Cottonwood
follow us on our 2023
"WE AIN'T DONE YET!" Tour
With 30 years under their belt, the band Cottonwood jumps into year 31 with their loyal fans in mind! As a premier country band in New England, they strive to bring the crowd to their feet with some foot stompin country, some rock-n-roll classics and some amazing originals!
Check out the website to find some behind-the-scenes stories, member bios, tons of photos, songs, videos, schedule and much more!
It is with sad hearts, that the band says goodbye to its original drummer David Therien. On August 23, 2023, Dave was in a car accident in Charleston County, South Carolina and passed away.
Current Band Members
_edited.jpg)
DAN
JOHN D
JOHN C
Dan Whalen: Guitar and Vocals
Steve Barrett: Guitar and Vocals
John Corbett: Guitar and Vocals
John Drake: Drums
Russ Oliveira: Guitar
Greg Dwinell: Bass Guitar, Guitar and Pedal Steel
Joe Pereira: Keyboard and Vocals
(Click on for more info about each band member)
STEVE
RUSS
JOE
JOE
GREG
About the Band
It all began in 1992 and over the past 30 years Cottonwood has performed with some amazing musicians, including Willie Nelson, Toby Keith, LeeRoy Parnell, Rhett Akin, Billy Ray Cyrus, Nitty-Gritty Dirt Band, Exile, Oak Ridge Boys, Little Big Town, Ricochet, Highway 101, Ty Herndon, Collin Raye, Radney Foster, Travis Tritt, Steve Warner, Sammy Kershaw, and Aaron Tippin, just to name a few!
Cottonwood's high energy and powerful vocals feature 80's, 90's and millennial country, but also putting a flair to some old rock standards! We guarantee you'll love some of the original music that has been a staple of the New England music scene for the past 30 years.
In 2003, the band took the road trip of a lifetime and had the privilege to play at the world-famous Tootsies Orchid Lounge and Fiddle & Steel in Nashville!
With a great fan base in New England, Cottonwood has played many local venues, both large and small, and always brings in a crowd! The band had been voted the Valley Advocate’s “Best Country Band” for seven years in a row!
Over the 30 years, some band members have come and gone, but the trademark sound of Cottonwood's harmonies and crowd-pleasing shows, has never changed!
Mountain Music (by Alabama)
Venues
Over the past 30 years, Cottonwood has played large venues, intimate clubs, country fairs, festivals, bars, private parties, fundraisers and just about anywhere they could bring their fans together! (We are sure we've forgotten a few, but our fans will let us know!)
Once-in-a Lifetime
Tootsies Orchid Lounge (Nashville, TN)
Fiddle & Steel (Nashville, TN)
Nashville Nights (Nashville, TN)
Large Venues
Foxwoods Fox Theater (3 year contract)
Basketball Hall of Fame (Grand Opening, Springfield, MA)
Easter States Exposition (West Springfield, MA)
Hampton Beach Shell (Hampton Beach, NH)
Indian Ranch ( Webster, MA)
Springfield Civic Center (Springfield, MA)
Northampton Barnstormer Concerts (Northampton, MA)
Showcase Live, Patriot Place (Foxboro, MA)
Springfield RV Show (Springfield, MA)
Riverside Park (Agawam, MA)
Intimate Clubs/Venues
Iron Horse Music Hall (Northampton, MA)
Calvin Theater (Northampton, MA)
Summit View (Northampton, MA)
Festivals
Celebrate Holyoke, (Holyoke, MA)
Taste of West Springfield (West Springfield, MA)
Taste of the World (Westfield, MA)
Greenfield River Fest (Greenfield, MA)
Kielbasa Festival (Chicopee, MA)
Mystic River Fest (Mystic, CT)
Stonehenge Music Festival (Grey, ME)
2022 Maifest (Springfield,MA)
Country Fairs
Belchertown Fair (Belchertown, MA)
Charter Days (Granby, MA)
Cummington Fair (Cummington, MA)
Hebron Fair (Hebron, CT)
Essex Fair (Essex, CT)
Vermont State Fair (Rutland, VT)
Tri-County Fair (Northampton, MA)
Littleton Fair (Littleton, MA)
Yankee Doodle Days (Charlemont, MA)
Franklin County Fair (Greenfield, MA)
Bars/Night Clubs
WWII Club (Northampton, MA)
Seven O's (Sunderland, MA)
Buck n Doe (Belchertown, MA)
McCarthy's Pub (Belchertown, MA)
Hu Ke Lau (Chicopee,MA)
Summer Series Concerts
South Hadley on the Common (South Hadley, MA)
Buttery Brook (South Hadley, MA)
Agawam Summer Series (Agawam, MA)
Easthampton Fireworks (Easthampton, MA)
2022 Country in the Country (Hadley,MA)
Other
2022 Whatley 250th Celebration Parade (Whatley, MA)
BEHIND-THE-SCENES
Cottonwood has had the privilege of opening for some amazing musicians and playing some top-notch venues!
Check out some of the band's favorite memories!
Opening for Willie Nelson
Calvin Theater, Northampton Massachusetts
August 8th 2000
The band had been together for 8 years now and I believe 6 of those 8 The Valley Advocates readers pole voted us the “best country band in the valley” Having a conversation with local music venue mogul Eric Suher our manager had asked what kind of acts were coming to the area. He then casually mentioned, "How about opening for Willie Nelson at the Calvin Theater?" With a poker voice she replied "Well I’ll have to get back to you" The excitement was incredible. Everybody was excited to play possibly with one of the greatest music heroes of all time. Juggling schedules and logistical issues we finally return the phone call and said we would gladly open from Willie Nelson.
The set up was awesome, a beautifully renovated old theater with tremendous acoustics! The buses pulled in and the bands began to load on stage. It was a very casual atmosphere with Willie Nelson's sister trying to figure out some parts on the piano to which we all went over trying to help her find the right cord. Willie was returning from a round of golf at Westover golf course stood in the shadows at the back of stage watching us all set up for one of the greatest evenings of our lives! Approaching "The Man", he was small in stature and reeked of a little weed, but was one of the sweetest human beings I’ve ever run into. After some small talk like how’s the weather and all that kind of stuff, we all asked him to do some photos with us, then we chatted for about 15 minutes to one of the most regular and kind human beings I’ve ever spoken to.
Looking at all the guys in the band, the butterflies were large in our stomachs as we’re about to play to a packed house opening for an icon! Well, we hit the stage without disappointment! My Brother Musicians were able to put together a set that was unforgettable, bringing the crowd to it's feet with a great mix of our own originals and some cover tunes. Leaving the stage, I have never felt a greater adrenaline rush since my children were born.
As the night closed, we began to pack up and received one of the greatest compliments as a band, with Willie Nelson's manager walking over to us and asking “Hey do you guys travel?
We got some shows coming up in the area.." We never ended up getting together with Willie again because it wasn’t long after that the band made some personnel changes.
Nothing can take away that feeling we all had during what turned out to be the shortest hour of my life..
Dan Whalen
Barnstormer
Northampton Airport Barnstormer Concerts
Northampton, Massachusetts
The Barnstormer concert was an awesome venue... for one day, part of the grounds of the Northampton Airport, was transformed into a spectacular country music venue. The event only happened for 2 years, but we had the privilege to open for Travis Tritt, and the one and only, Toby Keith, in front of an amazing crowd.
Indian Ranch
Indian Ranch, Webster, Massachusetts
Indian Ranch has been hosting live outdoor entertainment since 1946, making it one of the oldest concert venues in the country. It is an outdoor amphitheater situated on the shores of a beautiful lake with a record long name…
Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg!
The band was blessed to have the opportunity to play there several times, opening for Collin Raye and Billy Ray Cyrus.
The day we open for Collin Raye, Kix 97.9 had offered to send the band out in a special coach/tour bus for us to ride in style to the venue, the funny part about the story was that when we arrived at Indian Ranch, all the stagehands began flocking to the bus, when they realized it was just the opening act they more or less said carry your own shit. "Laugh out loud" True story!
Nashville, Tennessee
Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge, a Nashville country music institution and world-famous honky-tonk, has operated across the alley from the Ryman almost continuously since 1960. Its proprietor from 1960 to 1978, Hattie Louise “Tootsie” Bess, bought the lounge called “Mom’s” and named it for herself.
According to legend, a painter mistakenly painted the exterior orchid purple. The color was never changed and became Tootsie’s signature color. Over the years, she served such famous customers as Kris Kristofferson, Faron Young, and Willie Nelson when they were still up-and-coming artists. Tootsie was well-known for her generosity toward struggling musicians. The photo- and memorabilia-lined walls are called “Tootsie’s Wall of Fame.” A portion of the Loretta Lynn biopic “Coal Miner’s Daughter” was filmed inside Tootsie’s.
When we first walked into Tootsies the stage was basically the glass store front, very small barely had enough room to fit a small set of drums a guitar and a bass player. But it was then we were told we were going to play upstairs, which actually is a very cool setting because they have quite a large stage considering the size of the room and we could set the full band up. The area that we were playing, was the actual cut through from the old Ryman Auditorium to Tootsies, where a lot of great players would come to get their fingers and vocal cords lubed up before a show .... if only the walls could speak and tell me for some great stories.
We played our set with a very warm Nashville welcome! It was a very short afternoon, only playing about an hour and a half, but the best part was when we were finished, the manager asked if we could come back later in the week! Although every band works for a tip jar, it was still so cool to be asked to return! The few other haunts that we played that week for Fiddle & Steel and Nashville Nights, were a little off the beaten path but still had a wonderful time entertaining the locals and people traveling to country music’s premier destination. Dan Whalen
2022 COUNTY IN THE COUNTRY
Hadley Young Men's Club, Hadley, MA
The first Country in the Country was a great success! The line-up included The Mark Snow Band, Lindsey Labelle, Cottonwood, Craig Campbell, Otan Vargas and Rodney Atkins! There are rumors that the 2023 Country in the Country concert is already being planned!
2022 Whately 250th Celebration Parade
Whately, MA
A first for Cottonwood! Riding on a flatbed, being towed by an 18-wheeler and playing some great country music in the 250th Celebration Parade in Whately, MA.
2022 South Hadley on the Common
South Hadley, MA
Discography
VIDEOS
Charity
Rock the House for Shriners Children
Cottonwood's Annual Charity Fundraiser
In 2014, Cottonwood decided to put on a charity fundraiser for Shriners Hospital for Children. This yearly sell-out event raises money to support our local Springfield and Boston Shriners Hospital. We have raised over $126,000 so far, with more to come!
Why Shriners Hospital for Children?
Well, it was a fall evening on a Saturday night when we got a phone call from a friend inviting us to check out this local band. They were having a little get together and it should be a lot of fun. The first thing that comes to mind is, sometimes listening to other music is like work and will I be home before nine for bedtime. LOL! Well, we put on our best jeans and headed to a warehouse in Belchertown where the entire upstairs was renovated into a great soundstage/meeting place.
I sat down and began to listen to this band (of course guarded, thinking this is either going to be good or it’s going to suck) It ended up being one of the most fun evenings I’ve had in a long time! The band I was listening to was called "Shocker". Mostly old rock ‘n’ roll, some great standards, 70's & 80's type of music and these guys were really tight .. it was just so much fun to listen to some music and sipping on a beer without actually having to perform it.
The band took a break and a guy named Dave Fredenburgh, a.k.a. Freddy, came up and introduced himself and said "Hey you’re Dan from Cottonwood" and I said “Don’t hold that against me”. We begin to shoot the shit, talking about music and different people we know and I could tell this was the beginning of a great friendship, not only with him but everyone of his band members. Before the night ended I said “Hey Dave (not knowing yet that his nickname was Freddie) I would love to get the bands together and maybe do a charity event." His response was "That sounds great!" .. it wasn’t a few weeks later we began to put the wheels in motion to do an event for the Shriners Hospital for Children, not the national Shriners, but our local hospital making sure that every penny went right to Springfield!
My personal relationship with the Shriners began back in 1991 when I was Grand Knight for the Fairview Knights of Columbus. I had run into the Potentate for the Melha Temple Mr. Richard Beusie. It was over the next year of my tenure that I began to realize what wonderful work that the hospital did for children. All our connections would make it easy for us to put together a great event of local musicians to raise money for this worthy cause.
Our first year was 2014, so we've been at it for eight years now. The outpouring of support from local bands is always overwhelming! It seems everyone that we ask says they would be happy to do this event for this cause. Over the past 7 years the bill has included, Cottonwood, Shocker, Trailer Trash, Midlife Crisis, Peter Newland and Radio Exile, 7 Bridges Rd. Arrow and the Archer, Just Go With It, The Willies, Andy Tsoumas, James Paul Band and Moose and The High Tops!
Over the years, I have been blessed to play at some phenomenal venues and with some pretty notable names, but this by far has been the epitome of my love for of music. I have gained some beautiful friendships with different musicians in the valley realizing I don’t have to look far for extraordinary talent! I would say this began as a work of charity but ultimately it has been nourishment for my soul dealing with wonderful people, who come together for such a beautiful cause!
Dan Whalen
TRIBUTE
The"Doc"
Chris Allison
I can’t remember exactly what fair or festival Cottonwood was playing but ... Chris was always known for his long white crazy hair! It was during one of the outdoor shows that the wind was blowing a bit and as I looked over at him, his hair was literally standing straight up, he looked just like Christopher Lloyd (the Doc) from Back to the Future.
Following that set and having a libation with the rest of the band, I said to them, “Did you see Chris's hair today in the wind?” He looks just like Christopher Lloyd in Back to the Future." After a big belly laugh with all the boys, it was then we decided the nickname would stick.
The nickname suited him, as he was also the doctor of music in the band, he always knew the answer to the stubborn note or chord we were trying to figure out. On a personal note, I always felt he had a PhD in entertainment! Everyone that loved Cottonwood would say that Chris was mesmerizing! The crowd would often just sit and watch him during the show as he was constantly doing his body gyrations and wielding his bow like a Jedi
Chris was very deserving of the name “Doc” because of his crazy antics, love and knowledge of music, and entertainer that he was... He was loved and will be missed!
Dan Whalen
Joining the band ...
I believe it was the fall of 1991 and I was participating in our local church’s folk music group when one of my friends, Dave LeTellier, came up with this crazy idea to begin a country band. We loved our Sundays together and playing at the 10 o’clock mass. Dave was persistent and called one evening and said “Hey Dan, I could really use your vocals. I’m starting a country band!” to which I laughed and replied “Are you serious? I don’t even like country!” Well, for the sake of keeping busy, I decided it would be worth a shot just to try it out.
We got together and this gentleman with grayish white hair walks in, his name was Chris Allison. Chris could play the fiddle and sing ….I never played with a fiddle player before. We went through some old standards and it was magic! It’s as if we knew where our harmony parts were and we had been playing together all of our lives. We then pursued an old friend of mine, Pete Oyer, to play the bass guitar. This was the beginning of Cottonwood.
This really isn’t a story about how the band began, but really about how great of a man I became friends with. Chris was just a beautiful soul, always had a great story and was always filled with love and laughter. Like a lot of us , he fought his demons, but managed to keep them in line. Chris was classically trained on the violin and he usually could figure out what note or cord we had or should be playing.
Chris had come to meet Dave LeTellier by doing some work at the old Belchertown State School, which at the time was a facility for the mentally challenged. They both would just randomly get together and perform for the people there. They so enjoyed the music!
From the first time we met, Chris and I were literally like two brothers. We were the best of friends and at times we would want to kill each other! The great thing about Chris is that he would say what he had to say and literally within the next minute everything would be over with. Chris and I got to share some great times riding to practice and different gigs together, sharing stories and laughter. We had one of the most beautiful runs as musicians, opening for some great acts and playing some terrific venues.
One day Chris is working for himself and decided to have a heart attack on a 2 foot ladder. He fell down and broke his neck, the only problem was is he was unconscious for two weeks and no one would ever realize that he broke his neck. After he returned from his coma, they realize he had fractured pretty much all of his neck and was sentenced to a wheelchair for the rest of his life. I would hear from Chris about every 4 to 5 months and there was never a dull moment when I spoke to him.
The irony of this whole story is that Chris was really a gift to me and the people he touched. It was the music of worship and charity that brought Dave, Chris and I together. I will be thankful for that, for the rest of my life! I know now, he rests in good hands, for the same person that brought us together, took him to his resting place!
May you rest in peace, George Christopher Allison! Dan Whalen
