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.This article appears in January 19 • 2007.