Critical Grass: the Origin Story

I never thought I’d be in a band that had a website, but here we are. Here’s how we got here.

Back in November of 2023, I was playing bass in a trio at a Berkeley restaurant called Gather. The other musicians were guitarist Mike Thompson and my son, John Haupert, on mandolin. During the first set, it became clear that the young couple up front were far more knowledgable about bluegrass and Americana than the average bear. During the set break, I asked Mike about them. “Oh, that’s Leah and Jeremy – they’re both really good musicians.” We invited them up to sing a couple of songs during the second set, and a grand time was had by all.

Over post-gig brunch, I suggested that we do the next Gather show as a quintet. Maybe it was the ridiculously good roasted potatoes, but Jeremy and Leah said, “Yes.”

When we got together for that first gig, John and Leah both randomly showed up in merch from the Dungeons and Dragons-themed Critical Role podcast. If nothing else, we had a band name. 

Year One – 2024

We played Gather and Armistice Brewing in Richmond, and began to jell as a musical unit. Each of us started to bring our own pet sounds into the band – the result was a technicolor array of tunes that gave us our own distinct shape. Norman Blake, John Reischman, and Martha Scanlon songs brought sparkle. We discovered a mutual love for the Tim O’Brien Celticgrass tune Land’s End, which became a showcase piece (foreshadowing).

During that year, guitarist Mike had to step away because of family obligations. We 100% supported his choice, but man, we missed him. Fortunately, we reconnected with picking buddy Jess Poteralski, who slid right into the six-string position. 

We did a bunch of gigs and became truly comfortable with each other as musicians and friends. 

This is us at Gather in September of 2024. Looking forward to picking and the breakfast pizza. 

I was so happy with how we sounded, I suggested we audition for Vern’s Stage. Vern’s is a special stage for up and coming bands at the California Bluegrass Association’s Father’s Day festival every year. I thought we were a long shot to get in, but there was only one way to find out. 

During September, we made and submitted an audition video that included Land’s End and two other songs. Then we waited.

In early December, I got an email that, honestly, I never expected to get – we were playing Vern’s Stage at the 50th Anniversary CBA Father’s Day festival in June of 2025. We danced around the room when I announced this at a rehearsal.

That was the good news. The bad news is that Jess the guitar player was moving to Grass Valley, California. This was more than a little ironic, because Grass Valley is where the Father’s Day festival is. But it’s also two-and-a-half hours from the Bay Area. We were delighted for Jess – it was his dream to get out of the Bay Area and have some space around him. But we all knew it wasn’t practical for him to remain a member of the band. 

So here we were with an awesome festival gig six months out, two emeriti guitar players, and the New Year fast approaching.

Bands are hard.

–Lee