When GHS math teacher John Dacey isn’t teaching school, you might find him behind the microphone announcing a Bulldog football, basketball or baseball game. Or, you might find him on the court coaching the highly successful girls’ tennis team.

If he’s not at any of these places, chances are he’s perched behind a standup bass thumping out some down home bluegrass with his band, A Good Natured Riot.

Dacey has played the electric bass for more than 30 years and performed around the eastern U.S. with Richmond’s Cashmere Jungle Lords since 1996. About five years years ago he made the transition to standup.

“By 2006 I was looking for a bluegrass band.  I answered an Internet ad looking for an upright bass player, and was blown away when I went to the audition,” Dacey said.

Dacey became an instant fan. “I couldn’t believe I had stumbled across musicians of this caliber,” he said.  “It took me a while to transform from a rock player to bluegrass, but I joined the band, and after some practice I caught up to speed,” Dacey added, the group brought their eclectic brand of originals and limited covers to Goochland’s White Hawk Music Café recently.

The group has two CDs and a group of followers to show for their efforts. They perform at different venues around town, exuding a unique style of lively bluegrass and down-home ballads that flow easily from the fingers of the well seasoned players.

“I can’t remember the last time I had a weekend off, but that’s the way we like it,” said banjo player Nick Harlow. Harlow, an electrician in the real world, plays in two other bands besides the Riot. “I love what I do,” he said.

Lead singer Jeslyn Vaughan, also a Goochlander, sings most of the group’s selections, and it doesn’t take long to see she truly loves what she does. Vaughan and percussionist Summer Gentry have intertwined musical roots that go back to childhood.

“Summer and I both grew up in very musical families and naturally gravitated towards creating music together,” Vaughan said. “In high school we spent a lot of time banging out tunes I’d written and had a blast. It was natural to begin a project with her.”

When Vaughan moved back home from Charleston where she received a degree in music from College of Charleston, the pair began putting together a band.

Vaughan met mandolin player Andy Burns who “was really excited about a new and different project.” Harlow made contact with the band through Burns, but the new configuration lacked a bass player.

“We put an ad in Craigslist for an upright bass player, auditioned several people, and then John Dacey showed up and fit right in,” Vaughan said.
The group’s latest addition is fiddle player David Lam. “Summer met him at a mutual friend’s wedding several months ago and we abducted him,” Vaughan said. “He’s trained classically and is really taking to our style like a duck on a pond” she added.

Describing the group’s style as bluegrass would be oversimplification, it’s more complex than that.

“Oh boy. Every time we get this question we sort of look at each other,” Vaughan said.  “Eclectigrass” is the best we’ve been able to come up with. It’s a blend of bluegrass, folk, funk, blues, jazz, Irish and traditional,” Vaughan said.

The current configuration of the Riot has played together for about three years, and Vaughan said they’ve formed a musical and emotional bond.

The group stays true to its roots, and the music is unquestionably theirs. Vaughan, a trained opera singer, said the list of influences on her music are ever-changing.

“It’s endless, really,” she said. “I’m inspired by different musicians all the time. But to name a few: Gillian Welch, The Duhks, Tim O’ Brien, Bela Fleck, Sam Bush, Ella Fitzgerald, Bill Monroe, Rising Appalachia…..and our friends that are in bands. Part of the beauty of music is that there is inspiration to be found everywhere.”

The group has shared the stage with such well established acts as The Hackensaw Boys, Yarn and The Duhks at venues like The National and the Capital Ale House Music Hall.

For Dacey, the Riot provides the perfect mix to a busy life. “You could call it the itch that never goes away.  Music is in my blood and I’ve always enjoyed playing in front of crowds or playing with just the other band members there,” he said. “As long as I’m playing.  I get pretty cranky if I go more than a week or two without playing.  Playing in two bands keeps me insanely busy with coaching tennis, teaching high school, spending time with family, and everything else I do, but busy is better than cranky any day.”