The Seldom Scene in Alexandria

The Seldom Scene is an American bluegrass band formed in 1971 in Bethesda, Maryland. Founders John Duffey, John Starling, Mike Auldridge, Ben Eldridge and Tom Gray developed a progressive style built on acoustic instrumentation, close harmony and songs drawn from beyond the traditional bluegrass repertoire. Their best-known recordings include “Wait a Minute,” “Old Train” and the album Act 1. The group established its live reputation through weekly performances at the Red Fox Inn in Bethesda. A 1974 engagement at the Cellar Door in Washington, D.C., became the double album Live at the Cellar Door; after the Red Fox closed, the band carried its Thursday-night residency to the Birchmere in Alexandria, a relationship that lasted for decades.