Wheat Straw was a Dayton group that consisted of Alan Gray on rhythm guitar, Miles Hathaway on mandolin, Joe Gibbs on bass, and Julie (Lynne) Gray on banjo. Alan, Miles, and Joe did some soft trio harmony, which was somewhat folk-oriented, and Julie was a pretty, petite woman who played some of the hardest driving bluegrass banjo you would ever want to hear. They cut two albums on Old Homestead in the mid 1970s. They appeared in some bars around Dayton not normally known for bluegrass, such as Sylver’s Lounge at 638 Watervliet Avenue and Gentle Ben’s at 115 Brown Street. This would seem to indicate popularity with University of Dayton students. They also appeared at the Ground Round on Springboro Pike and Country Estate at 15 South First Street in Miamisburg.
Wheat Straw