In August more than one thousand attendees celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Green Lake Baha'i Conference in Wisconsin – known for its great speakers, workshops and childrens program – with outstanding performing artists, including a reunion of the Unity Bluegrass Band. 

Playing on stage at Green Lake

The band had been popular in the Chicago area back in the 1970s and 1980s and played at Green Lake in 1977, the same year their first recording came out, "Getting Around Tuit."

One of the members of the band from 1977 to 1979, Adrian McKee, attended the Green Lake conference last year and was encouraged by a friend to try and get the band together for the 50th anniversary. McKee contacted the other band members, who by now were working in other fields -- a 3rd grade school teacher, computer technician, and a family practice physician.  He got positive responses and plans started being made for the reunion at Green Lake.

Unity Bluegrass Band in 1977. From top left to right:
Doug Minard, Mark Harries, Adrian McKee,
David Neidig, David Bragman, Haydn Mohr

The audience at the conference warmly received the group and many were up and dancing. The crowd especially appreciated hearing the songs specifically written about the Baha'i Faith, for example: "He's Here" about the Founder of the Faith, Baha'u'llah, with lyrics such as "The world has been waiting for thousands of years for the Promised One to come..." and "Mountain of God" about Mt. Carmel in Haifa, Israel, where the Baha'i World Center and the Shrine of the Bab is located.

A 1977 review of the bands' "Getting Around Tuit" recording, printed in Bluegrass Unlimited magazine, commented that:

"This must surely represent something of a first -- I'm not aware of this particular music ever being used to carry the specific message of a religion other than Christianity before."

Another possible "first" documented on the band's website is that McKee may have been the first - and perhaps the only - African American bluegrass player.

A wealth of information about the band and links to downloadable recordings of their songs are available on The Unity Bluegrass Band website, which was lovingly produced by McKee, the unofficial historian of the group.

The band today in 2009 -  David Bragman, Richard Staller, 
Adrian McKee, David Neidig and Doug Minard