Harry Robinson
It all started when Harry picked up the guitar when he was 18 and spent his first year of college doing little else. This led to a new school the second year where he studied acting and broadcasting.
While in school he organized a folk group that played in the Boston area until graduation. It was 1966 so duty was calling. Harry entered the Navy. While in the service he served as a journalist-broadcaster and honed his music in several bluegrass bands in the New England area.
November 23 1969 a group called The New Christy Minstrels came aboard Harry’s ship in Vietnam and changed his life forever. The ship promptly lost it’s anchor at sea, and the group was stranded onboard for three days. Harry, as public affairs petty officer, was in charge of them. The Christies ended up jamming with Harry while they were on the ship resulting in his first job when he left the service.
For 60 years Harry has played behind musical artists. He toured with Dolly Parton, Lee Greenwood, Don Everly, Guy Clark and countless others.
He played on recording sessions with artists including Glen Yarborough, Iain Matthews, Jim Rooney, David Cassidy and Lee Greenwood. Dolly Pardon entrusted him with producing the only sessions ever recorded of her mother, Avie Lee Parton.
In 1993 he decided to retire from touring. Again, an opportunity was handed to him. He became artist-in-residence at Martin Methodist College in Pulaski Tennessee, where he both taught and studied music, earning his Bachelor’s degree in Church Music (Summa Cum Laude).
Midway through his college experience he accepted a position as Director of Music and Arts at Bethlehem United Methodist Church in Franklin Tennessee where he served for 25 years.
With the release of Unvarnished Memoir in 2019, He was expanding his outreach to include touring as a solo artist when Svend invited him to look at the music of The Contrarian Ensemble.
After looking through the repertoire Harry decided the music was unplayable on the Dobro. So he decided to try anyway. So far it has been a blast!
Tom Patten
Initially introduced to the joy of making music with my family gathered around the piano singing and
playing old favorites, I became interested (obsessed depending on who you ask!) when I first heard the
Will the Circle be Unbroken album by the Nitty Gritty Dirtband as a freshman in college. It dawned on
me that I had a Sears and Roebuck starter banjo at home that I used for strumming so I got some finger
picks and the recently published Earl Scruggs banjo book and I was hooked within about 2 weeks
(needless to say that my studies took a serious hit that semester). I gradually became interested and
learned to play flat pick guitar, mandolin, and fiddle over the next few years and began exploring other
styles of music like Irish, Western Swing, jazz, and Django style. The Contrarians is a perfect fit given the
multiple genres we incorporate into our repertoire and playing with such accomplished musicians is a
great privilege and a huge pleasure.
Svend Thomsen
Svend Dahl Thomsen has been the fiddler with the Contrarian Ensemble since 2005.
He is a native of Denmark, where he had a 10 year musical career as a guitar teacher. After catching the sound track of “Dueling Banjos” on the radio he bought a 5-string banjo and joining a Country Rock band.
Besides playing on regular shows and being featured on several festivals he performed for the mother queen and heads of state during the 50th anniversary of the global Girl Scout organization.
In 1979 he became one of the founding members and the chairman of the “Bluegrass, Oldtime and Country in Denmark” association. (Promoting the genre, arranging festivals and jam sessions and also bringing authentic American artists over for concerts and workshops.
IE. Joe Val, Spectrum, Bill Kieth, Tony Trishka and Byron Berline to name a few)
He was introduced early on to the lively busking scene in the Latin quarter Paris, France and enjoyed 6 years during the summer months traveling around Europe as a street musician.
Svend moved to Nashville in 1983 and became a regular guest at “The Station Inn” (his Second home)
Family obligations limited his musical ambitions somewhat and he ended up owning a letter press business for 30 years. Sometimes he would practice the fiddle to the beat of running the old platten presses. He also invested in rental properties and was widely known as the bluegrass Slumlord.
Since his retirement he has devoted much more of his time to the fiddle and besides the main group “The Contrarian Ensemble”, he is also enjoying playing in various church groups.
John Hedgecoth
John Hedgecoth is a native of Jacksonville Florida. He has been fascinated by musical sound since infancy.
He plays guitar, 5-string banjo, mandolin, fiddle, string bass, mandola and mandocello. He played trumpet and baritone horn in junior high and high school.
He has played banjo with Bill Monroe, mandocello and mandolin with the Nashville Mandolin Ensemble, all the above and jug with The Nashville Jug Band, banjo with Red and Murphy and Company, the Homestead Act and Tennessee Blues.
He has played in Maui, all over the Continental US, Nova Scotia, England, Scotland, Germany and Italy.
He is an original member of The Contrarian Ensemble and is grateful to the current members for helping him to continue to pursue his musical inquiries.