The Seldom Scene played at the White House for Olympian party. Photo by Michael Stewart.

Washington, D.C. based The Seldom Scene played a unique gig Monday evening.

The pioneering newgrass group, originally formed in 1971, was selected to play at the White House, where President Bush hosted a dinner party for U.S. Olympians, both past and present.

The Associated Press reported the menu was “not a low-cal affair, with pea soup with duck pastrami, cheese puffs, crispy black sea bass, butter beans, salad and a dessert called the ‘Olympic Torch,’ a dark chocolate tart with raspberries and a blown-sugar Olympic flame.”

Guests undoubtedly also got the same type of colorful flamboyancy from the guest band, whose new CD, SCENEchronized, is earning rave critical reviews and is riding high in several bluegrass charts around the country.

Members of the band are Ben Eldridge on banjo; Dudley Connell on guitar, Lou Reid on mandolin, Fred Travers on dobro; and Ronnie Simpkins on bass.