Name:  Ira Otis Poplar-Jeffers    Birthdate: January 23, 1980 Instrument:  Bass Guitar Influences:  Earth and everything upon. What I'm Listening To Lately:  Wilco, Ryan Adams & The Cardinals, Drive By Truckers, Grateful Dead, The New Pornographers, Jeremy Fisher, basically my iPOD on shuffle. First Concert: My Dad took me to Lollapalooza '96 @ Charles Town races, WV w/ Psychotica, Rancid, the Ramones, Screaming Trees, Wu-Tang Clan, and Shaolin Monks.  Metallica was headliner, but we didn't stick around. About Me:  Long-haired-hippie-redneck-artist-scientist-guy.  Confused?  Me too.  To recap...I'm an open-minded music and nature lover.  I believe that every person in this world has an important lesson to offer.  My Mom's lesson's are the most important.  I try not to go a single day without learning something new.  I'm most comfortable within the aural space of music creation, slingin' plastic at the disc golf course, wading along a trout stream, or perched on a secluded mountaintop.  I was born in St. Mary's County, Maryland and moved to Shenandoah County, VA in 1988.  My parents still live near Edinburg, VA, and this is one of my favorite places on earth.  My fiancée and I plan to marry at the "homeplace" on October 4th.  I am a stream scientist at SEPI Engineering Group in Raleigh, NC.  We live in Durham, right down the stream from the Don.  I have a degree in Biology from James Madison University and Master's in Wildlife and Fisheries Resources from West Virginia University in Morgantown, WV, my other favorite place on earth.  I've been playing bass for 11 years now.  Mystery Road is the first "rock" band I've taken part in and it is a dream come true.  I also play alto saxophone and played in the Marching Royal Dukes marching band at JMU for two years.  My favorite hobbies other than music are fishing and disc golf.  I hope to go pro in disc golf within the next couple of years.  If that isn't enough info for ya, you'll just have to find out more after the show...