White Mountain Ramblers. From l.-r. Nathaniel Haas, Ben Rossetter, Robbie Neeb, Luke Bartol.
While they’re a relatively new group, White Mountain Ramblers are quickly establishing themselves in Maine’s bluegrass scene. Fiddler Luke Bartol, guitarist Robbie Neeb, bassist Nathaniel Haas, and mandolinist Ben Rossetter came together in early 2024 and have built a devoted following through their shows at venues ranging from breweries to festival stages. I caught up with Luke to talk about the band’s journey so far and what’s next for White Mountain Ramblers.
Taylor: When did White Mountain Ramblers form? How did the band come together?
Luke: We met on Facebook at the beginning of 2024, when Nathaniel and I responded to Robbie’s post on Facebook looking for bluegrass musicians to play with. I originally played mandolin (the post didn’t include fiddle for some reason, make what jokes you will), but switched over after revealing that I had played mandolin for about 6 months but fiddle my whole life. Ben joined us at the beginning of 2025, rounding out our sound with his flaming mandolin licks.
Taylor: How would you describe your sound? What are your influences?
Luke: We’re a variety pack for sure! Whether it’s diving into Robbie’s Tony Rice obsession, jamming on Nathaniel’s favorite Dead tunes, or letting Ben croon a piece of John Prine, we touch on the whole ‘grass’ spectrum. It’s fun to push and pull each other in different ways, I enjoy forcing the band to play driving dance tunes from my contradance upbringing, but also love to get pulled into a 10-minute-long jam break while Nathaniel tap dances on his pedal board. Long story short, we like to play music that gets people grooving, whether its time-honored standards or a bluegrass version of the Monster Mash.
Taylor: Do you write original material? If so, what’s the band’s songwriting process?
Luke: Robbie and Nathaniel are our only outed songwriters at the moment, but boy are they prolific! They’ve brought lots of songs to the band from their past, as well as creating new ones that reflect our shared journey. We’ve loved to see how the songs evolve as we change arrangements, add verses, and riff off one another, so no time playing it is the same.
Taylor: What have been the highlights for the band since you started? Great gigs, road trips, festival jam sessions, etc.?
Luke: The highlight for us has really been the community we’ve found in this music. From the home we’ve found at Orange Bike Brewing, to all the incredible people we’ve jammed with at festivals like Crooked River, to bringing bluegrass to the mainstream with the Hearts of Pine, we get so much joy from playing music that brings people together. We’re perhaps an unlikely, intergenerational group (representing 4 different decades soon), but are so thankful that this music brought us together for this incredible friendship.
Taylor: I saw a video of the tune you came up with for Portland Hearts of Pine. How did that come about?
Luke: We’ve been luck enough to partner with the Hearts of Pine team in their Humans of Hearts series after some of their staff saw us jamming on the Eastern Promenade in Portland. The love of community and bringing people together was something that we really shared, so one day during a shoot for this Nathaniel showed us a tune he had written for the occasion, and it was instantly one of our favorites. UTFH!
Taylor: What’s in store for the band?
Luke: We’re currently working on recording our first album and hope to have that ready to share this spring! It’s going to be a good winter of gigs, from our residency at Orange Bike Brewing every first and third Thursday, to ski gigs at Steam Mill Brewing up at Sunday River, to the stage of the Press Room in Portsmouth. Keep an eye on our Instagram and Facebook for all those and more!
For more information about White Mountain Ramblers, including upcoming live dates, check out www.whitemountainramblers.com.
Article by Taylor Smith