History of The Smith Mountain Boys
Dutch Bergman and Bruce Druliner met on Palomar Mountain in 1975. Dutch had been away from the mountain for a few years in the Army and playing music in a duo in North Carolina. Bruce had moved to Palomar to help with his grandparent’s home and acreage. At the time of Dutch’s return, Bruce was playing music with other local musicians, including Bill Druliner and Steve Barry. Dutch joined the group and ultimately they became “The Smith Mountain Band”. They played square dances and local parties and functions for about 15 exciting years around the back country. Those were fun days!! But all of the band members had full time jobs and there wasn’t as much time to pursue “band life” so they disbanded from formal gigs around 1990. Although some of the band members occasionally got together for jam sessions because of the love of the music and comaraderie. Over the next two decades, Dutch and Bruce both continued to play music independently.
Fast forward to mid 2018 when the original four band members, Dutch, Bruce, Bill and Steve, “got back together” to play for the 60th Birthday of a mutual friend of the band. They practiced for five months and the Birthday Party was a success. After all those years, Dutch and Bruce were harmonizing better than ever. With the “chemistry” still there, “The Smith Mountains Boys” emerged in early 2019! And ever since, the new duo has been successfully playing in the backcountry of Palomar and Julian and in Borrego Springs. Steve Barry joined Dutch and Bruce as the sound guy for The Smith Mountain Boys and they are forever thankful for his sound expertise! Dutch’s wife, Denise Bergman, manages the duo and does her best to keep them booked as much as possible!
In 2020, after much encouragement from family, friends, and fans, The Smith Mountain Boys recorded, mixed, and produced their first album, Cover Stories. From start to finish the making of the album was a labor of love but a vast learning experience. With the help of their good friend, engineer and producer, Chris Camp of Camp Music Studios and a lot of hard work, the finished Cover Stories CD arrived in March 2021.
So now that you know Dutch and Bruce have lived on Palomar Mountain, CA for many years….why is the duo called “The Smith Mountain Boys”?
Here is the story… In the late 1700’s the area was known to Spanish Missionaries as Sierra de Palomar. Nearly a hundred years later, in the 1860’s, a popular mountain pioneer, Joseph Smith, was murdered. Out of respect for Long Joe Smith, the mountain was renamed Smith Mountain. So when trying to figure out a band name, “Smith Mountain” was chosen and then the “Boys” was added for the duo!
Thank you for checking out our website! We will continue to add to it as time allows.
We very much appreciate all of our fans! We love seeing you at our gigs and are very, very grateful for your support! We are truly blessed! Thank you for your encouragement and we hope that you enjoy listening to our CD, Cover Stories. We look forward to seeing you soon!
Fast forward to mid 2018 when the original four band members, Dutch, Bruce, Bill and Steve, “got back together” to play for the 60th Birthday of a mutual friend of the band. They practiced for five months and the Birthday Party was a success. After all those years, Dutch and Bruce were harmonizing better than ever. With the “chemistry” still there, “The Smith Mountains Boys” emerged in early 2019! And ever since, the new duo has been successfully playing in the backcountry of Palomar and Julian and in Borrego Springs. Steve Barry joined Dutch and Bruce as the sound guy for The Smith Mountain Boys and they are forever thankful for his sound expertise! Dutch’s wife, Denise Bergman, manages the duo and does her best to keep them booked as much as possible!
In 2020, after much encouragement from family, friends, and fans, The Smith Mountain Boys recorded, mixed, and produced their first album, Cover Stories. From start to finish the making of the album was a labor of love but a vast learning experience. With the help of their good friend, engineer and producer, Chris Camp of Camp Music Studios and a lot of hard work, the finished Cover Stories CD arrived in March 2021.
So now that you know Dutch and Bruce have lived on Palomar Mountain, CA for many years….why is the duo called “The Smith Mountain Boys”?
Here is the story… In the late 1700’s the area was known to Spanish Missionaries as Sierra de Palomar. Nearly a hundred years later, in the 1860’s, a popular mountain pioneer, Joseph Smith, was murdered. Out of respect for Long Joe Smith, the mountain was renamed Smith Mountain. So when trying to figure out a band name, “Smith Mountain” was chosen and then the “Boys” was added for the duo!
Thank you for checking out our website! We will continue to add to it as time allows.
We very much appreciate all of our fans! We love seeing you at our gigs and are very, very grateful for your support! We are truly blessed! Thank you for your encouragement and we hope that you enjoy listening to our CD, Cover Stories. We look forward to seeing you soon!
