The Young Bucs

History & Biographies

The Young Bucs is a vocal group that originally formed as a 50’s- 60’s doo-wop group, but the group began to add bluegrass selections to the repertoire when local musician, Fred Corbett joined the group as the temporary tenor.

Later, Bob and Jerene Shaffar were invited to join the group to fill out the bluegrass sound with their stand-up bass, dobro and fiddle. Now the group suffers from a split personality, performing both doo-wop and bluegrass.

Les Engle, John Thomas, Floyd Montiel, Kevin Freeman and Gino Harpold perform the doo-wop chores while Engle, Freeman, Corbett and the Shaffars fill out the bluegrass Bucs.

Les Engle is a retired high school Activity Director who spends most of his time traveling with wife, Becky and making music with friends. Les plays mandolin and guitar with the Bucs but has roots in Rock 'n Roll that go back to being a member of The Pentatones, a 50’s and 60’s band that played during high school and college, then reunited after a 30-year hiatus. Then, as a member of the Marshfield High School staff, Les discovered other, younger, members of the staff who shared his love of doo-wop harmonies.  Thus, Les and The Young Bucs emerged and soon became simply, The Young Bucs.  (Bucs, as in Buccaneers..... Marshfield Pirates, get it?)

Kevin Freeman, the youngest Buc, is store manager at the local Bi-Mart and along with wife, Shelley, enjoys fishing, camping and being a part of the busy lives of a teenage son and daughter. Kevin also plays guitar and sings lead/tenor and digs the doo-wop and bluegrass harmony.

As one of the founding members of The Young Bucs, Brian Hampton continues to sing with the Bluegrass Bucs.  Brian stays VERY busy with two active sons, Mathew and John, and managing his business, Hampton's Construction.  Brian's wife, Catherine, is a Faculty member at Marshfield High School and teaches English and Journalism.

Fred Corbett is a local musician (bass, guitar, banjo) who joined The Bucs (Doo-Wop) as a temporary tenor and during that time, led the Bucs into the realm of bluegrass. As a result The Young Bucs perform the bluegrass side of their split personality, which include Fred’s great banjo and guitar licks as well as vocals. Wife Margaret is a BIG Bucs fan and can be found at many practices and every performance.

Bob and Jerene Shaffar are a talented husband/wife team who have been married 30 years and have two grown children and two grandkids. Bob is an Electric Dept. Supervisor for the City of Bandon and Jerene is a youthful, attentive grandmother. Bob and Jerene have played Old Time Fiddle music for several years, but are relatively new to Bluegrass. Jerene (actually, a Young Doe) plays stand-up bass and Bob plays dobro and fiddle. They add a new instrumental dimension to the Young Bucs who specialize in vocal harmony.

Floyd Montiel sings bass with the Doo-Wop Bucs and on the side, is an assistant football and head softball coach and teaches Spanish at Marshfield High School. His wife Tammy teaches math and is the head coach for the Piarate volleyball team. They are wonderful parents to two beautiful children.  Floyd doesn't remember what he did with his razor.

John Thomas sings tenor for the Doo-Wop Bucs. John recently moved back to the Bay Area from Roseburg.  He got tired of over the phone rehearsals and moved to Coos Bay and works at the Mill Casino.  John is a graduate of North Bend High School and has thrilled local audiences with his amazing vocal range and the signature 50’s doo-wop falsetto.

Gino Harpold and his wife Lisa stay busy keeping up with their active family, Sarah, katie, Christie and Gino.  In their spare time they operate "Under the Sun Tans" in Coos Bay.   Gino is an active member of the Marshfield High School Booster Club, follows the Pirates and loves to spend time with his family.