The First Public Performance of the Pohick Pickers
at the Pohick Country Fair, 1987

A Brief History of the Pohick Pickers

The Reverend Donald D. Binder, PhD
Rector, Pohick Church

The Pohick Pickers were formed in the Fall of 1987, when I was serving at Pohick as a young seminarian. During the preceding Summer, the Fair Committee had decided it wanted some entertainment for the fairgoers. So one of them approached a few of us with musical backgrounds to see what we could do. We were happy to oblige, and thus the Pohick Pickers were born.

There were originally four members in the group: Myself (acoustic guitar), Barbara Hoffman (now Barbara Lynn, banjo), Carolyn Duskin (electric bass), and Buddy Bryan (electric guitar). All of us provided vocals.

In those early days, we were essentially a once-a-year band, rehearsing on Apple Butter Saturday and playing for the throngs on Fair Day itself.

I graduated from seminary in 1989 and departed for Florida. Soon thereafter Barbara left the area for a time. The Pickers looked destined for the dustbin of Pohick history.

Into this void stepped our current band-leader, John Sessums (also now Pohick’s Sexton), whose skills as a professional musician have ably guided the Pohick Pickers ever since. Under his leadership, the Pickers now perform not only during the Country Fair, but also at a number of other church activities throughout the year, including the annual Crab Feast in September, the Christmas Party for the Homeless in December, and other outreach events. The band also leads the communion music one Sunday a month, and provides musical support for other less formal liturgical gatherings.

The Pohick Pickers
at the 2005 Pohick Country Fair

Since 1987, band membership has also grown. We’ve had as many as eight performing together on the same crowded stage. However, because all of us still have day jobs demanding our time, there are usually fewer than this number at a majority of the performances.

Although members have come and gone over the years (myself among them), most recently the band has included: John Sessums (guitar, banjo), Jud Sage (12-string guitar), Barbara Lynn (violin), Don Binder (guitar), Ken Wrona (guitar), Chris Brown (drums, guitar), Mason Botts (bass), Alex Hodge (guitar, banjo, mandolin), Joe Moran (guitar), Tom Goeller (guitar), Roy Avery (Flute), Carmel Hodge (viola), and Carolyn Cockroft Brown (keyboard). Two members of our Youth Group, Alex Sessums and Justin Brooks, have also sat in on some recent sessions, perhaps forming the core of the next generation of Pickers!

From its inception, the Pohick Pickers have had an eclectic repertoire—a result of both audience requests and the diverse musical interests of individual members. At its heart, however, the Pickers remain an old-fashioned folk group, with folk songs and spiritual revival standards forming the core of its musical catalogue. Around this hub have gravitated other musical styles, such as Pop, Country, Rockabilly, Bluegrass and Blues.

Whatever your own musical preferences, we hope that you will enjoy our ministry on Sunday mornings and at any of the events where our music is featured. We always perform for the love of Christ and the joy of the music—and we hope that you will catch some of each as you listen and sing along.