The Schlueter Family Band performs at Dante’s.
Courtesy | Deanna Ducher

Banjo, fiddle, and harmonizing voices carried through Dante’s Paradiso Wine Pub Jan. 31, as ice clinked in cocktail-filled glasses. The environment hummed with background chatter, laughter, and clapping along with the music. The effect that the Schlueter Family Band has on their community was tangible in the standing-room-only restaurant as the family performed a mix of folk, bluegrass, and classic rock songs, prompting singing along and even some impromptu line dancing.

The selections they play range from covers of Mumford and Sons’ “I Will Wait,” Johnny Cash, Chris Stapleton, and Bob Dylan’s “It Ain’t Me Babe,” to classic campfire favorites like “Rocky Top Tennessee,” “Wild Rover,” and even some hymns.

Despite the family being Hillsdale-famous for its musical talents, Nathan Schlueter, professor of philosophy and religion at Hillsdale College, said he never expected his family band to become what it is today. Schlueter began playing guitar leisurely when he was in high school, but only became serious about it when he was in his 30s.

“There wasn’t some decision to have a family bluegrass band — that was not in my background,” Schlueter said. “The pieces kind of slowly came together because it was very important to me for my kids to have some kind of musical lessons as part of their education, whatever that instrument would be.”

 

 

Banjo, fiddle, and harmonizing voices carried through Dante’s Paradiso Wine Pub Jan. 31, as ice clinked in cocktail-filled glasses. The environment hummed with background chatter, laughter, and clapping along with the music. The effect that the Schlueter Family Band has on their community was tangible in the standing-room-only restaurant as the family performed a mix of folk, bluegrass, and classic rock songs, prompting singing along and even some impromptu line dancing. 

The selections they play range from covers of Mumford and Sons’ “I Will Wait,” Johnny Cash, Chris Stapleton, and Bob Dylan’s “It Ain’t Me Babe,” to classic campfire favorites like “Rocky Top Tennessee,” “Wild Rover,” and even some hymns. 

Despite the family being Hillsdale-famous for its musical talents, Nathan Schlueter, professor of philosophy and religion at Hillsdale College, said he never expected his family band to become what it is today. Schlueter began playing guitar leisurely when he was in high school, but only became serious about it when he was in his 30s. 

“There wasn’t some decision to have a family bluegrass band — that was not in my background,” Schlueter said. “The pieces kind of slowly came together because it was very important to me for my kids to have some kind of musical lessons as part of their education, whatever that instrument would be.”

Schlueter began by teaching his oldest children how to play guitar, then quickly realized he wanted them to learn instruments that they could enjoy forever. When the opportunity arose, his oldest daughter, Helen, began lessons to learn fiddle, prompting Schlueter and his oldest son to play in accompaniment. 

Then, a failed fly-fishing hobby led Schlueter to take up the banjo, a decision that would soon shape the dynamics of their family jam sessions. 

“I went on a fishing trip with a friend — fly-fishing,” Schlueter said. “I came back to my wife and told her how fun fly-fishing was. She bought me a fly-fishing rod for my birthday, and I thought that was fun. I went out and cast it a few times, and I realized I don’t want to fly-fish anymore, so I sent it back and bought a cheap banjo.”

Realizing that learning to play the banjo was harder than he anticipated, Schlueter tried to convince his kids to play. When none of them showed interest, he stubbornly decided that his learning would add some dimension to their ensemble, and since they had the banjo, someone had to play. 

“I just slowly, painstakingly started learning to play the banjo very late. I was probably 45,” Schlueter said. “It’s honestly a really hard instrument to learn. I’m still not great at it, but it’s something different.”

Schlueter said as the years went on, he and his wife, Elizabeth, continued to instill the importance of musical talent in their children, even through the beginner’s learning curve, and sometimes even tears. 

“For all of my kids, the five oldest ones, at least, they hit a point when they were 12 or 13 where something flipped, and they got excited,” Schlueter said. “You can’t control that, you can’t make that happen. It happened for the first, and then the second, and then the third. Suddenly, they took ownership, they internalized it, and then they went way beyond where I could even teach them, and just took joy in it.” 

The band started without much anticipation of it actually gaining attention, but after news of their family’s talent spread, they began playing small local gigs. 

“We’ve had to build up a repertoire, and we have a big repertoire right now, so we probably have enough songs to do three different sets if we wanted to,” Schlueter said. “The first time we did a set, we only had like 10 songs, and even those were a little shaky.” 

But the Schlueter Family Band doesn’t perform for attention or fame — it wants to share its talents and cultivate culture within the Hillsdale community. 

“I don’t think of what we’re doing as a performance,” Schlueter said. “What we’ve got is kind of a special thing, and for me, the greatest joy of playing is when everyone is singing along, and they’re clapping along, and they’re just taking joy and being part of it, and not just spectators. That’s how I think about what we’re doing, and we want to encourage that.”

Freshman Jefferson Regitz said he loves hearing the Schlueters play because the environment fosters community. 

“I am a runner on the cross country team with Emil Schlueter, and since folk music is my vibe, I had to come support,” Regitz said.  “They’re all very comfortable performing with one another and bounce back and forth so well.” 

Michael Hoggatt ’24, a Hillsdale Academy teacher, said that the dynamics of the Schlueter family are something he hopes to cultivate in his future family. 

“I love the idea of a family having a shared appreciation and performance of music, even if it’s not in public,” Hoggatt said. “It’s a way to cultivate a sort of liturgy within the family, whether it’s religious or rock music. I think it’s just very good for cohesion and building memories in a very healthy way.”

Although his children learned at a young age, Schlueter said that instruments can be learned at any age. 

“That is the biggest mistake people make — giving up,” Schlueter said. “They get frustrated because they want to be good, but they’re not seeing immediate payoff. Learning anything, any instrument, just takes slow investment, and it pays off later. I would really encourage, especially college aged people, to start somewhere since you’ve got versatility, a lot of muscle memory, and you’re growing and developing, so you can get really good and fast on these things.”

Schlueter’s mission with their family band is to create shared culture, and as a part of this mission, they will be playing at Folk Fest, March 7, at the Dawn Theater. 

 “I want us to be makers of culture, and that means actually doing the hard work of learning,” Schlueter said. “But that’s the joy. I do think I’ve seen the joy of people when they’re starting to make music instead of just being entertained. That’s how I kind of think about what we’re doing here — just encouraging that.”