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Name: Jared Creason
Member Since: March 2007
DMH Roles: Bass, vocals, token bluegrasser.
Hometown: Terre Haute, Indiana
Childhood Pet: Same as now, a black labrador retriever. I trained my first one in 4-H and we won 2nd place in the _________ County Fair.
My Favorite Self-Penned Original and Why I Wrote It: I wrote "Prodigal Days" because the story of the prodigal son is one everyone can relate to. We all make mistakes and seek forgiveness.
Key Musical Influences: Missy Raines or Tom Gray for jazzy groove; Kip Martin for straight-ahead, zen-like minimalism; Tim O'brien for singing and writing.
Dream Cover: "Uncle Pen" because some say it's the classic bluegrass song.
Musician I'd Like to Trade Places With for a Day: Mickey Harris, Rhonda Vincent's bass player. Ride the Martha White Express!
Favorite Gig Memory: Playing at America's 400th Anniversary at Jamestown, VA. My dad and mother-in-law were in town, and my wife and kids were there, so we were all together.
Favorite Quote: "Argue for your limitations and sure enough, they're yours."—Richard Bach
Top 10 Desert Island CDs:
"Its Vigo County"
Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, "Just over in Heaven"
Blue Highway, "Its A Long, Long Road"
Cadillac Sky, "Blind Man Walking"
Adrienne Young, "Room to Grow"
Tim O'Brien, "Fiddler's Green"
The Seldom Scene, "Scene It All"
Alison Krauss and Union Station, "So Long, So Wrong"
Darrell Scott, "Family Tree"
Claire Lynch, "Fan Favorites"
Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder, "Live at the Charleston Music Hall"
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 Jared grew up in Indiana, about 45 minutes from Bill Monroe's music park in Bean Blossom, but unlike others in DMH, his was not a musical family. Not even close.
He started playing bass in 7th grade and continued through high school and college, earning a B.A. with a minor in music from Indiana State University. A teacher there told him that bass players were never out of work. Jared played in everything from rock and country bar bands to semi-pro symphony orchestras, and discovered his teacher hadn't told him the whole story: although bass players were always in demand, they might not ever be able to afford a house! Jared took a break from music after college to get married and get going on a more stable career path, one that took him away from Indiana. Along the journey, he "discovered" bluegrass music, and his wife bought him his first guitar.
Life changed again in 2002. Now a homeowner in Virginia and a family man with two darling daughters, Jared saw a PBS program that explored how the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 had changed or tested people's faith in God1. Somewhere near the end, he realized that the program documented the power of music. A man whose mother had died in the World Trade Center testified to the personal impact of soprano Renee Fleming's performance at the Ground Zero memorial service:
"I think this theme of kind of trying to connect to this deeper spirituality in some desperate hope that there's something else—there's something greater—was very much present. And so this incredibly beautiful music actually was extremely comforting. It took us out of the very horrifying reality and transported me to this place of hope that we could aspire for something better, and that perhaps something better does exist, and that whatever was left of my incredibly fabulous mother in that—in that mess was not the end of her spirit."
That message spoke directly to Jared and struck a chord long buried in his memory about the transformative power of music. Soon after that, he plunked down the money to buy a bass and has been blessed with a widening circle of musical friends ever since—varied in styles but united in the power of music to build communities and make the world a better place.
You can now find Jared playing and singing bass with Dead Men's Hollow on everything from bluegrass standards and gospel to his own original compositions. His song "Prodigal Days" won a Gibson Guitar songwriting contest, for which he was rewarded with (of all things) a Gibson Guitar! Jared's hard work, spirit of adventure, and original ideas have made him a great addition to the DMH family.
Jared endorses the Chesapeake Bass Viol Shop, Annapolis, MD
1Frontline: Faith and Doubt at Ground Zero. Produced by Helen Whitney, Written by Helen Whitney and Ron Rosenbaum. Transcript at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/faith/etc/script.html
The photographs on this page were taken by Brett Davis in the chapel and on the grounds of Congressional Cemetery in Washington, DC.
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