Brown County Inn’ s Hill Folk Music Series
~ by Boris Ladwig
Jim Richter, Denise Kocur, Roger Banister, and Tobe Woodrough. photo by Boris Ladwig
As the patrons at the Brown County Inn dug into pulled chicken nachos and buttermilk fried chicken, Roger Banister picked a bluegrassy solo on his mandolin. Moments later, he sang a three-part harmony with bassist Denise Kocur and guitarist Tobe Woodrough, while Jim Richter added notes from his banjo.
The quartet played familiar favorites from country greats such as Merle Haggard and Dolly Parton, getting applause from the roughly 35 diners who had come to the inn’ s Corn Crib lounge on a recent evening.
It’ s become a familiar scene on Thursday nights, as the Hill Folk Music Series has developed a following among local patrons as well as regional and even nationally touring musicians.
“ The Hill Folk Music Series is probably one of the most important regional and local series that’ s been started in many years,” Banister said as he took a break on that recent Thursday.
Musicians and fans said the series has achieved its level of importance not just because of the artists but also because of influence of the series’ creator, Will
24 Our Brown County • July / August 2023
Scott, who has deep roots in Indiana but has lived on both coasts and established a network of musicians.
The Hill Folk Music Series provides a variety of folk, roots, blues, and Americana, sometimes veering into other genres, such as southern rock.
Scott grew up on the southside of Indianapolis and in the Chicago area. He attended Indiana University in Bloomington, where he studied religious studies and anthropology.
Scott came to music through his family. His father played jazz guitar, his stepfather played blues guitar, and his mother was a singer. His great-grandfather on his father’ s side was a well-known fiddle player in southern Indiana.
He lived in Los Angeles for four years and moved across the country to live in New York for fifteen more years. About a decade ago, Scott moved back to Indiana to live closer to his ailing father.
“ As I came back and started playing a lot more music in the Midwest, I just fell back in love with Brown County,” said Scott.
He came on a regular basis as a kid and when he was in college.