass, mandolin and, on occasion, bagpipes. Hanna played guitar, Jamie played guitar, and Phil taught June to play upright bass. Even Phil and Hanna's young children became part of the fun, dancing with the band and sometimes climbing onto a chair to try their hand at playing the bass.

Over the years, musicians came and went. Tom Gall and Dan Kopecky joined during the band's early years, followed later by Patrick McLaughlin. Each brought new influences while preserving the band's acoustic roots. In 2002, with support from the Hoodland Women's Club and other local sponsors, Backup and Push recorded the CD Way Beyond Boring to help raise money for the Welches School music program after funding was cut.

After longtime bassist Robert was forced to step away following hand surgery, the combination of changing personnel and the pandemic led the remaining members to question whether Backup and Push had reached the end of its run.

"We actually had the conversation about calling it quits," Susie said.

Instead, they decided to try something different.

Patrick and Susie both knew local musician Sara Lee, who now performs as Fronk's Girl. Sara proposed the perfect addition to the group when she suggested multi-instrumentalist Isaac Simon. He picked up the upright bass, and the band was off and running.

Rather than simply replacing departing members, the additions reshaped the band's sound. Today, Backup and Push features Susie on fiddle and mandolin, Patrick McLaughlin on banjo and vocals, Dan Kopecky on mandolin, guitar and vocals, Tom on guitar and vocals, Sara on ukulele and vocals, and Isaac Simon on upright bass and vocals.

The band's chemistry was recently on display during a live appearance on Portland community radio station KBOO-FM, where each vocalist took a turn singing lead on songs ranging from traditional bluegrass standards to newer material reflecting the band's broader musical influences.

Unlike many bands built around a single lead singer, Backup and Push shares the spotlight.

Five of the band's six members take turns singing lead while the others provide harmony, giving every performance a different flavor.

"Everyone's voice is very different, and everyone gets featured," Susie said. "There are five different singers with five different styles." 

Songs are chosen to fit different voices, instruments trade melodies, and every musician has an opportunity to step forward while the rest of the band supports them.

For Susie, the greatest reward isn't a radio appearance or a packed audience.

"It's just so much fun," she said. "We all share the limelight."

Ironically, Backup and Push rarely performs the song that inspired its name.

"I could learn it again," Susie said with a laugh.

Patrick smiled when asked about the unusual name. "There are two explanations, and one is more fun than the other," he said.

"It's a Bill Monroe song. One story is that Monroe and his band traveled around the rural South in an old station wagon, and whenever they got stuck in the mud, they'd flip a coin to see who had to back up and push."

Then Patrick shared the explanation Monroe himself gave.

"When somebody's taking a solo, everybody else has to play strong backup while the soloist provides the push. Those are the two most important things in bluegrass – the backup and the push."

Three decades after an improvised band name appeared on a whiteboard before their first performance, those words still describe the musicians behind it.

Each member takes a turn as the push, while the others provide the backup.