This view looks south toward the Appalachian ridge called Rattlesnake Hill; the other side is often called Poole Hill. In the distance, beyond this field, in the valley before the ridge, the Manatawney Creek flows east to the Schuylkill, then southeast to Philadelphia & the Atlantic. You may be able to see, near the slight raise in the ridge, an old quarry, a black stone gouge interrupting the forest cover. Appalachian ridges to the north, in hard coal country, fared much worse. This field near Pine Forge, Pennsylvania, is along the dirt road back to the Schaeffer family homestead. This is where Ed Schaeffer derived the name for his Bluegrass band.

The band traces its origins to the performing arts community of Takoma Park, Maryland, just outside our nation's capital, where transplanted Pennsylvania native, guitarist/singer/songwriter Ed Schaeffer formed the Capitol City Grass in the mid-1970s. The personnel of that group moved around a bit, but most often featured Ed on guitar, Baltimore bluegrass legend John "Roscoe" Bruce on banjo, Tom McLaughlin on mandolin and singer-bassist Kathy Willis. The group enjoyed a modicum of artistic, if not commercial success, playing dates at a variety of local venues, one of which resulted in a fine album called, Live At The Lisner.

In 1981, Ed launched a series of interesting recording projects that featured some of his original material and which included some of the very finest musicians in the genre, including Phil Rosenthal, Fred Travers, Mark Vann, Ben Eldridge, Carl Nelson, and Lou Reid. The sessions were released under a new band name, Rattlesnake Hill. Two of these projects, 19th Century Man and Rattlesnake Hill With Carl Nelson, received good reviews locally and in such national trade publications as Bluegrass Unlimited. In fact, 19th Century Man — an album of excellent Fred Moore songs — has sold very well over the years and has become somewhat of a cult-classic among bluegrass pickers and fans in this part of the country.

These recordings and others served as a springboard for the band, garnering regional attention and landing them a regular spot on the Appalachian Jubilee syndicated radio program broadcast out of the Capital Theater in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. There, Ed and the band got the opportunity to reach out over the airwaves to a much broader audience, garnering recognition from fans throughout the Mid-Atlantic region. Rattlesnake Hill quickly became a perennial favorite and as a result, the band kept their regular spot on the stage of the Jubilee for over 6 years. Meanwhile, Ed made the most of these radio broadcasts to produce an excellent series of "Live at the Jubilee" albums that featured different instrumental and vocal combinations as well as a spontaneity usually lacking in studio-produced projects.

By the mid-90s Ed's business interests as well as musical interests were pulling him increasingly in different directions. While Rattlesnake Hill was producing great music, bluegrass was still struggling to remain commercially viable, propped up, it seemed, only by its loyal fans spread in pockets around the country. When Bill Monroe, known to some as the father of bluegrass, died in 1996, it was increasingly unclear to bluegrass artists what future — if any — lie in store for them. Not until the year 2000 would the popular Coen Brothers film O Brother Where Art Thou? spark a national resurgence of popularity in bluegrass music. This was aided shortly thereafter by the conscious decision of country superstars Ricky Skaggs and Dolly Parton to turn their backs on the rock-oriented sounds of Nashville to return to acoustic music roots — with tremendous national acclaim. Thus, by the early 2000's it was clear that something big was happening in bluegrass — and that it had found a whole new generation of fans.

Fast-forward to May 2005. . . picking together furiously at an open-air jam session on a Sunday afternoon in Arlington Virginia, two complete strangers eyed each other across the jam circle all afternoon. The guitarist seemed very intrigued with the great intonation and technical skill of the bass player. For his part, the bass player was mighty impressed with the fine vocals and the guitar work of the stranger in front of him. It was one of those great jam session moments that only come along once in a great while. The two musicians challenged each other with increasingly complex songs and both demonstrated veteran command of their instruments. A crowd gathered, as these two obviously accomplished bluegrass performers entertained each other all afternoon, clearly gelling in a mutual respect and admiration for each other. After three hours of almost non-stop jamming, the two strangers laid their instruments aside for a well-deserved break, and introduced themselves. Jon Brad "J.B." Hittle — veteran with many Baltimore-Washington bands as well as with bluegrass legend Frank Wakefield — was the bassist, and Ed Schaeffer the singer/guitarist.

From that chance encounter has grown the current edition of Rattlesnake Hill. Ed and J.B. first performed together with an early edition of the re-formed band at a barn dance in October. That went well, and was followed by some local club dates in January and February of this year. Since then, they have sought out the very finest musician-colleagues available to bring the band up to its current high standards.

The band continued to change through the years, as new musicians replaced those who decided to move on to other opportunities. In 2007 the band was still led by Ed Schaeffer, but Carolyn Kellock took over on standup bass and local bluegrass legend Jack Sanbower, solo recording artist in his own right, added his spectacular banjo stylings to the mix. Other musicians included Dave Goldman on fiddle, Heather Twigg on fiddle and vocals, and Kevin Conroy on guitar and mandolin.

Much to everyone's dismay, Jack Sanbower was diagnosed with cancer, so in November 2007, recording commenced on what was to be his last album. The product of these sessions was Ride Out the Storm, featuring one of Jack's original tunes, "Oh Oh".