Mark Rast is no stranger to the Lancaster music scene. A member of both Colebrook Road and the Vinegar Creek Constituency, his intricate banjo picking is woven into the soundtrack of Lancaster County. During First Friday in September, he’ll be performing in a much smaller grouping—with his son, Jordan. We asked him how he got into playing the banjo, how he raised his kids in a musical family, and what it’s like to get to perform with your grown-up kid.
How did you get into playing banjo?
“I fell in love with folk and bluegrass music when I was about 14 years old,” he says. “The seminal album by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band—Will the Circle Be Unbroken—put me over the top.” He began taking banjo lessons, and the rest is history.
As a musician, how did you raise your kids?
“The kids were surrounded by my music at home,” he says. “Fortunately, their mother is a huge fan and an excellent singer as well. We encouraged them to play music from a young age, and they all embraced it. Suzuki violin lessons were a great start. Soon we were all playing together at home.”
The family spent their vacations attending Bluegrass and Old-Time festivals, where the kids became involved in the music, starting to add up contest wins as both individuals and as a family band. Now adults, all of Mark Rast’s children are accomplished musicians who have played in bands from Oldtime Liberation Front to the Second-Hand Suits.
What’s it like to perform with your grown son?
Mark and his son, Jordan, started playing together more often during the pandemic. “We had a few gigs and really enjoyed the more relaxed interplay of a duo,” he says. In between shows with their individual bands (Jordan currently plays with the Joe Hillman band), they perform as a duo as often as they can.
“Jordan is a really giftedmusician and seeing that as a father is always amazing,” he says. “He really pushes me and keeps me on my toes. It is really great to play with younger folks who have new ideas about things. I can’t recall a single time I didn’t really enjoy playing a duo gig with Jordan.”
See Mark & Jordan Rast Live
🪕 Experience the homegrown Appalachian magic of this father-son duo for yourself during We the People First Friday on September 4 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Ware Center for the Arts in Lancaster.