Wes Pascoe 1948-2007
Charles Wesley Pascoe, a guitarist, mandolinist, and singer with several Austin and New York folk and bluegrass bands, passed away from liver cancer Jan. 8. He was 58. The New Jersey native came to Austin in 1980 from Greenwich Village, where he performed solo and with the groups
CSS and
Watershed, who became known for acoustic versions of rock hits like "As Tears Go By." In Texas, he formed the traditional bluegrass band
Cedarfever and played several years with wife
Leslie, who died in 1989, as the duo
Les and Wes. Pascoe also started a business building and selling mountain dulcimers and won the
Texas State Dulcimer Championships in Glen Rose three years in a row. In the Nineties, he played with traditional Irish band
Hair of the Dog, rockish B.D. Riley's mainstay
Pubcrawler, and acoustic Western swingers the
Lost Pine Ramblers. "He was honest and dependable, a big man with a big heart," says friend and bandmate
Sean Orr.