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Doyle Lawson presented with Bill Monroe mandolin replica

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David Harvey presents Doyle Lawson with a Bill Monroe Hall of Fame Gibson F5 – photo by Styx Hicks

When Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver played their final show at Nashville’s Station Inn on November 27, David Harvey with Gibson Mandolins was on hand to make a special presentation.

Harvey honored Doyle for 60 years of performing bluegrass music professionally, and 20 years as an endorser and representative for Gibson, with his very own Bill Monroe Hall of Fame Gibson F5 mandolin. These are painstaking replicas of Monroe’s mandolin as it sits today in the Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum, with all the wear from hard playing, and the exact specifications of Bill’s 1923 Loar-signed F5. A completely hand made instrument, it is only the seventh such built by the Gibson custom shop, with an estimated value around $25,000. The labels in these instruments were signed by Bill Monroe years ago when they made a special Master Model for him while he was still living.

David also presented Doyle with a mandolin back signed by all the luthiers and craftspeople at the Custom Shop, a tradition for those who retire from the shop going back many years at Gibson. Lawson is retiring from regular touring with his band at the end of 2021.

Here is video of the actual presentation.

Couldn’t have said it better ourselves!

When we spoke with David this afternoon, he shared just how much he admires Doyle, both personally and professionally, and that his feelings are shared by everyone at the company. His suggestion to present this mandolin to Lawson as an expression of Gibson’s gratitude for years of loyalty and appreciation was immediately embraced by management, enthusiastically so.

Harvey shared a copy of this draft of the remarks he made at the presentation…

Tonight we honor Doyle Lawson…

I think back 50 years ago, I was ONLY 3 years old…seeing this man for the first time with the Award Winning Country Gentleman, and what an impression it made on me. I tried to learn all your licks from the record! You still inspire every listener and mandolin player today!

I thought a lot about what I would say tonight, and your contributions are immeasurable, your career is so vast, and you have done it all with excellence and professionalism. What do I mention…what do I leave out? I can’t begin to summarize your legacy.

We all know your music has been a benchmark in quality, and your records have been a soundtrack of our lives. One thing that stands out to me is how many careers you have launched. What knowledge and instruction you have handed down to all in your study.

In addition to the Country Gentleman, let’s not forget the Bluegrass Holiday record, all the Bluegrass Album Band recordings, and every Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver album must be on our desert island playlist. I think I can speak for all that this body of music is timeless.

Doyle, in honor of your more than 60 year career, it is my pleasure to present this signed mandolin back from the Gibson Custom Shop. This is a long standing tradition at Gibson Custom when someone retires. These signatures are the Gibson Custom Shop Management, the Mandolin Department, and the old timers that represent over 250 years of instrument building experience.

Finally, on behalf of Gibson Original Acoustic Instruments and the Custom Shop, I am proud to present you with The Gibson Hall of Fame Bill Monroe F-5 mandolin.
I am proud to call you friend and personally want to thank you for your gifts of music.

Vince Gill was also on hand Saturday evening to honor and introduce Doyle, and he even made an appearance with the band later in the evening.

Here is video of the first instrument tap Doyle offered up on his new instrument, his version of Pike County Breakdown, played very much in the Monroe style. Before they start you can hear Harvey joke with Lawson telling him not to scratch it.

Vince joined the band on stage to do the Osborne Brothers’ classic, Making Plans.

What a marvelous night for bluegrass music in Nashville. Many congratulations to Doyle Lawson for this honor.

Bill Holden passes

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One of the Blue Grass Boys of the mid-1970s, Bill Holden, passed away suddenly in Knoxville, Tennessee on November 15, 2021 at the age of 71. 

William O’Neal ‘Bill’ Holden was born on July 25, 1950 in Fort Worth, Texas, and developed a passion for bluegrass music in high school. He listened to Earl Scruggs, and with the assistance of influential Texas musician and songwriter, Stephen Bruton, Holden learned his first primary chords and modes for picking the banjo and the guitar – in fingerpick and flatpick styles – becoming adept at both. His banjo picking was solid mixture of Scruggs and Bobby Thompson/Bill Keith styles. 

While banjo was his primary instrument followed by the guitar, Holden played bass and fiddle as well. 

Also in high school, he developed a passion for football, and he took that into the University of Oklahoma, alma mater for fiddler Byron Berline a few years earlier.  

In 1972 he was a member of a band, the Bluegrass Salad Boys, based in Aspen, which only lasted a week. 

Holden worked with James Monroe’s Midnight Ramblers beginning in 1974, before moving further east to join the Country Gentlemen, with whom he played banjo for the LP Joe’s Last Train and singing baritone on Lord, I’m Just A Pilgrim for their Gospel set, Calling My Children Home.  

Texas Chili, a Holden original, is from Joe’s Last Train….. 

While on his way back to Texas, Holden stopped in Nashville and made contact with Bill Monroe expressing an interest in playing with him. As a result, in September 1976 Holden replaced Bob Black. 

A month later they were recording – for Holden it was the first of five sessions through to July 1977; six tracks were included on the LP Bill Monroe Sings Bluegrass, Body And Soul (MCA 2251), and ten can be found on the follow-up Bill Monroe: Bluegrass Memories (MCA 2315).

During his tenure as a Blue Grass Boy Holden did a nine-day tour of Japan in January and during the following month played the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco. 

However, he left the band in March, only to return at the end of June before quitting early in August, but not before Holden recorded his own instrumental Pinewood Valley, for which Monroe, unusually, gave full credit. 

Other original Holden tunes are Texan Bluebonnets, Blue Goose, and Lucky Lady. 

For many years he was a long-distance truck driver and hadn’t played the banjo seriously since 1985, except in 2000 when he performed with Peter Rowan at a festival in Dripping Springs, Texas, and picked banjo on Rowan’s Reggaebilly album (circa 2001). 

After running his own businesses in Blanco, Texas, Holden retired to Tennessee.

For those who knew him, he will be remembered for his larger-than-life personality as well as his musical talent and a love for the history of bluegrass music. 

R.I.P. Bill Holden 

There will be a private family celebration. 

A Discography 

Bill Monroe 

  • Bill Monroe Sings Bluegrass, Body And Soul (MCA 2251, released January 10, 1977)
  • Bill Monroe: Bluegrass Memories (MCA 2315, October 3, 1977)

The Country Gentlemen

  • Joe’s Last Train (Rebel Records SLP-1559, 1976)
  • Calling My Children Home (Rebel Records SLP 1574, 1978) 

Peter Rowan

  • Reggaebilly (There! 70007, 2002)

Ask Sonny Anything… Tell us about the guitjo

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Sonny,

Who came up with the Gitjo? The pickin that you did on that was great! Also, when you worked for Bill Monroe, I was wondering In those days if they had you to do any of the driving?

Thanks, Mark K.

Driving Mister Bill. I did quite a lot as a matter of fact. A story goes with that, as I am sure you know or you wouldn’t have asked about driving specifically. So, I was 14 and had been driving since about 9 years old. My Aunt Cynthia had a ’46 Oldsmobile with a form of automatic transmission. She taught me to drive that car. Bill had a ’52 Chrysler and I was driving. Jimmy Martin, Charlie Cline, and I were in the front seat, Bill and Bessie Mauldin were in the back seat, and Bill was telling me every 5 minutes that we were going to be late. Two lane road between Burlington, NC, and on the way to Raleigh to play at the “Number one Drive In Theatre.” I was doing about 90 when I saw the red light flashing on a car about 500 yards behind us and I knew it was a police car, and he had me for speeding. He came up to the drivers window and asked for my drivers license. I politely told him I didn’t have one and he asked my age, I told him 14.

The nice policeman asked Bill if he knew I didn’t have a drivers license, Bill replied, “Ah, no sir I didn’t know!” Which we all knew was not true. The policeman? He told me to get out of the car, I did, and he politely informed me that I would be accompanying him to the police station. Going 90 MPH and having no drivers license was against the law, so, I was going to jail. Was I scared? Naw. Not a bit. Scared to death is more like it. He took me to the Burlington police station and told me if I would promise not to run, he wouldn’t put me in a cell. When it came time for him to go home, I went into a cell then! Man, when I heard that lock turn, it’s a feeling I won’t ever forget…not in this life. Kinda like hearing Earl start Flint Hill, or Tommy Jackson play Fraulein on Bobby Helm’s recording in 1956…nothing like it and something you will not soon forget. CLUNK!!!! Bill sent Jimmy and Charlie back to get me after their show… My fine was $65 which was supposed to be my per week salary… which I never once received. He didn’t give me any money the next week. Made me pay for the fine after telling me to go faster. Mr. Monroe at his finest!

The Guitjo was built by Greg Rich for Larry McNeely to use on the Glen Campbell TV show. I was told that it was never used because of the lack of volume. So when Larry moved back to Nashville he put it on consignment with George Gruhn. George showed it to me and I bought it. For my use, it worked perfectly. I loved the sound. What is it? It’s a copy of the Maccaferry, which is a copy of the great SELMER, a French classical guitar. I still have it. Joe Mullins used it once on a recording, and Aaron McDaris used it on a Rhonda Vincent song. It has an interesting inlay design created specifically for this guitar by Greg Rich. One of a kind. 

—–  

Hi Sonny. Thank You and Bobby for all the years of beautiful music.I loved all of your catalog, but Bluegrass Melodies rocked my world.  never heard a prettier tune in bluegrass. Thank you again!

Dan S.

Hey Dan’l. Thank you for sharing your time with us!

I appreciate the kind words. It’s always nice to hear someone say they have enjoyed something you did. Bluegrass Melodies was written by Richard Stadler, a student at the University of Texas at the time. He also wrote Up This Hill and Down, My Favorite Memory, When You Wind Down… and more that other artists recorded. My Favorite Memory was the back side of Rocky Top so ole Rich made a pretty good haul that day.

—–

Hi Sonny, in my opinion, besides the banjo, you were also one of the great baritone singers. How did you learn that part and how would you tell someone how to sing it? When you listen to records, it’s easy to pick out the lead and tenor, but you can’t hear the baritone part well enough to tell what he’s doing. But, you can tell when there is no baritone singing also. Just wondering. Thanks for all you and Bobby have done for bluegrass. You guys had the best harmony!!

Roger A.

Roger, Thank you for coming right on in h’yer!

Most recording engineers, when they remix harmony singers, they mix the lead vocal a bit out front and the two harmony parts a click below that. I couldn’t see it that way. We mixed our trio so the parts were all equal in volume. We were so used to singing together that it was all equal values, and we knew how to make it sound that way on live shows. The best way for equality on vocal parts is a U87 or RE16. It’s been so long I might have those mics wrong. Good mics go a long way.

Singing, or just hearing parts is something that I’m NOT SURE CAN BE TAUGHT. A teacher can make one aware of the different parts, and the person is awakened to the fact that they hear and understand what the teacher is trying to get across, or it’s like a foreign language to them. Country/bluegrass harmony consists of 4 parts. (Or at least it does in my world) Tenor, Lead, Baritone, and Bass. Top to bottom. Lead being the absolute melody of the song. Tenor is one step above lead, baritone being one step below and bass below baritone. Now, here is where it can become tricky to the student. Imagine there are 4 lines, each being a part. Harmony is just what it implies, each part depends on another….it’s in harmony with another part. WOW…The Chief thinks he’s in over his head. If you want anything more I might have to enlist someone who knows more than I. I think I can do this but I will study on it and get back to you….😚 !                                                                

—–

Hi Sonny,

How DID your dad charge the battery on that old radio? Thanks a lot!

Mike R.

Mike. I’ve been thinking about this and I don’t really know. But I have friends in weird places who don’t know as much as I, and I have friends in stranger places who did know more. Jim Smith, whose folks had one of those radios which he has now. He was able to give me some insight on this radio subject. It appears that those radios had a dry cell battery which you didn’t charge, you got your Sears catalog from the out house and ordered a new battery. Problem solved.

—–

Sonny, Back in the day of the skin head, how did the banjo setup differ from then to the day of the plastic head…and what gauge strings did banjo players use.
Paul Thompson, Ohio

Paul, thanks for your time.

In the ’50s, the days of the skin head, the Rogers 3 star was considered the top of the line. Others were made but I don’t have a clue as to what the were. Cost about $25 and there was no guarantee, so when it split, good luck finding a head on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon. Best was to buy two or three at once. You had to master the art of mounting the thing too. Lots of times you had to settle for unmounted. And I clue you, if this was the case, you had better have someone show you how to do it. I ruined more than one with a razor blade. Then you had to worry about the tension. NO DRUM DIAL. You had to brush or tap the head and find out what tone the aforementioned brush or tap emitted. I have ridden for miles trying to dry a head… banjo out of the case laid to rest in the back window of the car… so the sun would hit it… Oh wait though…must not let the sun get it too tight or the —- thing would break. Voila…. you got to start all over again. Keeping a banjo sounding good was an everyday job. If you were playing Sunset Park, or New River Ranch and it was raining you got the head as tight as possible and hurried to the stage AND ALONG ABOUT HALFWAY THROUGH YOUR SHOW THE BOTTYOM WOULD DROP OUT. You’re playing Cumberland Gap and suddenly your right hand feels sorta spongy. This signals half a show of tuning.

String gauge? 1949…what was that. Black Diamond was small. Gibson was very big. Mapes, Bell Brand, Marlin. Black Diamond was good sounding and playing, but sometimes you could get one complete show out of them…and when they died, THEY DIED!

S

If you have something you would like to ask Sonny, be sure to post it in the comments below, or send it to us directly.

California Report: Butch Waller on High Country and Bill Monroe

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The history of California bluegrass runs right through Butch Waller, and the award-winning band High Country he has lead for over half a century. Butch has played his Monroe-style mandolin in many influential bands, and alongside friends and bluegrass legends such as Herb Pedersen, Richard Green, Rick Shubb, David Nelson, Keith Little, Pete Wernick, Larry Cohea, Pat Enright, Greg Spatz, and many others. Additional information on High Country can be found at the High Country website, the Bluegrass Signal Bay Area Bluegrass timeline, and the Hooterollin’ Around blog.

Thanks for your time Butch. Did you grow up listening to bluegrass?

I grew up in Berkeley. When I was 11 or 12 or so, I pestered my parents for a guitar, and that Christmas I got a brand new Stella. My friend Herb Pedersen taught me some chords, and during grammar school and high school we played and sang stuff we heard on the radio, our favorites being the Everly Brothers and Buddy Holly. When the “folk scare” came along and grabbed the country, we gradually developed an interest in traditional music. Herb bought a banjo, and with another high school friend we became a folk group, calling ourselves The Westport Singers. The pivotal bluegrass moment came in the early ’60s when we happened upon the Redwood Canyon Ramblers (Northern California’s first bluegrass band) playing at a local shopping center. We got bit by the bluegrass bug, as have so many others, and that was that. I started playing mandolin sometime in that time period. As time went by, we became the Pine Valley Boys, and the final composition of the band was David Nelson (now of the New Riders) on guitar, Richard Green, (who would fly up from LA for gigs) on fiddle, Geoff Levin on bass, Herb Pedersen on banjo, and me on mandolin. 

How long did that lineup stay together?

That band broke up in ’65 or so when Herb went to Nashville with Vern and Ray. I enrolled in art school and didn’t do much playing for a couple of years until my friend Mylos Sonka called me to do some picking one day in 1968—and that led to playing coffee houses and such under the name High Country. We had a gig booked at the (first) Freight and Salvage Coffeehouse when Mylos got pretty banged up in a car accident and was likely to be laid up for awhile. I got some other folks involved and we played the gig. I’d met Rich Wilbur at art school and he became High Country’s guitar man. Bruce Nemerov (banjo), Ed Neff (fiddle), and Chuck Wiley (bass) joined a year or so later. Lonnie Feiner replaced Chuck soon after. Rich left in ‘71, but not before our first record was in the can. Chris Boutwell came on board and was on our first record (High Country) and the second (Dreams). At this point in time, over 30 people have been members of High Country. 

I was approached by Banana (Lowell Levinger of the Youngbloods) in 1970, who said that they were starting a record label called Racoon Records, to be distributed by Warner Bros. People in this country and Europe have told me that it was the first bluegrass album they’d ever heard. I don’t know if that’s a good or bad thing, but there you go. 

What music do you remember growing up?

I remember my mom bringing home a 78(!) of Hound Dog and not being able to sit still when I heard it. My dad played the harmonica and loved to sing. Buffalo Gals and She’ll Be Comin’ Around the Mountain were familiar songs. He also could sing all the words to the fiddle tune Little Beggar Man—I don’t know where he learned it, but he studied law in Virginia and his family was from Kentucky. 

Do you remember when you knew you had to play bluegrass and Monroe-style mandolin?

I knew I’d be playing bluegrass the first time I heard it—I sure wanted to. Like a lot of city folk I was slower to appreciate the vocals, but I was totally excited about the picking. I first listened a lot to Bobby Osborne and tried to copy his style, which I still love. But over time I came to appreciate the subtlety and power of Bill’s playing. I think mine is influenced by both. 

What was your first instrument?

I had a bunch of guitars that changed with my taste in music. I had two or three bowl-back mandolins and a couple of cheap flat-backs. I eventually got a Gibson A model, but I don’t have any of those instruments now. I got my Gibson F5 in 1964, and I also have a Miller I like a lot. 

You mentioned that you’re retired. Did you have a day job?

 I worked for 20 years in the addiction treatment field. 

How many different bands have you been in? 

Six, I guess, but High Country has always been my main squeeze. 

Care to elaborate?

  • The Pine Valley Boys
  • High Country 
  • Ol’ Pals
  • The David Thom Band
  • Wendy Butch Steel and Redwood
  • The Thundering Heard 

You’ve kept that band going over fifty years now. What’s the key to that longevity? 

There are a lot of qualities that make a good band member—good musicianship is certainly number one—but things like being dependable and committed, and the ability to just get along with other people are some of the others. I’ve been mostly lucky on all counts. 

High Country’s first album High Country circa 1971

Did players at Paul’s Saloon realize how special and pivotal that scene would be to the history of California bluegrass?

Not so much. You’d be fortunate these days to land a steady bar gig that paid as well as Paul’s did. We didn’t know then that it paid better than any bar gig would in the foreseeable future. So it helped support a lot of bands through the years. That having been said, it was a mellow scene and an actual hangout for musicians. I remember it with a lot of affection. Like they say, you don’t miss your water ’til the well runs dry, and that’s been too apparent since Paul’s closed. It ran from 1971 until ’90 or so, and hasn’t been replaced. 

Why do you suppose Northern California skews more towards traditional bluegrass?

I’m not so sure it does anymore, but it did. Things change, and that’s certainly true for bluegrass—I’m sure there were people who worried for old time and folk music when Bill Monroe came on the scene. So nothing stays the same and music evolves, always has. But that said, there are still lots of traditional players around, though none of us are getting any younger. But there are several good younger players interested in the traditional style. I played Laurie Lewis’s celebration of Monroe’s birthday at the Freight earlier this month, and Jasper Manning tore it up on the mandolin. 

Have you been performing recently, and any plans to get back out there?

No, not much. We’ve had one gig since COVID hit. We’re all a little gun-shy with regard to the pandemic, so I really haven’t tried to book anything. I’ll be playing with the band Ol’ Pals in Monterey on November 16. 

When did you first see Bill Monroe and do you recall what went through your mind?

I think it was at the Monterey Folk Festival, where we’d gone to see Bill Monroe and Doc Watson, probably 1964. Sometime during the day, whether before or after the show I don’t remember, we were playing together sitting on the grass with some folks gathered around … and up strolls Bill. I don’t remember a whole lot about it, but he had on a white suit and he stood there and listened to us. It was your total “Oh s***!” moment. I was 20 years old and trying to learn the mandolin, and here was Bill Monroe. I don’t remember what we were playing, but at the end, and on the last beat Bill gives a little stamp with his foot. That was encouraging. 

Bill Monroe and Doc Watson Paddy on the Turnpike

Why do you think Monroe is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?

I don’t know what their reasons were, but he deserves to be, for helping to build the foundation. Listen to early rock ‘n’ roll and rockabilly, then listen to Bill’s Bluegrass Stomp or Bluegrass Part 1 (aka Bluegrass Twist, as it was named later by the record company, obviously hoping to break into the R&R market). Although it never happened, as far as I know, I can envision Bill jamming with Chuck Berry. Blue Moon of Kentucky was covered by Elvis Presley and the Beatles. And when you think of the music that influenced both bluegrass and rock, you find an awful lot that they share. They’re relatives. 

What Monroe tunes/songs do you just never get tired of and why. 

My faves are any duets with Jimmy Martin or Lester Flatt and particularly, Little Cabin Home on the Hill (perfectly matched and totally sweet but with bluesy jagged mandolin break), The Old Kentucky Shore (spooky and powerful), and Can’t You Hear Me Calling with Mac Wiseman (Bill’s tenor is hair-raising—like who would have thought of THAT?). Bill’s songwriting never gets the attention it deserves, but what he called his “true songs”—ones that he wrote from his own life experiences—are beautifully written in raw emotion. I never get tired of Rawhide—makes my heart race every time I hear it. The tunes on Bill’s Master of Bluegrass album show a mature and still highly creative musician. Bill talked about his songs and tunes telling stories. His My Last Days on Earth certainly does that with composing and playing so poignant it hits me in the gut every time. 

To your ears, who are some of the more interesting interpreters of Bill’s music.

Chris Henry has really makes a study of Bill’s music and is a fine player. Anyone trying to learn the Monroe style would do well to check out his instructional videos. Skip Gorman is another good one, and Mike Compton is particularly good with the tunes Bill wrote later in life. Lauren Napier Price has a wonderful touch. She is maybe not as well known as the guys but she can bring it.

What periods of his music do you connect with the most and least?

I love the stuff with Lester and Earl because it’s just great, period. That band was the template for everything that came after. The ’50s had Bill at his in-your-face bluesiest in his playing and his writing… I’m fascinated by his entire career. After the hard times for country and bluegrass with the advent of rock ‘n’ roll, Bill seemed to have a renewal of energy, helped I think by the young city musicians Rowan, Green, and Greer. During that time it seemed to me he got a lift from their enthusiasm. The band that included Baker, Robins, and Lewis was really exceptional in the ’80s. The first time I saw Bill and the Blue Grass Boys was at a concert in Berkeley in 1964, I think. That band with Del McCoury on guitar, Bill Keith on banjo, and Kenny Baker on fiddle was, well, you can imagine! At that show I was sitting near the aisle during intermission and happen to hear Bill say as he walked by while speaking to someone else, “Well you know, I like anything with a little blues in it.” I also heard a local banjo player quip regarding Keith, “We’re having a banjo burning party after the show.”

Which of his bands do you think are the most underrated?

I don’t know—the stuff that we didn’t get to hear enough of, either on recordings or tapes of live shows, with Edd Mayfield or Jack Cooke on guitar. That ’80s band I mentioned was underrated I think. There were so many wonderful sidemen who worked for Bill it’s hard to choose. 

Do you have a feeling what it was like for him reinventing the music when Earl and Lester left his band?

I would think it was tough losing two of the best at the same time. But it certainly wasn’t the end of the line. I think “reinventing” may be the wrong word. Bill defined bluegrass, and he kept on doing it with many other great musicians who in turn would leave to start their own bands.

Which duet songs are among your favorites?

  • Letter from My Darling
  • Where Is My Sailor Boy (Monroe Bros.)
  • I’m Blue I’m Lonesome
  • Traveling Down This Lonesome Road
  • Highway of Sorrow (Bill recorded it as a solo but we do it as a duet)
  • I Hope You’ve Learned

Monroe Brothers  – Where is My Sailor Boy

Do you have any lesser known interesting insights/stories you can share? 

His mandolin was the best and most responsive I’ve ever played. I’ve played a few Gibson F5s from that era and most were great mandolins, but not that good. 

Here’s how I met Bill… When I was really just learning to play, and living in LA with the Pine Valley Boys, we went to see Bill at the Ash Grove. We had no money then and couldn’t afford more than one show, but the owner, Ed Pearl, (bless his heart) allowed us to hang out in the lobby every night where we could hear the music. My friend Sandy Rothman was there as well, and he knew Bill Keith, who was playing banjo with Monroe at the time. He met up with Keith, and one night in the course of things, told him about my new old Gibson mandolin and asked me to bring it in. Keith had a look and went backstage, returning with Monroe. Bill played on it a bit, handed it back to me, and told me to play something. I fumbled through a fiddle tune, way too nervous to summon whatever skill I had at that point. I asked him about Rawhide and he showed me some things that went in one ear and out the other, but he took time, was nice if intimidating…and patient. Later we were backstage, the whole lot of us, and the subject of mandolins came up again. I’ll never forget— Monroe’s bass player and girlfriend, Bessie Lee Mauldin, said, “Ira Louvin use to ask Bill to play his mandolins; said he put the tone in them.” Mine too. 

Are your vocals and duet harmonies as influenced by Monroe as your playing?

Yeah, I think so. The Monroe duets that my brother Bob and I do—well that’s the fun of it, trying to get that sound. It’s fun. 

I remember a CBA Father’s Day Festival workshop with six different mandolinists, all unique players but heavily influenced by Monroe (you, Ed Neff, Mike Compton, David Grisman, Roland White, and Chris Henry). How many styles did Bill play and how much did his playing evolve?

He only played one style, but there were different periods of emphasis. But from the early days of his career with his brother, Charlie you can hear hints of what’s coming, and the blues were always part of it. 

Mando Madness CBA 2015 Fathers Day Festival Workshop

When did you start writing your own material?

I guess it was the early ’80s. I’m not a prolific writer, and am completely dependent on when the muse decides to visit. My friend Ed Neff once said to me with regard to my starting to write, “You can only play this stuff for so long before it starts to leak out.” That pretty much covers it. 

You’ve had success getting well-known players to record your work. How did that come about?

The first song I ever wrote was Blues for Your Own, which Sally Van Meter liked and recorded with her brother, Danny. As luck would have it, the producer of the TV show, Northern Exposure, heard it and used it in the show. That paid the rent for a while. In the summer of 1969 Sandy Rothman introduced me to Peter Wernick, who was in town for a while, and he and I and Rich Wilbur played some shows (don’t ask about the audition at the topless bar). So fast forward to the early ’90s when I asked Peter to write the notes for a High Country album. My song, A Voice on the Wind, was on it, and Peter liked it well enough to bring it to the rest of the Hot Rize gang and they recorded it. 

What are some ways that you know when a piece is done?

I’m not sure. Sometimes it’s obvious, but sometimes you can work on something so much it gets stale. I like when I stop before that. 

Any favorites? 

Obviously, the two I mentioned, Blues for Your Own and A Voice on the Wind, but I also like Left Here Alone and Sunset on the Prairie a lot. 

Thanks for your time Butch. Is there anything else you’d like to say?

Doing this really sent me down memory lane. Thanks for the opportunity

Here is a list of players who have been in High Country

  • Alan Senauke guitar
  • Bob Waller guitar
  • Bruce Nemerov banjo
  • Butch Waller mandolin
  • Chris Boutwell guitar
  • Chuck Wiley bass
  • Dave Thompson guitar
  • David Crummey bass
  • David Nelson guitar
  • Ed Neff fiddle
  • Gene Tortora dobro
  • George Inskeep bass
  • Glenn Dauphin bass
  • Greg Spatz fiddle
  • Jack Leiderman fiddle
  • Jim Mintun dobro
  • Jim Moss fiddle
  • Keith Little guitar
  • Kevin Thompson bass
  • Larry Cohea banjo
  • Larry Hughes guitar
  • Lonnie Feiner bass
  • Markie Shubb bass
  • Mylos Sonka guitar
  • Pat Enright guitar 
  • Peter Grant banjo
  • Peter Wernick banjo
  • Rich Wilbur guitar
  • Rick Shubb banjo
  • Steve Pottier bass
  • Steve Swan bass
  • Sue Ericsson vocalist
  • Tom Bekeny fiddle

Additional Listening…

The Last Days of Paul’s Saloon

Copy editing by Jeanie Poling

On the Bus with Bill Monroe by Mark Hembree

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When, in June 1979, Chicago-born Mark Hembree approached Bill Monroe about taking over as the permanent replacement for Randy Davis, Hembree had hair “to the middle of my back,” not an ideal candidate it would appear. However, a trim of his locks and a successful audition led to his tenure as the bass player with the Blue Grass Boys. 

In what looks to be an occasionally amusing account, Hembree will have his memories of his time working for the father of bluegrass music published in the forthcoming book, On the Bus with Bill Monroe – My Five-Year Ride with the Father of Blue Grass, next April (2022). 

Hembree relates …. 

“I actually began this in 1979. Back then, I knew my experience was significant, and so I did write. I just never felt I had the perspective to write it well enough. I’m actually surprised at how much of the material I was able to keep, though — not a diary, but a briefcase full of notes and essays that survived three moves. 

I began in earnest in late 2018 during a job where I had a lot of down time, but had to remain at my desk. Better than searching seminars or surfing Facebook. The interesting part was sorting my memories. Tom Ewing helped me a lot by supplying an itinerary he had compiled that included the years I was with Bill. It helped me get my ducks in a chronological row. 

My research was mostly double-checking myself, and that brought some surprises and additional perspective. Blake Williams and I discussed writing a book back then, but he figured we would have to wait until everyone had died. However, as Blake noted a few months ago when I was trying to run some details down, people didn’t have to die first. No one remembers anymore. Same thing! I avoided books by the other [Blue Grass Boys] because I didn’t want their memories to sneak into mine. Now I can read them! 

One startling realization I had was that Bill was only two years older than I am when he hired me. Yeesh! Anyway, my fond hope is that people will find my account enlightening and, dare I say, more humorous than previous books. At the recent Monroe Mandolin Camp, I was called upon to deliver some stories. Hearing a live audience laugh with me was great (and a big relief).”

The publisher, University of Illinois Press, has this to say about the book …. 

A backstage audition led Mark Hembree into a five-year stint (1979–1984) as the bassist for Bill Monroe’s Blue Grass Boys. Hembree’s journey included playing at the White House and on the acclaimed album, Master of Bluegrass. But it also put him on a collision course with the rigors of touring, the mysteries of Southern culture, and the complex personality of bandleader-legend Bill Monroe. Whether it’s figuring out the best time for breakfast (early), or for beating the boss at poker (never), Hembree gives readers an up-close look at the occasionally exalting, often unglamorous life of a touring musician in the sometimes baffling, always colorful company of a bluegrass icon.

The amusing story of a Yankee fish out of water, On the Bus with Bill Monroe mixes memoir with storytelling to recount the adventures of a Northerner learning new ways and the Old South.

Hembree participated in several studio sessions and can be heard on recordings of live performances from the period as a Blue Grass Boy. 

Hembree sings If I Should Wander Back Tonight from a Bill Monroe set, circa 1982, Norco, California 

 

Filmed by Don Clark and from the archive of The Bluegrass Bus Museum.

Details:

On the Bus with Bill Monroe – My Five-Year Ride with the Father of Blue Grass
Publication Date: April 5, 2022.
Pages: 224 pages
Dimensions: 6 x 9 in
Illustrations: 23 black and white photographs

It will be available in three formats …

Cloth – $110.00
ISBN 978-0-252-04442-7
Paper – $19.95
978-0-252-08649-6
eBook – $14.95
978-0-252-05341-2

Ask Sonny Anything… did Bill Monroe like electric bass?

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Sonny:

I once joined a bluegrass band to play mandolin and sing tenor. Not longer after I joined, the bass player quit, so I took over that job. Having never played the bass before, I got an electric bass guitar. At that time, both Jim & Jesse and the Osborne Brothers were using electric bass guitars. I figured if electric bass was good enough for these first-generation legends, it was good enough for me. I took some flack for that and was once reprimanded for playing electric bass at a SPBGMA festival. I have a SPBGMA sticker on my Fender bass case to this day. Did the Osborne Brothers ever get any complaints about using an electric bass?

Orin Friesen

Orin, thank you for your time and participation. It is appreciated and I’m happy to hear from you. It’s been a long time and I hope you’re well.

In answer to your question, Bill Monroe wouldn’t hire us at Bean Blossom because we had an electric bass. And my answer to Bill was that we were thinking about having a festival and we wanted to hire him without his mandolin pick. And his answer was the infamous “that ain’t no part of nothin’” and it was! Because our bass amp and electric bass were as much a part of our sound as anything else you could point to.

(I was there the first time Bill Monroe ever said that expression. It was in Alexandria, Virginia, and the crowd was shouting out requests. Someone asked for Take Me Back to Tulsa and Bill turned to Kenny Baker and asked “do you know that number.” He said, “no, I don’t,” and Bill kind of stuttered and said, “well, that ain’t no part of nothin’!”)
S

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Sonny, thank you so much for answering my question a few weeks ago (regarding Buck Owens and other country artists attempting bluegrass). As you said, a background in country music doesn’t prepare you to make bluegrass. So my question today is the reverse: do you feel like a bluegrass background is beneficial to an artist attempting to cross over to country (I mean in an artistic sense, not necessarily a commercial one). Ricky Skaggs, Marty Stuart, and Vince Gill are clearly better musicians than the average country singers of their eras, and all of them as well as the late Keith Whitley and even Chris Stapleton today have largely steered clear of the quest for pop crossover success and sold out arena shows that seems to plague many in the country field. Do you attribute some of that to them beginning their careers in the bluegrass world?

On a different note, what are your thoughts on Dave Evans as a banjo player, and do you have any stories about him?

Thanks again and God bless,

Adam

Adam, I appreciate your time and participation.

I’m not sure I can answer these questions appropriately. I can mention several who were born within a bluegrass music environment – Paul Brewster and Larry Sparks – they both could have made it as a country act if they had used the right instrumentation as well as the correct songs. Larry Sparks is my favorite singer. I frankly can’t see Flatt and Scruggs, Don and Red, or anyone else who was a big name in bluegrass making it as a country band. I really can’t. And actually I should include us in that, because we sold a lot of records with steel, piano, drums, electric guitar, and those players were Nashville’s A-Team and so we had the best Nashville had to offer.

I thought we had great songs and we were considered country because in 1971, we won the Country Music Association’s Vocal Group of the Year. And my dad always said, “bragging isn’t bragging if you can back it up.” And it would be impossible to be raised in a more bluegrass home than we were, and we sold strongly to a country audience…21 songs on the national charts. Case closed!

I don’t have any stories about Dave Evans and I don’t have an opinion of him as a banjo player.
S

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I was listening to an old record of Wynn Osborne and the Bluegrass Playboys and noticed the tone he pulled on Flint Hill Special and Dear Old Dixie and wondered, if he was playing your Granada on that album. It was great when he filled in with you guys in the ’80s and he could pick up where you left off on stuff.

Wes V

Wes (has to be Vanderpool)… I’m glad to hear from you. And yes, Wynn played my Granada on that whole album and it shows. As a teenager, I thought Wynn would develop into maybe the best banjo player out there. One night at the Opry, Bobby asked me if Wynn could play Foggy Mountain Breakdown on our portion of the show. Wynn was about 13. And I said sure, go ahead. That kid stepped up to the mic with an RB-100 Gibson and played the mortal hell out of Foggy Mountain Breakdown and he never missed a lick. And he accomplished in two and a half minutes what I couldn’t accomplish in a lifetime at the Grand Ole Opry. For some reason, I could never play well in that building or on that show. I never was happy with anything I did on the Opry. Of course, take into consideration the sound coming from the Opry was never what you would call really good and it still isn’t. Of course nowadays, it is not the same Opry that I knew in the ’60s and ’70s. Krako must have been staked out! I bet he did, really.
S

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Hello Sonny, thank you for this forum. It brings back a lot of fond memories, which leads me to my question. My first exposure to live bluegrass occurred in the 1970s when I was a banjo-obsessed teenager living in Atlanta. I had not been born into the world of bluegrass and it was something I had to seek out. Before I could drive I would go to Shoal Creek Park in Lavonia, GA with my parents. I was instantly hooked. It was the first time I saw you play, and, well, you know the lineup at that festival in those days. That was also the first time I saw Bill Monroe play, and those late night sets seared my brain forever. I don’t think it’s time that has magnified my memories, but it does seem like that festival had moments that were hard to find later. My question is: Can you share your special memories of the Lavonia festival, and its role in live bluegrass at the time? My view of that festival was as a young spectator, so I would like to hear your behind the scenes experiences. Thank you very much.

Karl R.

Karl, thank you for joining our chaotic free-for-all. Sometimes it does seem like that, but it’s always appreciated.

Shoal Creek Park had to be the hottest venue ever created. I swear, I saw Mac Wiseman just crumble there once when he weighed 400 pounds. While Shoal Creek was a good outlet for bluegrass music, the sound was always good and we always got paid. One sour note that clouds my memory comes from PBS – one Sunday or it might have been Saturday, they were determined to film us and I said no, but their determination showed its ugly face in the form of a remote control television camera. It was set up 30 feet in front of me on stage, and every time I’d look up, that camera was pointed in a different direction with no one behind it operating it. And so right in the middle of the one song, I just stopped and asked our band to have a seat on a bunch of hay bales they had placed on the stage. And I said in the mic “until that camera is pointed down to the ground, I’m not going to play another note.” And the guy who was running the camera went berserk. “I’ve got to get this done!” he said. I said, “Not today you don’t! I told you beforehand no! In this case your determination has failed you miserably, because it was in my contract that I don’t have to allow you to film us.”

We ran into this situation several times but our record contract and our agency contract didn’t allow us to be filmed. And that’s the truth.

I may have retold the previous story, and for that I apologize, but I figure it’s worth retelling, and I figure the guy might remember the two words I told him. The crowd probably remembers too.
S

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Dictation – Sonny Osborne
Typist – Aynsley Porchak
Question coordinator – Lincoln Hensley
Kibitzing – Pepper and Judy Osborne

If you have something you would like to ask Sonny, be sure to post it in the comments below, or send it to us directly.

Ask Sonny Anything… did your wife ever travel with you and Bobby?

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Sonny, I’ve been enjoying your column since it began, and I finally decided to toss in my two cents worth.

Last week you said that you played better standing up than you did sitting down. I’ve noticed the same about my own playing, though in my case it’s probably more correct to say that I play worse sitting down than I do standing up.

I have two questions for you.

First: Whose idea was this column? Did BluegrassToday approach you, or did you approach them?

Second: Back in the early 1990s or thereabouts, you played a festival up here in Minnesota. At the time I had a portable (just barely) VCR recorder/camera and had been taping a few performances. A friend of mine warned me not to record when The Osborne Brothers were on stage, because at another event where a spectator was recording your set, you had called out the person and demanded to know, ‘Who gave you permission to do that?’ Do you recall such an incident? And if so, did the person cease and desist, or was there an argument? (I took the warning to heart and left my recorder in the truck during your sets.)

Thanks much!

Randy G.

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Randy. Thank you for joining us… and a couple of interesting questions.

First of all, standing and playing probably releases something in your brain that makes you hear things that nobody else hears. And standing gives you a more creative spirit. I guess.

This column was a product of Terry Herd. He asked me a question and asked me to answer it, which I did. He said, ‘Would you like to do a column entitled Ask Sonny Anything?’ I said yes and here we are.

I remember playing the festival in Minnesota, but that incident didn’t happen at that festival. Our recording contract with Decca had a clause that did not allow us to knowingly let someone record us, and so we decided to enter that into our contract which was sent to promoters. Which simply gave us the right to refuse, and the promoter had to agree to it.

The worst incident of this nature happened in Lavonia, GA at Shoal Creek Park. We had a large crowd, and had already told PBS that they could not film us. So when we went on I noticed a huge TV camera set up about 20 feet in front of the stage. It was aimed right at us and the red light was blinking. We stopped playing and sat down on some bales of hay on the stage and I said that as long as that camera was out there and working, we wouldn’t play.

The PBS guy went berserk, and I told him, ‘I can’t help you because I can’t give you permission to record us. We can’t go on until you point that camera straight into the ground and turn it off.’ We finished our show then, and had a good time.

Chances are, Randy, if you would have asked…there was a 50/50 chance that we would have said yes. But we had to protect ourselves.
S.

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Sonny, when you were recording with Bill Monroe, was Ernie Newton playing the drum on his bass? Did you like that sound?

Cliff in Portsmouth, OH

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Cliff in Portsmouth, OH.

When I was recording with Bill Monroe, everyone saw the drumhead mounted on Ernie Newton’s bass, and naturally we asked him to demonstrate, which he did, and Bill promptly said, “That ain’t no part of nuthin’,” and at that time Paul Cohen agreed.
S

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Sonny, that is really interesting that you sat for recording. Probably means they gave you a lowered vocal mic as well as one for the banjo. I’m fairly sure you all were not using headphones, so evidently you were able to hear each other well enough to blend the three voices. Did you maintain this configuration all through your recording career with the Brothers?

I’ve watched you play standing uncountable times, and I know you were very comfortable that way…able to improvise freely and play anything you wanted to. The idea that you “perhaps would have become a great banjo player” is pretty funny coming from one of the greatest banjo players (and harmony singers) of all time.

A quick note on Bill and baseball: In the brief time I toured with him in 1964, gloves and balls and bats were always up in the racks above the seats. I played catch with him numerous times and, despite his vision (or mine, which also wasn’t that great), found him to be accurate in both pitching and catching.

Sandy R.
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Sandy Rothman, it’s always good to hear from you.

We didn’t use headphones until later in our career. Hal Rugg played steel and we couldn’t hear what he was doing, but we could hear the rest of the guys in the studio. So far as our vocal configuration, we did maintain this setup for the most part of our career.

The subject of Bill Monroe and baseball….we traveled in a car for the most part, and I think you are making reference to a bus, therefore there wasn’t room for bats, balls, gloves, etc. On one trip, I remember Bill’s son James (who was 2 years younger than I) brought a couple of gloves and a ball, and James and I tossed them back and forth. But other that what I’ve already explained, that was the extent of the baseball experience with Bill Monroe.

Sandy, it’s always a pleasure to hear from you. We’ve been friends for a very long time.
S

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Hey Sonny, sure love your column and y’alls music. I was wondering did Judy travel with ya’ll a lot back in the days, or did she stay home and keep the fares a burnin’. Keep doin what cha doin’ we think a whole lot of ya’ll.

Terry C.

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Terry…thank you for your time.

Judy and I were married in 1958, and our son was born in 1960, our daughter in 1962. Up until the children came along, she worked and supported us at Delco Products in Dayton, OH which was a division of General Motors. Had she not done this, we would have starved to death, which would not have been a bad thing on my part, but she weighed 90 lbs.

Consequently, I got a job driving a taxi cab for the Yellow Cab Company, to put biscuits and ‘taters on the table. That’s what I was doing when we were made members of The Grand Ole Opry, and from that point things had a slight upturn, and she had two teenagers to raise at the same time.

I thank the Lord for Judy, and her Dad, George, who donated a lot for us to build a little house on, which we did. It was 750 square feet, and it cost $6500 to build. The humongous house payment was $64 a month, which we were barely able to make.
S

See you next week!!!!

If you have something you would like to ask Sonny, be sure to post it in the comments below, or send it to us directly.

Ask Sonny Anything… did you play baseball with Bill Monroe?

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Terry Herd decided to go to Oregon. He had to cross them Rocky Mountains to get there and I’m wondering if he got Larry Stephenson to drive him out there in his luxury bus and, if so, my hope is that Larry charged him from 2 to 3 dollars a mile because, boys, I’ll betcha going over them ‘air Rocky Mountains puts an awful strain on them ‘air bus engines, and when them ‘air engines blow up it’s “Katie bar the door!”

S

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You talked about Bill Monroe’s poor vision and bad driving, but I wonder how he managed to be a good baseball player if he couldn’t see well. Were you ever involved with him when he was playing ball with the Blue Grass Boys? Butch Robins says that when he first joined the band Monroe threw a baseball at him, as an intimidation move. Did you ever see anything like that? Did you ever see him play baseball?

Jim L.

Jim L. Thank you for your time. It’s appreciated a great deal.

Bill Monroe had poor vision and was not a good driver. I was there and saw this with my own eyes. As far as Bill being a good baseball player, I don’t know that for sure because I was not involved with him when the Blue Grass Boys had a baseball team. At one point, you said that Bill threw a baseball at Butch Robbins as an intimidation move. I don’t know how that could be an intimidation move…if he had hit Butch with that baseball, it appears to me as though that would be cause for a lawsuit. I never saw anything like that, and I never saw him play baseball although, while riding along from one date to another in the car, Bill would lean over the front seat and tell whoever was listening up there to turn the radio on and see if he could find a baseball game.

I will say this about his love for the game of baseball. When I went to work with him, in 1952, while we were in the city of Detroit, he took us to see the Tigers and Yankees play. I don’t remember who went to the game, but I know I did and Bill did, and if I remember correctly Mickey Mantle was playing center field for the Yankees. We went to Briggs Stadium in Detroit. I never saw Bill play baseball but he did love the game and I think as time passed up into the ’60s, Bill and I grew a fondness for each other and sometimes I miss him terribly.
S

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Sonny, you’ve kindly answered questions before about the Osborne Brothers’ studio setups. Were all the sessions, including the great trio vocals and instrumentals, done standing…or seated?

Many thanks,

Sandy

Sandy…so good to hear from you again, although it has been too long.

The Osborne Brothers’ studio setups, including the trio vocals and instrumentals, were done with me sitting facing Bobby who was standing, and the 3rd part on my right would be standing. I didn’t realize it at the time, I wish I had, that I played better standing than I did sitting. Had I known that at the time, I would have stood and perhaps would have become a great banjo player.
S

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I’m throughly enjoying this column each week. My question is, would you ever consider making a book of this Ask Sonny Anything column. I’d like to see all these compiled into a book someday.

They’re interesting to read each week, and I’d buy the book. I’ll also buy your autobiography book if it ever gets printed.

Thanks for this fun column.

Raynae R.

This is to Raynae. Thank you for your time and involvement in our chaotic free-for-all.

Would I ever consider making a book of this Ask Me Anything column? It had not occurred to me to do that, and maybe someday in the future somebody will take that idea and run with it. But I doubt that it will be me. So if that ever happens, and I sell one book, I will know that it was you who bought it.

If my autobiography book ever sees the light of day, I will also know that Raynae was the buyer, and that my son and daughter were not. And that’s not saying much for my wife, Judy, is it? Because in my present condition she’s doing all the typing, and any mistake you see was probably on poipose.
S

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Sonny, absolutely LOVING this column. Thank you for all you done and continue to do for us fans. Here’s my question: If there were a list of holy sites to visit for bluegrass music, what would be on it? Example: Bill Monroe’s Homeplace, Uncle Pen’s Cabin, etc?

Johnny B.G.

Johnny Be Good, whoever you are I’m sure that’s not your name, and that concept is far from my realm of knowledge which ended in the 3rd month of the 10th grade, and from there on it was Bill Monroe, Jimmy Martin, Charley Cline, and many others, which explains a lot.

When you say holy sites to visit for bluegrass music, I would first of all say:

  • The Ryman Auditorium which would be the beginning of bluegrass music.
  • Earl Scruggs homeplace.
  • The spot where Jimmy Martin’s house sat in Hermitage, TN and was bulldozed down recently.
  • The studio in Cincinnati, OH where Foggy Mountain Breakdown was recorded.
  • Castle Studio in Nashville, where Rawhide and Rudy Lyle’s infamous banjo break was created.

That’s all. Seeya later Johnny B. G.
S

If you have something you would like to ask Sonny, be sure to post it in the comments below, or send it to us directly.

Ask Sonny Anything… could Bill Monroe drive a car?

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Hi Sonny,

I just watched you and Bobby and Dale Sledd alongside Marty Robbins. The show was called The Drifter, and was filmed in black and white. It was done before Marty had his facial hair. You boys did three songs plus some powerful acting! What are you memories of that show, and when was it done? I only got to see Marty twice, but one of those times was him closing the second show at the Opry… he could really get the crowd going. I’d always try to see you when you’d play Take It Easy Ranch. Thanks for doing the column. I really enjoy it.

…Bob Simmons…St. Inigoes, MD

Bob Simmons from MD. Welcome and thank you, Bob.

He brought back some memories from long ago. One being Take It Easy Ranch. I don’t know what year it would be that we played there, but it was sure a fun place to play. And most assuredly Tom Reeder and his cohorts would show up and a very good time was had by all.

I remember one day, it had to be at least 110 degrees on stage when we came off stage from the first show, early afternoon. Tom Reeder was standing 15 feet from the stage and I was burning up. Tom had a glass of what I presumed to be ice water and he said, “Yes it was,” when I asked him for a drink. I took a large gulping drink, which was about half of his glass, and I didn’t realize until it hit my stomach that it was not ice water. I’m done with that subject for now.

Bob also mentioned Marty Robbins and the TV show called The Drifter. Marty and I were pretty good friends, and I would imagine that’s how we got to do that show. On Saturday nights in the summer at the racetrack here, it was common knowledge that Marty owned the car and also drove it. By 10:00 on Saturday night he came from the racetrack to the Opry, and the only show he would do was the 11:30 spot, which was the last show of the night.

One night I walked out of the dressing room into the hallway and I saw Marty and he was obviously mad. I asked him what was wrong and he said, “I put a brand new 454 Chevrolet engine in my car, and it ran one lap and blew up.” And he looked and he said, “That’s $6000 right there…..lost. But, I’m having fun.”

Marty Robbins was one of the greatest voices country music has ever produced. In my opinion.
S

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Dan Boner, Professor at ETSU, along with Larry Sparks, are my two favorite singers.

Dan wanted to know if the stories of Bill Monroe’s eyesight and driving capabilities were true. From what happened when I was there and saw first-hand, Mr Father of Bluegrass was not a good driver. If Charlie Cline or I were driving, and didn’t meet Bill’s specifications, he would order us to pull over and he would show us how to drive. Which we did and one of us got to ride in the back of that ’53 limousine, which was a treat because that’s where the best air-conditioning was.

Bill would get in the driver’s seat, run it forward as far as it would go, and get a 9 o’clock – 3 o’clock death grip on the steering wheel, which was almost against his chest. He would put the car in a zigzag pattern. We passengers, and especially Bessie sitting in the back seat, were going side to side, which was some sight to see. She would be screaming at Bill, “You can’t drive, you can’t see, and you’re going to get us all killed,” and his tenure would be about 3 miles. I guess, in his mind, he had shown each of us how to drive. At the end of Bill’s turn, we had a car full of sick people, and one Pomeranian “Chappy” dog.

Truth is, Lieutenant Professor Dan, Bill Monroe could sing Blue Moon of Kentucky, play the mandolin, but he was not a good driver.

This story is true, and not hearsay. I was there.
S

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Hi. A question that Sonny Osborne answered triggered something in my addled brain. I remember an interview either with Boudleaux and Felice Bryant or with Archie Campbell. But they were working on a bunch of songs for Archie to do on a more serious album than he usually was associated with. They decided to take a break from the serious stuff and just write something fun. The result was Rocky Top.

I don’t know if the story is true. Sonny have you heard that story? Is it? I’d love to know! Thanks for a great column.

I’m eager for your book Sonny!

Michael G.

Hey Michael, I appreciate your time and comments. This has to do with Boudleaux and Felice Bryant and the Gatlinburg Inn. They were there, writing an album for Archie Campbell, and as the story goes, they grew weary of the material they had to write for Archie and Felice said to Boudleaux, “Let’s write a fun song. Something like .. ‘once I had a girl on Rocky Top,’” and actually there was no place called Rocky Top.

Boudleaux picked it up from there and 15 minutes to a half hour later, they had written the basics of Rocky Top.

Mikey wants to know if the story is true .. and yes, it is true. True enough to be a game-changer, or career-maker, for The Osborne Brothers. And Mikey says he’s eager to read my book. That is, if it ever makes it to the light of day.
S

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Sonny, this column is absolutely unparalleled for this aging bluegrass fan. Thank you so much for doing this!!! My question has to do with the logistics of recording. Did The Brothers lay down (record) one track at a time, or were you able to set up in such a way as to record more “Live” (everyone playing at once) even in the studio. Approximately how many sessions or hours would you spend on a typical album? Would any individual project be recorded in one venue, or did you ever use multiple facilities in order to get things “just right?” I’ll “hang up” and wait for your answer. 🙂

Terry K.

Hey hey, Terry K. Thank you for jumping in here with both feet.

So the question is…did the Osborne Brothers record one track at a time, or did we use the modern technique of one word at a time. Answer is….we did it all live, and many times we had the complete A-team in the studio with us. The A-team being the group of musicians who did more sessions in Nashville than anybody else. Basically, Hal Rugg, Grady Martin, Ray Eddenton, ‘Pig’ Robbins, and then you can add a player or two to go with them, such as a Buddy Spicher, a Buddy Emmons, a Leon Rhodes, a Tommy Jackson or a Willie Ackerman. They were simply the best. And with that group, you could hardly go wrong.

I suppose by this day and time, that has all changed. I’m not familiar with it anymore.
S

If you have something you would like to ask Sonny, be sure to post it in the comments below, or send it to us directly.

Ask Sonny Anything… did you ever play clawhammer banjo?

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Hey Good morning Chief! We just swung by the electronic post office, and we have a bag of questions for you. Hey, there’s some doozies in here. Be forewarned, we have an onion and a glass of water next to your donuts…some come join us if you dare!

T.

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Chief, hope you’re doing well. I look forward each week to your stories and your humble and honest opinions. It’s a priceless treasure that we should all be grateful for. I enjoyed your insight on my past few questions and stories. I had a couple more short stories that I wanted to ask about that came from my good friend, the late Dale Vanderpool. Dale was as big a fan of the “Brothers” as anyone I’ve ever know and just a good person.

Years ago, Dale told me of a couple stories he allegedly got from you. I wanted to ask if you can remember and/or verify these stories. Here goes:

During an early “Brothers” trip, Bobby and yourself stopped into a truck stop/small diner for a meal. It was hot inside and you both were road-weary. While waiting on your food, a persistent fly found its way to your table and relentlessly pestered Bobby. After a few minutes of dealing with the uninvited table guest, Bobby seized the opportunity as the fly landed on the window blinds next to the table, and proceeded to dowse the fly with a full glass of water and exclaim, “there, take that…you red-eyed blue ****!!!” Dale and I would often bring the story up while traveling…especially anytime we were visited by a fly…and laugh extensively about it. Even if you can’t remember, or this simply didn’t take place, it’s still fun to imagine!

Also, Dale shared the story that Bobby, in his younger days, would eat a whole onion, in the same manner as folks would eat an apple, in claims that it had benefits to his voice and range of singing. Is this something that you recall? I know ole Bobby is tough as they come, but I would think it takes a heck of a man to eat an entire onion in one sitting. Just a thought.

Thanks for everything you do and the best music and a lifetime of memories!

Tom, (the Boy from Indiana)

Tom, thank you for your participation. If you had a good friend in Dale Vanderpool, you had a good friend in the best.

Now this first story that he told you, is the absolute truth. The only thing different is that Bobby not only threw water on the fly, he threw the whole glass (which was plastic of course) and then he said, “There, take that, you red-eyed blue f-bomb.” Had you been there when it happened, you would have come unglued.

The thing about Bobby eating a whole onion like an apple, I never saw that, but I wouldn’t doubt it.

Thanks Tom, if I’m not sadly mistaken, that would be Tom Holt because lo and behold during their heyday, Tom was a Boy from Indiana. And they were good! And every time we would show up and they were there, we knew that we would be eating well that day, because every one of them was a great cook. I would imagine that Tom could tell some stories too because Harley Gabbard was also in that band.

S.

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Hi Sonny. Stan here…you have been gracious enough to answer a few questions in the past, and I am forever grateful…one question I still wonder about is the Brothers’ relationship with Mac Wiseman. Mac is one of my favorites and I grew up listening to Renfro Valley on Sunday mornings. Your rendition of Take Me Back to Renfro Valley always reminds me of those mornings! How did you two meet Mac, and how did you decide what songs to sing on your collaborations, including The Essential Bluegrass Album? Who made those decisions and do you have any good stories regarding the many performances you did while performing together at the numerous festivals you played? Lastly, thank you again for doing this and for letting us share in your memories of bluegrass music, and the wild adventures of your and Bobby’s lives!!

Stan

Hey Stan, thank you for joining us today. Beautiful day here in Tennessee, as long as you like the threat of rain and sometimes sunshine and cloud cover….and then every now and then the educated ones get it right. But that hasn’t happened this year…yet!!!!

You know what Stan? I don’t remember first meeting Mac Wiseman, although I knew of Mac from when he was with Flatt & Scruggs and Bill Monroe. And then he was in Shreveport with his own band, and Joe Medford played the banjo with him and they were good. The double album we did with Mac was a combination of Bobby’s idea, my idea, and then we asked Mac and he said, “When do we start?” I called Martin Haerle, owner of CMH Records, and he gave the go-ahead, and so that meant that we were on our own to get it done. I set up studio time at Hilltop and as far as the songs we did, we didn’t actually rehearse…we just said titles and every one of us knew the songs. Take Me Back to Renfro Valley was a song written by Ralph Gabbard, and while me and Judy were using his seats one night at a Kentucky basketball game, he mentioned in passing that he had a good song for us that he had written. Turns out, it was Take Me Back to Renfro Valley. That’s not the only great song in that album. It’s loaded with them.

Our songs, Mac’s songs, and songs from just about anybody we could think of. Mac and Bobby could sing anything.

Stan, it is my pleasure to be able to do this, and I thank Terry and John for allowing me to get by with saying anything.

S.

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Sonny,

I was fortunate to have performed with the late, great Bill Yates for the last 10 years of his life. I always enjoyed listening to his stories relating to his time performing with Bill Monroe, Jimmy Martin, Red Allen and, especially, The Country Gentlemen. Did you ever perform with Bill in the early years or have any Bill Yates stories you could share? Thanks for this column. I enjoy it very much.

Mike Phipps

Hi Mike., I’m going to tell you a story that comes from Bill Yates himself, although I wasn’t there. But it’s too good to pass up.

Bill was working for Jimmy Martin, and they were on the way to a date when Jimmy’s bus broke down. Something serious about the engine. So Bill volunteered to stay behind and try to fix the bus. You need to keep in mind that Bill was a great many things, and a mechanic was one of them. He stayed behind and was lucky enough to find all the parts that he needed, and then proceeded to basically give Jimmy’s bus an overhaul. When he got through, he got on the bus and drove it to where they were playing, and I don’t remember whether the show was over, just ending, or anything else. But I do know that Bill told me, they all got on the bus and took off for the next date. On the way, they stopped at a McDonalds and so Bill ordered a Big Mac and Jimmy went up to him and said, “Don’t worry about this, Sport, I’ve got it and I want to thank you for fixing my bus.” I asked Bill….is that all? He said…”Yep, that’s what I got paid for overhaulling Jimmy’s bus.” You can believe that or not. Yates told it to me shortly after it happened. I tend to believe it. During Bill’s years with The Country Gentlemen, they were good. Real good.

S.

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I have been wanting to contact you for some time, but when I read your comment about Casey Clark I had to respond. Casey was my Mom’s cousin. We always enjoyed his band coming to the Clark Reunions at Carter Caves State Park in Kentucky near where the family was from. I was able to contact Casey’s granddaughter K. Stephens living in Minnesota to share your comment with her. Her reply was, “It is wonderful to know that my grandfather is still remembered. Both he and my Mom always had a lot of respect, and liking for both the Osborne Brothers, and Sonny was a particular friend of my Moms.” I thought maybe you would enjoy her response.

The Clark family had many of us who loved our music, and were always singing and playing instruments. Currently Scott Tackett who plays with the bluegrass band Hammertown is from the Clark family. Also many years ago we had a conversation (either at Frontier Ranch or Festival of the Bluegrass) about you attending Fairview High School. I attended Stivers High School in Dayton. I would like to hear of your days of playing music in Dayton, at Frank’s Tavern, Canal Street Tavern with Red Allen, and his sons Harley and his brothers, Frank Wayfield, and many others. Thanks for your time, God Bless, and stay healthy.

Donna Smith

Thank you for your time and comments. Casey was a good guy and always had a good band. While we were there, Buddy Emmons and Herb Williams were members of the band. I don’t think I know Scott Tackett but I do know Hammertown is a good band. And yes, I attended Fairview High School for a few months in the 10th grade. Although I knew of Stivers High School in Dayton, I never knew where it was. By the time bluegrass music arrived in Dayton at places like Frank’s Tavern, Canal Street Tavern… Bobby and I were gone and had been for several years. The places we worked in Dayton several years earlier were The Friendly Inn, the Ring Bar, Engles Tavern, Ruby’s White Sands….and then we moved to Nashville.

Thank you for your participation.

S.

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Hello again, Sonny

I once heard a story about you learning clawhammer banjo from Grandpa Jones. Could you elaborate more on this? Also, to answer your question from the last time I wrote in, my full name is Elijah, but I don’t use it. Thank you for your time

Eli P.

Eli wrote in again and stated that his true name was Elijah, but he goes by Eli. We thank you, Eli, for straightening us up on that.

Now, you asked about my experience with Grandpa Jones trying to teach me clawhammer banjo. We sat there in the dressing room of the Ryman Auditorium for 40 minutes, and he tried his damnedest to teach me how to clawhammer. I tried as hard as I could to learn to do that because I really like it, but there was something about that rhythm that I just couldn’t get. And Grandpa, who had quite a temper, finally handed me the banjo… stomped his feet and got up, and he said, “A man like you, that can do what you can do with your fingers, and can’t play clawhammer banjo…I ain’t got nothin’ else to say to him.” Grandpa stormed out of the room, and didn’t speak to me for two years. And we never discussed clawhammer banjo playing again. That’s the truth.

Thank you Eli for participating in our little freeforall.

S.

If you have something you would like to ask Sonny, be sure to post it in the comments below, or send it to us directly.

Ask Sonny Anything… tell us about Tater Tate

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Good morning Chief! I hope all finds you well and staying safe in these perilous times. In going through the many questions your fans sent this week, I’m continually reminded of the friendships, love, and respect you’ve built in your travels. It should warm your heart knowing the admiration we all hold for your contribution, will continue for decades to come – even by those who never saw you perform and/or weren’t even alive during the time you were performing. I think that speaks volumes, not only to the value of your work but your commitment to excellence. Enjoy these questions Sonny, as much as our readers have clearly enjoyed the music you’ve given all of us.

Terry Herd

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Hello Sonny. In my opinion, one of the most underrated fiddle players in the history of bluegrass music was Tater Tate. I’ve heard that he was a great singer, as well. What can you say about Tater’s playing and singing? Also, what were some of your experiences with him?

Eli P.

Eli…Thank you for joining in. You wanted to talk about Clarence Tater Tate. First off, I don’t know how he got that “Tater” nickname, but started hearing about him in the ’50s. He was working with The Bailey Brothers in Knoxville. BAILEY…CHARLIE AND DAN. I first met him in Nashville in the ’70s. After the Flatt/Scruggs split, he was playing bass with Lester….You can’t mark this down as fact…I don’t actually remember the first time I actually met him, personally. That seems about right though. Later he played fiddle or bass with Bill…actually he did whatever Bill needed and/or wanted.

Tate story, told to me by Tater on a trip to Germany and Switzerland. Approximately 1987. This happened one night in Nashville. Three o’clock in the morning. Tate is home in bed asleep when the telephone rings. He stumbles awake…Hello! Ah…Tater…(It was Mr. Bill.) what’s wrong Bill? He thought Bill had fallen. “Ah…Do you know where my razor is?” Tate, says..”I reckon it’s in the bathroom.” Bill..”Could you come over here and see if you can find it for me?” Tate…”Right now?” Bill…”Yeah, I need it.” Tate…”well, I’ll be there in about 45 minutes.” Tate lived in Hendersonville, Monroe on a farm between Goodlettsville and Gallatin. Tater got up and went to Bill’s house…went in and went straight to the bathroom, opened the medicine cabinet, and there in plain sight was????? You guessed it, Bill’s razor. Tater took the razor, handed it to Bill. Bill…”Ah..where was it? Boy I looked all over this house for it! Where’d you say it was..in the bathroom medicine cabinet? Boy I’m glad you found it, I thought sure I’d lost it!” I asked Tate what he did then. He said he went home and got back in the bed.

Tater was a very good fiddle player. Played clear, clean, true notes. He played louder than most. He told me he had lost some hearing. True? I reckon. Why else would he volunteer that information. Clarence Tate was one of the finest gentlemen you would ever want to meet! S

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Hey Sonny,

I was listening to a transcribed radio program, with advertisements from 1974. A few minutes into it, the first of the advertisements came on and it was by a favorite “country music group,” the Osborne Brothers. It was for Red Man chewing tobacco. Definitely good banjo, good music, good harmonies, and a good pitch by Bobby for Red Man chew. I know Bill Monroe and Grandpa Jones did Dr. Peppers commercials, but I just wondered how the Red Man chew gig came about.

Jim R.

Jim…thank you for taking the time to join in. We had an agent in New York, Geoff Berne, who got those commercial accounts for us, and also booked our orchestra dates. We did the Big Red chewing tobacco and one for the Chevrolet Nova automobile. They were done in New York, and that of course meant first class air…the companies paid our flight tickets..first class. I took the RB 3 banjo with me and it had a ticket for the seat beside me…yep, you heard right. It had its seat belts securely fastened.

Presently a lady came and wanted me to remove the instrument so she could sit there and converse with her friend who had the seat in front of me. She insisted and asked the flight attendant to remove the banjo. I asked for the captain. He came and after I showed the boarding pass for our two seats. The lady got real hot when he told her to move…or he would have her moved…….!

s

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Dear Sonny,

First, God bless you and Merry Christmas!

I was listening to you and Bobby from the day I was born (and probably even before). I have since listened to your albums multiple times and watched as many videos as I could online. I am a newbie to playing banjo and enjoy the heck out of it.

My question is, how can anyone not like banjo? It makes me happy, it makes me smile. You have said that you played a few other instruments, as do I, but nothing brings me as much joy. How can anyone NOT like banjo?

Thanks

Jerry

Jerry…. Thanks for spending some of your time with us.

Your question about ‘”how can anyone not like the banjo?”…. I’ve got a little story to tell you. We, the Brother and I, were playing a state fair in NC, I believe it was Raleigh (Dale Sledd called it ‘Rowly’). We were on the stage doing a sound check in the afternoon, in preparation for the show that night. It’s a huge auditorium and people are milling around in the back of the auditorium, and I’m at the microphone and it is turned on. At the same instant, a group of young people, white and black, are strolling across the back of the auditorium and at the same time I hit the 1st, 3rd, and 5th strings on the banjo into this hot mike. That group of about 8 kids, teenagers, stopped dead in their tracks and looked toward the stage and as fast as I could say, “they got out of Dodge”…they were out of Dodge! They ran at the sound of the banjo. So to say that some people are irritated by the sound of the banjo, that would be correct.

The banjo was my living for over 50 years and it did me quite well. However, the instrument that makes me most happy is one that I can’t play. That is the piano. I have a piano and my wife bought me an electric keyboard, and I’ve tried…I had Derek Deekins, a well-known fiddle player, come to the house and he being a very good piano player also…he tried to teach me. As I remember, he left in the middle of the first lesson…swiftly shaking his head in disgust.

So, back to the original answer…I love the banjo, always have, and it makes me happiest when Judy goes to the bank every Monday. But I would have loved it a great deal, if I could have learned how to play the piano. But, like the clawhammer banjo that Grandpa Jones tried so hard to teach me, and could not, I would imagine that Derek Deekins felt the same way as Grandpa — who didn’t speak to me for over a year. So my calling was the banjo, and it treated me nicely. Even gave me one of its best….a 1934 Granada.

S

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Sonny,

To say you are a great banjo player is an understatement to the level of talent and professionalism you attained in your day, but I’m wondering at what point in your journey you crossed over from being merely good — to being great? And moreover, what is the difference between a good musician and a great musician?

Thank you for the years of enjoyment and…well, for being “great.”

Bill W.

Bill.

I appreciate your kind words a lot more than you will ever know. Things like that make old 83-yr old retired people feel good.

To say I am a great banjo player is an understatement to the level of talent and professionalism I attained in my day. Now…Bill, you said that…I didn’t. But you are wondering at what point in my journey I crossed over from being merely good to being great. Again, that’s your words not mine, because I don’t look at it the same as you.

There was a point in 1957 when Earl recorded Randy Lynn Rag and made a noticeable mistake and they let it go on record like that. At that time, I was really wrapped up in Earl Scruggs and Rudy Lyle. So much that when I heard that record I realized that I needed to do something else if I was going to make this a life’s work. And so I started listening to every other kind of music and instrumentations that I could find, and then try to transpose what I heard to the banjo. In a couple of years of doing this, I had created a little thing of my own. And whether that was the decisive point, I can’t say yay or nay. I just know that it changed my way of looking at the banjo.

And you ask what is the difference between a good musician and a great musician. So if you can visualize a line of music….a good musician learns to play the crust of what he hears. A great one is one who digs down under that crust and hears all the little nuances, and complete notes and slides, etc. To me, that’s a great musician and the difference between great and good. Nothing wrong with good, but it’s a great deal like 1st place and 2nd place.

S

If you have something you would like to ask Sonny, be sure to post it in the comments below, or send it to us directly.

Bill Monroe’s Ol’ Mandolin – Lorraine Jordan & Carolina Road

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Lorraine Jordan & Carolina Road are proud carriers of tradition in the world of bluegrass music, with many of their past hits proclaiming a love for classic grass and the sounds of an earlier era. Their newest effort from Pinecastle, Bill Monroe’s Ol’ Mandolin, is no different. Namechecking some of the genre’s founding fathers in the first two singles and including several excellent covers throughout the album, Jordan and Carolina Road pay tribute to the first generations of bluegrass while also incorporating a smooth, modern touch.

The debut single and title track has find quite a bit of appreciation on radio in the several months since its release. Kicking off with a nice mandolin intro, the song memorializes Ricky Skaggs’s induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame, during which he played Monroe’s famous mandolin. Allen Dyer brings songwriter David Stewart’s images to life, making the number solemn yet soulful: “Lord, he picked up that old Gibson, he embraced it like a friend. He held it like the Bible as it softly spoke to him.” This song is complemented nicely by the second number on the album, They Call it Bluegrass, an uptempo toe-tapper with fine banjo picking from Ben Greene. The song was written by Raleigh-area bluegrass DJ Larry Nixon, who honors that special something Earl Scruggs and his banjo brought to our genre.

Greene’s banjo picking is also hot on one of my favorite instrumentals, Sally Ann. The band doesn’t necessarily show off on this number, but plays it straight and tight the whole way through – just the way it should be. I’d have liked a mandolin break from Jordan to go along with the fiddle, banjo, and dobro, but it’s still a fine tune. Another nice example of straightforward traditional grass is the cut of Rolling in My Sweet Baby’s Arms.

The group dives into the country genre for a few tracks, including a strong rendition of He Stopped Loving Her Today, which Dyer’s rich vocals fill with plenty of emotion. Matt Hooper’s fiddle guides Cherokee Fiddle, made popular by Johnny Lee and the movie Urban Cowboy, and penned by Michael Martin Murphy. The group has given this song a nice bluegrass treatment, with plenty of banjo and mandolin. Coming from a slightly different place, at least sonically, is Boogie Grass Band. Written by Ronnie Reno and taken to the top of the charts by Conway Twitty in the late 1970s, the original is a neat fusion of country and bluegrass sounds that celebrates loving “to hear Bill sing about Kentucky, and the Allman Brothers’ Ramblin’ Man.” It’s just a fun number that I’m sure is a crowd-pleaser live.

Jordan co-wrote two of the songs on the album, and contributes lead vocals on both. Mama Can You Hear That Train was co-written with Mickey Tripp, and is told from the perspective of a boy waiting for his father to return from prison, and reflecting on the unfair circumstances that put him there. It has a nice chugging melody and a strong harmony vocal from Randy Graham. Living Like I’m Dying was penned by Jordan with her mother, Janice Jordan. According to the liner notes, the song was inspired by Lorraine’s approach to life: “I’m headed down another open road, not sure where it leads, I know I want to go.” Jordan’s mother passed away last year, and the album is dedicated to her.

Lorraine Jordan and Carolina Road is filled with solid musicians who know their craft well. There’s plenty of good stuff here, and fans of both the band and traditional bluegrass in general shouldn’t be disappointed.

For more information on the band, visit their website. Their new album is available from several online retailers.

Ask Sonny Anything… did you ever see Bill Monroe laugh?

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Ask Sonny Anything is a recurring feature where our readers pose questions to the great Sonny Osborne, one half of the iconic Osborne Brothers who redefined bluegrass music in the 1960s, and noted banjo maven and collector of fine prewar instruments. Everyone is encouraged to pose queries of your own each week in the comments, about his history in the music, his wealth of banjo knowledge, or regarding any life advice you might be needing.

As we reach our 75th edition of Ask Sonny Anything, a word of thanks to all who read, share, and participate in making this column such a fun part of everyone’s week here at our little BT cabin home in cyberspace. This edition nearly missed deadline due to an unexpected appearance by Sonny’s pal Kraco. A big shoutout to Luke, Katie, and the entire Apple Business team at Cool Springs Galleria in Franklin, TN for their herculean efforts in getting us back up and running. At Sonny’s insistence, I’m including my explanation of what happened – which accompanied this week’s list of questions forwarded to him for this column.

Terry Herd

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Whew Chief, I’ve been in computer purgatory for 24 hours. Laptop died yesterday and I had to buy a new one. It was defective. No joke. They exchanged it for…yep, you guessed it ANOTHER DEFECTIVE ONE. LOL. Finally (as they say), third time was a charm. Just got everything restored about an hour ago and here we are with your new set of questions…I certainly hope you enjoy working through these more than I did wallowing in techno Hell yesterday! Hahahaha.

Terry

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Larry Stephenson (Larry Stephenson Band) asked me a question a couple weeks ago that I’m kinda reluctant to get into because it becomes a personal thing which in reality is nobody’s bidness! The question had to do with keeping a good band together during this Chinese Breakdown Virus we are all suffering through as best we can.

Ok…the question was this: “Who, and how many band leaders were able to keep their bands together during this trying time when no one worked much of anything.” I ran this question by several people and got basically the same response from nearly all. “What could we do? There were no places to work, crowds were not suggested, actually no gatherings of over 10.” The folks who could afford it, paid their band members….at a reduced rate, which was expected… most would not, and did not elaborate. Insinuating that it wasn’t anyone’s affair how they ran their business.

So, I found the longest being paid was through May of 2020. How many band leaders did this? ONE. This was designed to create some sort of loyalty amongst the aforementioned band members. Which I’m sure it did…I imagine there were a precious few grateful pickers right there…you reckon? I bet when this is all said and done, returned to normal, the folks who had the jobs, were welcomed back. At the time though, the fact was, like all of us musician or not, what else could we do but get a job, anywhere any kind of job was available. etc, etc.

Bottom line…support yourself and/or your family as best you can. It appears that people are trying to get back to a semblance of a normal existence, it may be returning. Personally, I think it will take a very long time getting back to the worry free existence we enjoyed in the past. We didn’t know how good we had it. We were living the good life, and it was not known…by most.
s

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Dear Sonny,

It’s been a pleasure to read this column of yours every Friday. Your memory, expertise, and feedback are all a treasure to the bluegrass world.

My question to you pertains to another famed prewar RB-Granada banjo, this one owned for a period of time by the great Buddy Rose. Serial #9526-13. The story for years goes that Buddy, in an effort to increase the tone and volume of his Granada, took his DeWalt drill to the holes in the tonering, enlarging them as a result. I’ve heard clips of him playing this banjo with the Sauceman Brothers, and it’s a mighty fine sounding banjo, and Buddy Rose is as underrated a player as they come.

Would you point to this as an example of the average banjo player always looking for ways to improve the perceived tone of their instrument? Here was a bonafide Holy Grail banjo and he thought that it could sound better.

Thank you for doing this column; long live Sonny Osborne!

– Andy in NC

Andy…I loved North Carolina.. except Dean Smith and his four corners offense and his ability to beat Kentucky basketball. GRRRR!

I don’t have the particulars concerning Bud’s Granada. Do you know if he was the one who enlarged the holes in his tone ring? I remember hearing about that banjo with the enlarged tone ring holes. However I never heard who actually did the deed.

Bud was a gifted player, but I can’t say as much for his sound engineering ability. In today’s market, he made a $300,000 banjo into a $100,000 banjo. Rudy Lyle, who recorded many tunes with Bill Monroe in the early ’50s had an original Wreath Pattern RB3. I always thought that banjo sounded terrible when Rudy played it on the Monroe recordings. I found out later, the tone ring had been drilled to add 20 more holes to the great original tone ring. That completely destroyed a beautiful banjo. I don’t quite understand the reasoning here.

My Granada, Earl’s Granada both were loud, I don’t know about JD’s banjo, but I’d bet it was loud enough. I know where there’s another Granada, original 5 string…some clown has drilled 20 more holes. Andy, that’s the part I don’t quite get. To me, the Granada was the Gibson Masterpiece. BEST OF THE BEST. What is it that could possibly be better.

Hey, I have some more information on the Bud Rose banjo. My friend and Brother, Jerry Keys, great banjo player himself…knew Bud, and passes this along. Doesn’t remember the driller, knows that Bud had it nickel plated. After Bud passed from this life, his family sold it to Gordon Reid who lives here in Nashville. Brother Steve Huber, another great banjo player and builder, plated it back to gold a few years ago. So, my friends and brothers of the banjo….That’s the rest of the story.
s

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Sonny:

I’ve watched several Osborne Brothers performances and always noticed you had a good sense of humor, always smiling and joking and having fun on stage. On the other side of the coin Monroe always seemed pretty serious. Did Bill have a good sense of humor, and did you ever see him really laugh hard?

Hoskins S.

Hoskins S….Thank you for sharing a bit of your time. I’m always laughing and seemingly having a good time. Well, look at it this way. I’m a little overweight, and surely ain’t gonna win any beauty contests…so funny is all that’s left. I try to be funny, and sometimes fail miserably. So, the banjo is left, but every time I look at it for help, what do you think pops up…Stupid KRAKO. No win situation. I do try though.

Bill Monroe. Did I ever see him just get ripped right out of the frame? Not really. I’ve seen him laugh, but a fall out on the floor funny, I would have to say no. If one of us did something stupid, like getting stopped for speeding…90 in a 50 zone, 14 and no drivers license, like going to jail. He thought that was funny. I even thought the funny part was that he sat right there and told the officer that he didn’t know I was 14 with no license…Yeah, right…”he didn’t know!” Give me a break!!! Funny, yeah, as the cell door closed…that was funny. Ha Ha Ha.

Hey Carlton P… You asked the same thing basically so I’ll try to answer it. Talking about humor and Bill Monroe. Bill Monroe’s bus was the joke. I never rode on The Bluegrass Special. I don’t think I was ever invited to take the tour. Dana Cupp could relate some stories though. One was Bill played solitaire constantly. And, according to Dana, Bill played so that he always won. That’s hard to do, if you play it straight.

There was one incident concerning John Madden, Dana Cupp, and Bill’s bus. Dana was driving at this particular time. The bus was at the entrance of this rather plush hotel. They were waiting for someone to get on the bus, ready to leave. Get this picture now, Coach John Madden is standing by the curb waiting for his ride. Bill’s bus was ready to leave. So, on the floor beside the driver are two plunger switches. One is the emergency, or parking brake…the other is the release valve for the holding tank. HOLDING TANK? You might ask. It is a 50-100 gallon tank designed to hold waste water, sinks, and bathroom waste. When Dana started to leave, he pulled the plunger switch for what he thought was the emergency-parking breaks…WRONG…he pulled the waste water (etc.) and many gallons of waste water came out and guess who it soaked quite thoroughly. If you said John Madden, head coach of The Oakland Raiders NFL Football team,…you would be right. Dana said he quickly released the brakes and got the hell out of Dodge. Bill was looking out the window and as they moved away from the hotel entrance, not realizing that the chemically treated waste water was coming from his bus, was heard to comment…”Oh, look at that pretty blue water!”

Now, I won’t swear on this all being true, but I’m telling it like it was told to me. I wasn’t there so honestly, is it all true, can’t say for sure…but it was a good story, wouldn’t you agree. Good reading, huh?
s

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Sonny, I really enjoy your column each week. Thank you for your contributions to the bluegrass industry. My question is, have you or are you interested in writing a book of your life experiences in bluegrass. You have such a remarkable memory it would definitely be a shame for all your knowledge to be lost. I for one would love to buy a book. Thanks again.

Lanier L.

Lanier a book was once, about 10 years ago a top priority. It was the idea of a good banjo player, an attorney, very good friend…among a dozen other accomplishments. SCOTT STREET. Just a great human being. Had he lived the book would have been out for a number of years. But unfortunately such was not the plan. I lost a good friend. Several people asked to finish it but unavoidable circumstances made the book an impossible task for several people so, the box of contents sits in my attorney’s office waiting to be brought home to wait a generation or two, or three from now when……?
s

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Sonny, do you have any memories/stories from the album Tennessee Firebird with vibraphonist Gary Burton? Particularly about the title song or just the vibe of the session? I think that was one of the first attempts to mix jazz sensibilities with country/bluegrass sounds. Thanks for your reply and love your playing… best…

Orville J

Orville…thank you for asking. I appreciate your time. Tennessee Firebird was a project from the mind of Gary Burton. Genius musician and surely one of the greatest Vibraphone players ever, or at least the best I was ever to come in contact with. You might ask; “How many Vibe players have you seen in person?” Well, leta me see hyer…none…would be close..oh no…answer is one. Genius named Gary Burton.

Every great player in Nashville was there for that fusion of jazz, country, bluegrass and I won’t attempt to understand why I was called nor what to call the outcome. Mr. Burton asked me after the first cut, “Well, what do you think, sound ok?” My answer was, “I have no idea. You tell me!” Things were going along pretty well, until the drum guy and saxophone guy came full volume and from that point on, it was purely a matter of concentration, and silently praying that you make it to the end of this tune, whatever and whenever that will be. Thankfully they faded the ending. The jazz guys were all high fiving each other, The country guys were saying “Yeah man” and the bluegrass guy was putting his banjo in the case and trying to find the exit….OK. That was good reading.

Truth is, it was a trying experience for we who had not been exposed to live jazz, but I’ll bet not one would have missed it for the world, me among them. I wouldn’t choose to do it again, but if I were asked, I most certainly would shout “YES, WHERE DO I SIGN.” Quite an honor it was, to be included. I’m reasonably sure that all present would agree.
s

If you have something you would like to ask Sonny, be sure to post it in the comments below, or send it to us directly.

Ask Sonny Anything… why did Bill Monroe scratch up his mandolin so bad?

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Ask Sonny Anything is a recurring feature where our readers pose questions to the great Sonny Osborne, one half of the iconic Osborne Brothers who redefined bluegrass music in the 1960s, and noted banjo maven and collector of fine prewar instruments. Everyone is encouraged to pose queries of your own each week in the comments, about his history in the music, his wealth of banjo knowledge, or regarding any life advice you might be needing.

Sonny my dad is Boyce Edwards. I am the youngest of his daughters. I remember him playing fiddle with you and Bobby. My question is do you know of any songs that you guys recorded with him playing the fiddle? I love all your guy’s music. And people don’t believe me when I say I know you all…lol. But I’m trying to get any albums that he’s playing on while he was playing in different bands. And I remember him saying with you and Sonny the most. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Judy H.

Judy….Nice name. My wife has the same one. Welcome to our weakly get together. A good time is had by all…mostly! We do try.

To get to your question. Boyce Edwards played the fiddle with us when his work would permit. On some weekends he would go with us when we played the WWVA Jamboree in Wheeling, WVA. Sometimes, his Brother Billy would also go and play bass. At those times, we would appear to have a full band. {;-0> Which was a joke within itself…We just barely could afford us…what was it Roger Miller said..’We were so broke we could barely pay attention!’

When we recorded it was always during the week and in Nashville. We would be gone for most of a week so that would eliminate Boyce doing any recording with us. I remember those two so well.

Did you know that your uncle Bill was terrified of tunnels? He would hide his face if you went through one. And, did Boyce ever tell you about the time on the stage of The Worlds Original Jamboree which is how they would do their publicity for the WWVA Jamboree. Sounds pretty good.

My mind just wandered…but I’m back now…Bobby, Red, and I are singing Precious Memories, a Gospel song, and we heard this cracking noise. It came from our right, in the neighborhood of where your Dad (Boyce) would be standing. He had dropped his fiddle bow and was on the way, bending over, to pick it up. If you can visualize this, he was in the process of picking the fiddle bow up from the floor and was looking up at us and at the same time his hand was feeling all over a 12 inch area of the stage of The Worlds Original……! You get the idea I reckon. One of the funniest things to ever happen. If you knew Boyce, he was one of the nicest people you would ever meet…but, if you asked him anything you had better be ready for a direct answer. We thought the world of Boyce and Bill Edwards.

S

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Sonny, much attention and admiration, and rightly so has been given to Bobby’s wonderful voice. However, you had a very good voice too. Sometimes I think fans overlook that and mostly focus on you as a banjo player; which is understandable because you are one of the greats.

My question: what was the highest and hardest notes you had to sing to give Bobby the harmony he needed? I have heard you hit many F and F# notes. Did you ever have to sing higher? G, G#? Anything you can tell us about you as a singer would be appreciated.

Neil – Cleveland, NC

Neil…Wow, you came right on in there didn’t you. The highest notes I was required to hit would be on the ending of Sweet Thing…The third note, second line of the bridge of Take This Hammer…(Note: I sang the high, tenor on the first two lines of the bridge) and quite possibly an A flat or A note on Never Grow Old. Maybe a note on Give This Message To Your Heart.

Man, you bring up a good subject here because, you made me think about it some, That’s something we never talked about. Where best we could play it, is where we sang it, so I’m not sure there was a limit. It was just where we sang it and my job was to sing my harmony note, as was EL, Smitty, Daryl, Paul Brewster, Dale, Benny and Ronnie to sing their note. Of course, when we grew older it became more of an issue that when we were 40 years old.

S

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Hi Sonny,

I’ve been going to Bean Blossom (June & September) for 29 consecutive years. I remember when Bill (Monroe) would make Dana Cupp do the MC work. It seemed Dana was always looking at his watch, but Bill didn’t care!! Did Dana ever share any stories when he did the MC work?

What memory of Bean Blossom or Bill sticks out in your mind?

I enjoy your column and hold the Osborne Brothers as one of the tops in bluegrass. I’m happy to say I’ve enjoyed several shows 🙂

Thanks for your time,

Randy P.

Randy… glad to hear from you. I appreciate your presence. Thank you for participating.

You asked about something that would have occurred while Dana was doing MC work. I don’t remember Dana saying anything that would have happened during his time doing that job, other than doing it free. Saving Birch an MC fee. However, there was a Terry Smith thing that happened that was quite funny, at least it was when it happened. I wasn’t there but I knew Bill, and the Monroe’s pretty well.

So Terry and Archie Martin were supposed to bring the mules pulling a wagon by the stage while Bill sang The Mule Skinner Blues. Very thoughtful added thingy. They did their chore on the first show but surely he wouldn’t do the Mule thing on the second go ’round. But he did. So they were out by the park entrance and heard Bill do The Mule. They hurried and got the wagon hooked up, but by the time they got to the stage with the wagon, Bill was singing “There’s an Old, Old House,” so here comes young Terry Smith and Archie Martin herding the Mules and wagon by the stage. The story goes that he didn’t say a word about the wagon or Mules, that was completely out of character for Bill…truth be known I would bet a few greenbacks that someone got chastised for doing their job, or the lack of….!

I’m fortunate to have known Bill, and several parts of his family, although I was a 14 year old child who certainly didn’t belong there, musically or mentally. But I was. I will never know why the good Lord put me in that position, but he did.

S

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Sonny, Back when you worked for Bill Monroe, you were playing in Kingsport, TN. You said you went out back and Mr. Monroe was scratching his mandolin all over. What did he use to do this with and why was he doing that?

Mark K.

Hey Mark…Thanks for joining us. Sit right over there by the fire and tell me your story…(ask me anything) by golly!

There are conflicting stories about this incident. I remember Jimmy Martin, and perhaps Charlie Cline, and going to eat between shows. We were playing at a theater in Grundy, Virginia. When we got back we heard this scraping noise as we got closer to the back stage area. Bill was scraping the front of the mandolin with a small knife. Neither of us had the nerve to ask him what he was doing, but that’s the story of what I saw.

Some have said they saw him using a bottle cap, piece of glass, etc. Everything short of a shotgun with bird shot in it. I can only tell you what I saw. If Frog or Charlie were here they would tell you the same…or maybe they wouldn’t. That would depend.

Sometime later, in my house in Dayton, Ohio, I heard Bill tell my Dad, who had nerve enough to ask; “Why did you scrape the finish off your mandolin and take the Gibson name out of the peg head.” Bill said, and I quote: “I did it to keep people from asking to let them see, hold, and/or play it. Now what they see is an ugly THE Mandolin. People don’t want to see it no more.” End of quote and story. I know this is true because I was standing right beside them, in our dining room, on our farm, on Olt Road, off Dayton Farmersville Road, which is off Germantown Pike…a few miles West of Dayton. That happened!

Fast forward to 1980s. I bought my Granada banjo from Tom McKinney for a staggering $5,000. It was quickly being called he best of the best, and people wanted to see, hold, and play it, but other than tear my inlay or the peg head up with a pocket knife, I just insulted several people and said no. Politely I might add. Folks don’t ask a mechanic to see his tools, or a carpenter his golden hammer. I looked at it as my work tool. Now, end of story.

S

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Sonny, I know Carlton Haney was quite a personality!

Could you tell some favorite stories about yours and Bobby’s interactions with him?

Sammy D

Sammy. Have you got several days? First though, thank you for participating in our free for all. Without all you guys and girls, this wouldn’t happen. I appreciate that. I love doing it…you probably know that. Thanks to Terry and John.

Carlton Haney… Interesting man. My friend. Weird ideas. Some good, some not so good. He was using his brain in the God given sense it was given. Aren’t we, as musicians, given the same thing? In our world it’s called talent. Some ideas (called licks) work and some do not.

If not for Carlton Haney, the time period from about 1960 to the late ’80s would have been many more hungry days for us without the bluegrass festivals, ‘twould have been a different era than it was. So, like Earl, Rudy, Benny, Monroe, and more who used their “talent” to create something, so did Carlton. He booked The Brothers at Luray Virginia, Maybe 1962-63…and between shows we went to a restaurant and Carlton sat there and told us of his idea of booking every bluegrass band and have it happen at Berryville, or Culpeper…We laughed at his plan, told him that they would kill one another.

In those days there was jealousy galore between bands…the haves and the have nots. The haves were few and far between. BUT THEN…Friday, September 3-4-5, 1965, Fincastle, Virginia…The first Bluegrass Festival happened and Carlton was the dude that made it happen. We didn’t play the first one, we were playing in Texas, although we were on the list of entertainers scheduled to appear.

So, we, as musicians who create music, the same happened with the festival. We create, others replicate. Carlton Haney created, and VOILA, within a few summers there was a festival everywhere. We have worked huge festivals in Japan, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, Beautiful Canada and more. The Carlton Haney idea gave us all a lucrative business in which we could survive, and the more creative would thrive. Thank you Lord, please take care of Carlton. Amen.

Hey, Enough for now. If you want to hear more Carlton, let us know. I’ll talk.

S

If you have something you would like to ask Sonny, be sure to post it in the comments below, or send it to us directly.

Bill Monroe in the Time of COVID – 2020 Monroe Mandolin Camp online

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This report on the first ever virtual Monroe Mandolin Camp is a contribution from Theresa Seiders, a voice-over artist and audio editor in Columbus, Ohio. Oh… and a serious student and lover of the mandolin.

It’s a chilly pre-fall morning in central Ohio and the inaugural Monroe Mandolin Camp (M)Online Virtual Extravaganza is already in the past. Each year it beggars belief that the months of planning, scheduling, fundraising, managing details, overcoming last minute snafus and nerve-wracking anticipation culminating in a glorious 4-5 days of bluegrass Nirvana have melted away so quickly, leaving behind new licks and techniques to master, more tunes and songs to aspire to learn, more instructional material than most of us will be able to wade through in a lifetime, warm memories of old and new friends, and the afterglow smiles of happy campers. And that’s in a normal year when more than 100 players and instructors can descend on some hapless conference center, college, campground or retreat, drop their bags, open their cases and take over every square inch of space from pre-dawn to long after dark blazing through their own renditions of Wheel Hoss, Rawhide, and Watson’s Blues.

Typically the last cars and campers pull onto the highway, a few caring souls help pack up the left over cookies and candy and coffee and music stands and  merchandise and hey, who left this sweater here, and Camp Executive Director Heidi Herzog starts thinking about how to make it bigger and better two years from now (she’s already well into planning next year’s camp, thank you very much) and maybe a little about how she’s looking forward to her own shower and some sleep. 

But what about 2020? How on earth could an experience like MonManCamp manage in a year when people couldn’t “gather?” Reading the prevailing winds in the spring and early summer, it became clear that in-person gatherings would be highly unlikely by September, either due to local health and safety mandates, or for personal comfort levels. And yet this Camp, now in its 7th year under Heidi and Mike Compton’s leadership, is a Mecca for Bill Monroe enthusiasts of all ages and backgrounds. Many participants have attended since its first years in Kentucky, and each year the enrollment grows as instruction in all bluegrass instruments, voice, band dynamics, and even song writing are added. Folks drive and fly from all over the continental US, and many come from overseas (Uzbekistan is the farthest, I understand), to reconnect with their friends and the music at this magical gathering. Beyond the music, that personal connection is the driving force behind MMC, and so COVID be damned, Heidi was determined to re-imagine the 2020 Camp experience for this new digital era. 

Git ‘R Done

“It was an easy decision for me to make,” says Heidi. “The people of all ages who attend in-person MMCamps are our community. They are the past, present and future of this music as consumers and pickers, and enthusiasts of traditional bluegrass music. Knowing that I could facilitate a powerful and inspiring get together for learning and connection – it was an easy decision to attempt to pull it off.”

The decision to move ahead may have been easy, but the process itself presented challenges. In attempting to navigate unpredictable Tennessee state gathering mandates, international travel restrictions, and potential virus surges, making the leap from in-person to on-line wasn’t determined until around July 4 – just 2 ½ months before Camp week. The move on-line required the cooperation of instructors recording their own lessons, learning an entirely new  computer language for online course development, and redesigning the entire MMC website to support it. And with the final platform in flux until mid-August, marketing and advertising were hampered with uncertainty. A gathering that usually takes 1 ½ to 2 years to put on was now scheduled – via a novel skill set – in just a fraction of the time. 

While the instructional portion of the site was important, even more vital was the ability to connect via audio and video. Heidi quickly familiarized herself with Zoom (with which many of us have developed a love/hate relationship in the past several months) to schedule a variety of live roundtable and instructional meetings, as well as Coffee Chats and Happy Hours for campers to visit and catch up. 

After a punishing web design and revision schedule (led by Heidi, who had no previous experience in creating an on-line learning platform), starting around July 28, the first day of the (M)Online Virtual Extravaganza finally dawned at 12:01 a.m. September 19. And the people came! Amid registration and enrollment hiccups, students young and old, from 27 US states and 4 countries, logged in and welcomed world-renowned Monroe style musicians into their homes, absorbed first hand bluegrass history from Raymond Huffmaster, downloaded PDF practice resources, rewatched videos again and again, and finally at 10:00 a.m. grabbed their favorite morning (or evening, as the case may be) beverage and Zoomed in to see the smiling faces of old friends as they caught up on how everyone has been weathering the storm. They shared the music they’ve been working on, and the new instruments they’ve bought. Cats, dogs, and birds were introduced (intentionally or not). And surprisingly, even with some audio lags and video freezes, it was not terribly unlike being together in person and was extremely soul satisfying – and nobody had to wear a mask!

Throughout the 4 days of camp, there were many opportunities to get together both to visit and to learn. Intrepid instructors (mandolin) Alan Bibey, Casey Cambell, Mike Compton, John Keith, Mark Royal, Adam Tanner, (banjo) Alan O’Bryant, (fiddle) Laura Orshaw, (guitar) Robert Montgomery, (bass) Cary Black, (fiddle and banjo) Aynsley Porchak and James McDowell, (vocal) Mississippi Chris Sharp and Piper Sharp Myers, some of whom had never recorded their own teaching sessions, jumped in with both feet to create pre-recorded and live content. Raymond Huffmaster shared three story telling sessions about his personal journey with Bill and his Blue Grass Boys. Aussie luthier Paul Duff joined us live from 12 hours in the future to share his current workbench, and answer camper questions about mandolin anatomy and “chasing the tone.” Twelve live (via Zoom) broadcast instructor-led roundtables and classes explored the bridge between Monroe and modern bluegrass, comparison/contrasts of Monroe’s mandolin and Kenny Baker’s fiddle breaks, lessons in listening for nuances among banjo, fiddle and mandolin players, band dynamics, down strokes, Blue Grass Boys’ differing fiddle techniques, and those luthiering insights. 

Extra coffee and Happy Hour “chats” were scheduled by popular request, and although most Zoom sessions were meant to last an hour, they frequently went over double, or even triple, the time as folks just wanted to talk and laugh and play and share and see each others’ smiling faces. Even a “live” jam was attempted, although most participants agree it was a casualty of the available technology. But it did give everyone the chance to practice breaks with their audio muted. Special props to Laura Orshaw for tackling that new experience! (Seriously, there’s a million dollars to be made by the person who figures out how to make jamming possible online.) 

From far away we gathered together, in “comfy clothes,” and comfy chairs (with comfy beverages and comfy critters); the noodlers (you know who you are) muted their mics and picked to their hearts’ content while others sought and received in-depth explanations and demonstrations. When asked, many campers agreed that the content and community were extremely satisfying, even when the tech couldn’t keep up. In an astoundingly short time, Heidi and her team created a website platform that was easy to use (and which will be available for months). Zoom wasn’t too cumbersome. The teaching was top notch. Bill Monroe’s legacy was honored and played forward, and the priority of safely staying home may have made it different, but it did not destroy the camp experience. It was not knee to knee – but it was pretty darn good. 

The Circle is Unbroken

In future years, I think that everyone who participated in MMC 2020 will look back on this as a unique bonding experience: the determination not to let the virus stop us, to overcome the challenges, and find new ways of playing and sharing this good old music. Congratulations to Heidi Herzog, Mike Compton, and all the instructors, web designers, behind the scenes helpers, and Campers for the shared commitment of using, in Heidi’s words, “the transformative power of music to foster relationships while building community, worldwide,” not because of, but in spite of, COVID-19. 

Moments in Bluegrass: BG75 #9 – Bill Emerson meets Bill Monroe

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Following an invitation that the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) extended to its members that they share a memory from “75 years of bluegrass,” we thought that we would collect a few to share with you.

Bill Emerson is considered to be one of the most influential five-string banjo players in bluegrass music. He began his professional music career in 1955 before going on to be a founder member of the world-famous Country Gentlemen, with whom he worked for two spells and recorded several times. He has recorded with Buzz Busby; John Hall; Bill Harrell; Jimmy Martin; Harry & Jeanie West; Red Allen and Frank Wakefield; the Yates Brothers (Bill and Wayne); Red Allen and the Kentuckians;  Scotty Stoneman; in a partnership with Cliff Waldron; with song-writer Pete Goble; with former Country Current member Wayne Taylor; Mark Newton; as well as releasing several albums in his own name or fronting his band, Sweet Dixie. His latest release is the collaboration with his son Billy; the EP Emerson 414. 

Emerson & Waldron recorded the first bluegrass version – Emerson’s arrangement – of the Manfred Mann song, Fox on the Run, now a bluegrass standard.

In 1973 until 1992, when he retired, Emerson served in the U.S. Navy playing banjo with the band Country Current.  

From 1985 through to 1988 he worked with Wayne Busbice (Busby) as A&R director of Webco Records before in 1989, Emerson, with another son, John, took over the label. 

In 1988 he was inducted into the Virginia Country Music Hall of Fame and last year he became a member the IBMA’s Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame. 

“When I was 16 years old, I drove to Nashville and sought out Bill Monroe. He kept a room at the Clarkston Hotel where he stayed before the Opry on Saturday nights. When he answered his door, I told him I was a banjo player looking for a job. He said okay bring your banjo in and play some for me. When I was done, he said, ‘You’ve got a good right hand but you need more experience.’ That night he took me to the Opry where I stood in the wings and watched him play. 

In 1958 I saw Bill’s bus at a phone booth by the side of the road on Rte 1 south of Alexandria, Virginia. Bill was in the booth making a call. I stopped my car, went up to the booth and asked if he needed help. Bill said he was on the way to Maryland and needed a banjo player. I said I’m a banjo player and Bill said, ‘Yes, I remember you, you’re the boy from the Clarkston. Get your banjo and your clothes and meet me at New River Ranch in Rising Sun, Maryland.’ That day the Blue Grass Boys were Roger Smith fiddle, Bessie Lee Mauldin bass, Joe Stuart guitar, and me on banjo. When we were done, Bill paid me and asked if I could go to Pennsylvania with him and play the next day. I had to decline as I was a Country Gentleman and we had our own job to play.”

In an interview with Janet Davis, published Banjo NewsLetter in September 2009, Emerson indicated …

“I later played with him on several other occasions.”

One of those was in March 1971 at the Bluegrass Jamboree, the Virginia Theatre, Alexandria, Virginia, an early indoor event for bluegrass music.

Emerson recorded the Bill Monroe tune Rawhide on December 18, 1989 …

  

It was released on Emerson’s Banjo Man CD (Webco WEB-0151).  

OK, readers, does this story trigger any thoughts of bluegrass music in days gone by? What related event would you like remembered? Please share in comments. Thanks. 

Ask Sonny Anything… a bump on the head encore

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We are running an encore edition of Sonny’s column this week – a second look at his very first contribution over a year ago.

Sonny wanted us to make plain that he isn’t ducking his commitment to answer your questions today. He took a fall earlier in the week and hit his head, resulting in a blinding headache and neck pain. His wife, Judy, says that after a visit to the ER, and a EKG and CAT scan, they found nothing damaged or broken. But he has been told to relax completely for several days and not tax his brain in the slightest – no reading, television, or even phone calls.

So we all wish Sonny a speedy recovery and a quick return to his normal life. Get well soon, Chief!

Sonny, would you mind sharing one of your favorite Opry memories with us?

– Alan K.

Two, to be exact. First time at the Opry, I was 14 years old and scared, and then I walked on the Ryman stage and I immediately knew what FRIGHT really is. I was standing beside Bill Monroe, Jimmy Martin, and Charlie Cline…a Blue Grass Boy…and Bill says we are going to play Rawhide. 

Second, Bob Eubanks and I were standing backstage the night President Nixon visited the Opry. I had met Nixon the year before at the White House so I didn’t want to go out on the stage. When The President came off stage he came right by us and he recognized me and walked right up and said “Osborne, from Kentucky,” and proceeded to shake hands and spoke a few things. After he left I remembered I was carrying a 38 revolver in a shoulder holster. I showed it to Eubanks and he called me every name profanity owns. We would probably still be in jail. 

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Hey Sonny, how do I get Roland White to stop requesting his own songs on my radio show each week?

-Terry Herd

Deny knowledge of anyone named Roland, and tell him your name is actually Ralph Emery, and you only play Hillbilly music and “that Roland name ain’t no part of nothin’….”

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What is the most memorable thing Bill Monroe ever said to you?

– Kip V.

“I loaned you that hat, now you go find it.” Paintsville, Kentucky. I left the hat he loaned me in a restaurant. Luckily I found it the next day – July 1952. I loved that old man, and he knew it.

DR O   

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Dear Sonny, My wife and I have 5 lovely children and she’s insisting I get a vasectomy. Will that affect my banjo playing?

– Nervous in Nebraska

Yes…you will have problems executing the backward roll! But you’re not alone. Most banjo players don’t know whether they’re coming or going anyhow.

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Hey Sonny, I wrote a hit song for a hit artist and the record label never paid me my royalties. What should I do?

– A Frustrated Songwriter 

Find the name of the publisher. Often the record company is not at fault. Every song has a publisher, the record company pays the publisher and the publisher takes his half and is supposed to then pay the writer. The record company is not at fault,…every time. You should have a contract with the publisher. That’s who you should contact. Ask for a record of sales, and the amount due the writer. Then mention The Better Business Bureau!     

See you next week!

Ask Sonny Anything… Did you know the Stanley Brothers?

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Ask Sonny Anything is a recurring feature where our readers pose questions to the great Sonny Osborne, one half of the iconic Osborne Brothers who redefined bluegrass music in the 1960s, and noted banjo maven and collector of fine prewar instruments. Everyone is encouraged to pose queries of your own each week in the comments, about his history in the music, his wealth of banjo knowledge, or regarding any life advice you might be needing.

Sonny,

Thank you so much for this column, it’s my absolute favorite and I simply cannot wait until Fridays to see what you have to say. My question is simple, I haven’t heard you speak much here about the Stanley Brothers, but certainly your paths must have crossed many times. So I’m curious if you could share some thoughts. Were you friends or rivals?

Alan P

……Alan you raise a strong subject. I’ll do my best. The Stanley Brothers. Our relationship was friendly (Bobby worked with them a few weeks before he became A UNITED STATES MARINE) Yep, he became a bad ass…when he got back from Korea he was one of the two toughest men I ever knew. He wouldn’t give none, but he wouldn’t take none. The other was M.C. Dixon. Mother’s brother. Second world war PARATROOPER. Good guy. Picked the Guitar like Merle Travis.

I digress… back to the Stanley Brothers. Strange men. I really liked Carter’s songwriting.

Ralph Mayo was a good fiddle player who worked with them. After we came to Nashville we worked with them in Ohio, and they told us that Ralph Mayo had died. Horrible death. I mean man, it messed with me. I liked Ralph Mayo. We talked some. Nice man. Funny looking… he had ears that stuck out like a 34 Ford with suicide doors. The ones that opened backward..you know!

About two weeks after they told us that we were playing in Kingsport, Tennessee, on stage. I happened to notice a man coming in the auditorium and the lights from outside the room gave him a shadow appearance and this guy had Ralph Mayo ears. Bobby was at the mic singing and I walked over behind him and said to look at the guy just coming in. Right in the middle of a verse he looked and said: “By God, that’s Ralph Mayo!” He was within sight by this time and when Bobby said that he looked up. Sure enough, it was Ralph Mayo. Two weeks after Carter and Ralph had told us of his horrible death.

Suffered terrible right up to the end. Strange men. I’ll tell more when someone asks me!
s

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Sonny, You mentioned studying Rudy Lyle. Your ear on one take will take in more than mine will on a hundred. So can you please tell me take-aways on studying Rudy Lyle. As I understand it, and please tell me if I am wrong, but he used mostly the forward roll? I believe Butch Robins also talks about him with great respect and Bill Monroe said: “He was powerful.” Thanks for the great thoughts and comments here.

-STLIL

STLIL….Thank you for spending this time with us. We appreciate you. Earl was first because of his great right hand. A non player won’t know what I’m talking about…trust me I do. I didn’t pay much attention to whether he did a backward roll or not. He did what was necessary and where Earl had the great hand, Rudy had equally great ideas, thought process if you will. His fill ins were lending more toward country players…HELLO..before country players figured it out. We’re talking 1951 when Jerry Byrd and Hank Garland were doing their thing. Also Zeke Turner.

Rudy did not possess a great right hand, and in fact on Little Georgia Rose he actually tended to drag the timing. Remember when I told you to imagine a timing beat as a round ball. So, do that again. Bluegrass timing is at the top. In the aforementioned song, Rudy was in the middle and sometimes below, but those great ideas were there. And I listened closely and paid attention.

Don’t take this as me saying Rudy couldn’t play fast, that would be a mistake on both our parts. Rawhide…White House Blues…Git right own outa hyer!

A great example of what I’m talking about is I’m Blue I’m Lonesome…first time Monroe sings solo: “When I hear The Whistle Blow”…Rudy does 5 simple notes I think… but they just set the next line up SO well. Then 25-40 years later, I used the same approach in: My Heart Would Know … ..Recorded at Bradley’s Barn Studio May 26 1970…between one of the Bobby’s solo lines …I did a different several notes, 8 I think, but they were similar to what Rudy had done. Same idea. When we recorded that song and I did those few notes, I thought of Rudy and silently dedicated that idea to him.

I met Rudy once at Camp Springs, North Carolina in the ’60s. Brief meeting. Not many know this but he was a pretty good country type singer too. He did a couple single records on Starday. Joshua Gooding gave one of them to me. Surprised me.
s

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Ask Sonny Anything….I look forward to your words of wisdom every Friday. I was wondering what you thought about the Opry moving from the Ryman to Opryland. Wilma Lee once told me that the whole atmosphere changed backstage. I know it sure did in the audience.

Any special memories of Wilma Lee & Stoney? Thank You!

Bob O

Bob.. thanks for your time. Without it we wouldn’t exist. You asked about the move. I loved the Ryman because it represented the GRAND OLE OPRY and I didn’t want to give that up, although the building was more and more becoming a detriment rather than a plus. Parking, backstage was so small it was hard to get all of us in, but we made do.

Back in the day it was not air conditioned and summertime in Nashville it can get a little unbearable, but we managed. I just hated to see all that history sit there and ruin. So in 1973 we moved and it was so different. 15 or more dressing rooms never before heard of, artist parking. Each of us had a parking spot that was ours. If we were on the Opry we parked there. And parking for the fans was greatly improved.

Backstage was all different. The closeness was gone. If I wanted to see Little Jimmy Dickens I had to go find him. Later they gave bluegrass people dressing room number three. That was a good thing. The Opry itself changed too. It went from artists who drew the crowds to a legend drawing people. (Legend being The Grand Ole Opry) It’s like that now.

I never heard of over half the line up who are “Members” of the Opry, yet they pack the place regularly…HELLO! THE LEGEND DREW THE PACKED HOUSE. Am I wrong? Could be…remember, I bought a Rambler in 1963.

So, Wilma Lee and Stoney Cooper. We were never close but speaking friendly. Stoney Cooper was THE SOUTHERN GENTLEMAN. From how he carried himself, how he dressed, how he spoke. Soft and gentle. Wilma got really mad with us because we hired Terry Eldredge, Gene Wooten, and Terry Smith from her band. But, they were working 10 days a year and we were working 200….I think I have a good point.
s

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Sonny,

There is a story about Jimmy Martin and Carlton Haney getting in an altercation that resulted in a…shall we say rumble in the mud? I don’t know how true that is, but curious if you could opine on that piece of history and/or fiction whichever it happens to be. Inquiring bluegrass minds would love to hear your perspective.

Stan W.

Well Stan, thanks for joining us. WE LIVIN’ IT UP HYER!

We were there that day, and yes it happened. I had rather not go much deeper into it because others might know what transpired there better than I. And I wouldn’t want to tell something that I didn’t know the truth to what really happened.

One thing Carlton told me that really did take place. At that time we traveled in a 40 foot motorhome. It would go places that a bus would have a difficult time negotiating. A bus being much heavier and the steering on most old buses did not have good brakes, and no power steering. And, we took advantage of that. At Camp Springs we got to park very close to back stage. Jimmy saw this and he wanted to do the same. Carlton said NO. Jimmy said YES. It went sideways from here.

Now, remember I said I did not know if this was their problem for the “Widow Maker on the muddy hill” incident, but I do know this happened. I bet if Mike Bub reads this he will know the actual story…maybe he will enlighten us next week.
s

If you have something you would like to ask Sonny, be sure to post it in the comments below, or send it to us directly.

Moments in Bluegrass BG75 #2 – Bill Monroe comments on Bonnie and Clyde

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Following an invitation that the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) extended to its members that they share a memory from “75 years of bluegrass,” we thought that we would collect a few to share with you. 

Kathy Kallick is a co-founder of The Good Ol’ Persons (disbanded in 1995). She has played on and off in the Frank Wakefield Band; formed The Little Big Band; and has for many years led the Kathy Kallick Band.

In the early 1980s Butch Waller and I were invited to visit with Bill Monroe and his partner, Julia LaBella, at their home in Goodlettsville, TN.

I have so many memories from that visit; playing with Bill’s foxhound puppies, riding his horse, going to a Wednesday night bible service, playing lots of music, a BIG music party, Julia cooking on her wood-burning cookstove, Bill’s constant teasing… it’s all wonderful to remember.

One evening Bill and Julia decided to take us out to a restaurant that served “health food,” and Bill liked it because they served a good berry cobbler with ice cream.

It was a place that had a big screen TV, maybe for sports sometimes, but that night they were showing a movie. The movie was Bonnie and Clyde.

Bill first heard the music, which annoyed him because, well, Flatt & Scruggs, but then he started watching the movie. He’d never seen it. But he remembered hearing all about it on the radio as he was growing up. This movie now became a documentary. And we were never leaving that restaurant until the movie was over.

We watched as Bill gave little comments throughout.

“Yessir, that’s right.”

“Yes, I remember that.”

“That’s just the way it happened, all right.”

Well, that was the sorriest thing.”

“Yessir, I remember that. We heard about that on our radio.”

“Whew. What a sorry mess.”

As the credits rolled by at the end, one of asked Bill if he’d liked the movie.

He allowed as how it was pretty good, but the music was just sorry.

Indeed, the music was so identified with the movie, but it was anachronistic.

But, that’s not what Bill Monroe meant. He meant they should have asked him to play the music!

The Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs banjo-driven instrumental Foggy Mountain Breakdown was used as the soundtrack to the chase scene in Bonnie and Clyde.

OK, readers, does this story trigger any thoughts of bluegrass music in days gone by? What related event would you like remembered? Please share in comments. Thanks.

Bill Monroe statue moved from The Ryman for repair

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Bluegrass and early country music fans have taken great pride in the Bill Monroe statue displayed outside The Ryman Auditorium since its installation in June of 2017. Countless fans have had their picture taken with the bronze sculpture on visits to Nashville, and social media is awash with examples.

The statue was created on commission by sculptor Ben Watts, who also made the nearby likeness of Little Jimmy Dickens.

But the statue was damaged on June 1 when a protest in downtown Nashville gave way to a riot, and one of the stained glass windows behind Bill’s head on the Ryman building was smashed. That same evening the historic Nashville courthouse was set ablaze, leading to the arrest of one man on federal charges.

The Ryman staff have temporarily removed the Monroe statue, and returned it to the artist for restoration and repair. They can’t be certain that the damage, which they describe as minor, occurred at the same time that the window was smashed, but say that we can expect to see Bill back on his perch by fall.

It has also been intimated that he will be joined shortly by some “friends,” so that will be exciting to see.

Our friend and correspondent Chris Smith, guitarist with Ohio grassers Caney Creek, snapped these photos of the missing statue while visiting in Nashville this week.

So don’t worry, Bill Monroe fans. He’ll be back outside The Ryman soon!

Ask Sonny Anything… Were you scared of Bill Monroe?

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Ask Sonny Anything is a recurring feature where our readers pose questions to the great Sonny Osborne, one half of the iconic Osborne Brothers who redefined bluegrass music in the 1960s, and noted banjo maven and collector of fine prewar instruments. Everyone is encouraged to pose queries of your own each week in the comments, about his history in the music, his wealth of banjo knowledge, or regarding any life advice you might be needing.

Hey…I get questions asked from all different sources. This is from Mark Krider, good banjo player from Texas. Good player..smart player..he plays an Osborne Chief banjo…number 10. Mark asked my experiences with Raymond Fairchild. This is one of the funniest things one can imagine. If you knew Raymond, well, that just makes it hilarious.

We’re playing a festival in Indiana, we…the Brothers have played and Raymond and the Crowe Brothers…Josh and Wayne are on stage. I wander out to the sound table where Jerry Williamson has the sound setup which is about 40 yards from the stage. The crowd is about 1500 – 2000 so Jerry and I are partially hidden. I sat down beside Jerry and asked if he could let me have a mic and make the sound come out ONLY of the monitor speaker which is directly in front of Raymond. He did, and I was on! They were playing their show and I started by saying just “Raymond!” He flinched but that was all. I said his name from that point on, I would guess every 3-4 minutes. I finally got his attention and when I would say RAYMOND he would look directly at the speaker. Geoff Stelling has a distinct way of speaking and I tried to imitate his voice. Understand this whole process lasted about 30 minutes.

The Crowe Brothers realized what I was doing and they were both laughing but they would turn away from Raymond. I proceeded with, “Raymond, this is Geoff Stelling and I see you’re not playing the banjo I gave you!” Raymond was by then looking straight at the monitor speaker like Geoff was in that speaker. I said; “Raymond, if you’re not going to play the banjo I want it back!” By this time Raymond is getting a little more than PO’d…fact is he’s getting right mad. I said; “Raymond, if you’ve got it with you, I want it back NOW!” He walked right on up to the monitor speaker and shouted, “Well you’re not getting the damn thing back…NEVER!”

The Crowe boys are doubled over and the crowd is laughing and Raymond is madder than a wet hen. He’s really hot. I stood up and screamed as loud as I could…”THANK YOU RAYMOND!” He caught on to the whole thing and his face turned blood red and the crowd gave him a standing ovation.
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Sonny, I discovered bluegrass in my mid 20s at the Ken Mill Cafe in Cincinnati. It was run by Stu and Ann Salmons and the house band was Earl Taylor and the Stoney Mountain Boys. Earl on mando, Jim McCall on guitar, Vernon (Boatwhistle) McIntyre on bass, Vernon (Junior) McIntyre Jr. on banjo, and Harley Gabbard on dobro. I’ve been a fan and picker ever since. Sunday night was a never miss time because you never knew who would stop in on their way home from gigs up north, which included you and Bobby. One night I watched a bodacious fight with you that Stu had moved out to the lot behind the bar as was his custom. However, by the time you put your banjo down and got off the stage it was pretty much over. What are your recollections of the Ken Mill?

Mike R.

Mike…come on in, the water is cold though! There was so much that went on at the Ken Mill. The place was packed on a regular basis and when you get a couple hundred hillbillies about half full (translated…half drunk) and there is sure to be a little trouble. And the back parking lot was the Madison Square Garden boxing ring. Some pretty good fights broke out there.

Harley Gabbard was a good friend to us…the best! Bobby, Harley, and I stopped in there one Saturday afternoon and there was not very many people. Harley was mad at someone that I don’t dare remember, and if you knew Harley you know he was a very strong individual. I’ve seen him mad and it’s not a pretty sight, but he was one of the most gentle people I ever knew. Good luck on trying to figure that one out. We sat there and a few glasses of..ahem..tea. Harley got quiet for about 10 minutes. Finally he picked up a steel ashtray and said, “KeeSwarp…if I had —–head in my hand right now, and folks he literally crushed that steel ashtray. A normal guy would need a hammer to do what Harley did to that piece of steel.

Good music came out of that place though. The idea for the first compensated banjo bridge came from there. Billy Hamilton and I were discussing the fact that a banjo second and third strings did not note right. I took a pencil and on a napkin I drew a bridge and asked if he could make something like that. He said he could, and by golly he did. I put it on my banjo and it worked. And, get this. I was so used to the sound being a little flat on the second string and sharp on the third that when it noted right it sounded out of tune. So, I couldn’t use it on a permanent basis.

Proof that I did it and he made it, I wrote an instruction book on the three finger style of playing…between 1958 and 1964 and there are pictures of my RB3 banjo with the crooked bridge. UGLY! There was a phone booth sitting right in the middle of the floor. I’ve seen more than one guy go in there to make a phone call and sit there in that phone booth and pass out..or to word it a shade better….fall asleep just sitting there. The Ken Mill.
s

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Sonny, Who would be on your Mt. Rushmore for banjo pickers?

Mine would have to be

1.Earl Scruggs
2.Don Reno
3.Sonny Osborne
4.JD Crowe

Looking forward to your response,
Greg J.
Mt. Airy, NC

Man, Greg I appreciate the fact that you gave us a bit of your time. That is a tough question. I’m gonna bypass that one for a while.

1. Earl
2.Don

I mention those two because they were first, and that’s questionable to some. Jens Kruger, Bill Keith, Kristin, Sammy, Bobby Thompson, Aaron, Tony, you should notice I have 4 melodic players, but should they be considered for Rushmore? You mentioned me and I appreciate the credit you give me. Do I deserve it, Does Crowe deserve it…how bout Kenny Ingram, or Jimmy Mills. Hey, James Gar Bowers, Jim Smoak, Don McFee, Rudy Lyle before service and Rudy after service….two different players.

Rushmore means the best ever…above all else….the very best, most knowledgeable banjo players of all time. That’s a pretty big charge right there. That you mentioned me…totally elated yet humbled….who wouldn’t be. I mean like, HOLY McWOW!!!!!

That’s an interesting subject. HOW ABOUT YOU GUYS AND GIRLS SEND ME YOUR MOUNT RUSHMORE…HUH? TWO LISTS. TRADITIONAL AND MELODIC.
s

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HI Sonny, some years ago I read an article about when you started playing with Bill Monroe at 14 and were a little scared of him. I can understand that, Bill being who he was, and your young age. I related the story to my wife’s uncle who used to jam with Lester and Earl when they were on the radio in Raleigh, NC. He told me there were grown men scared of Bill.

I managed to talk with Bill several times over the years at Myrtle Beach and he seemed very outgoing, very willing to talk. He even showed me one of the mandolins that Gibson repaired for him. My question is this; was Bill really tough and as strong as they say or was it just a front. I know time seemed to mellow him some. Thanks for all you do, still think the harmony of the Osborne Brothers was the best.

Roger A.

I appreciate you for jumping right on in here. Thank you. When I was a Blue Grass Boy I was just that. A boy who had never spend a night out away from my parents and sister so I was pretty green. I didn’t know how to do anything. I didn’t know much at all, but I could play the banjo and knew how to sing the baritone part in the quartet songs. (I use the phrase: “could play the banjo” quite loosely.)

I couldn’t play very good but I was cheap. I was supposed to get $60 per week but I don’t remember 1 time ever getting that much. I had to ask for food money. But I was 14 working as a Bluegrass Boy with Lord Bill Monroe on the Grand Ole Opry back when those things were big time important.

Being scared of Bill sort of came with the territory. He never spoke to me until the second week I was there. So, yeah…I think you could say I was scared of him. Charlie Cline and Jimmy Martin? Were they a little edgy around him…I would have to say yes. Later in life, as you said, he mellowed and became less harsh, although if he didn’t like you he just didn’t talk to you, period.

Art Stamper, good fiddle player, came to me in Clay City, Kentucky and we talked about Bill and his personality. Art had been with Bill some time and as Art put it…”He just acted like I didn’t exist.” Art said that he couldn’t take it and I think he turned in his notice that day. Art isn’t the only one he did that way. Strange dude was Bill Monroe.
s

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In an interview in the New York Times, Bob Dylan says “Bluegrass music is mysterious and deep rooted and you almost have to be born playing it. Just because you are a great singer, or a great this or that doesn’t mean you can be in a bluegrass band. It’s almost like classical music. It’s harmonic and meditative, but it’s out for blood. If you ever heard the Osborne Brothers, then you know what I mean.”

I think he’s right.

Ol’ Doc….I met Bob Dylan once. At the Newport Folk Festival in 1964. Friend of mine named Johnny Cash introduced me to him… I didn’t know Bob Dylan from Adam’s house cat so I just thought he was another strange person. We were standing backstage prepared to go on and I didn’t have my mind on anything except the 18,000 people sitting out there waiting to tear us apart. Which they did. We were not the most popular act at the Newport Folk Festival in 1964….a little nervous? Maybe a little. Maybe a lot, but I’ll never admit that.

While I do appreciate being mentioned, and a also appreciate the fact that I’ve been told of this interview no less than 50 times. Bill Evans said this was his first interview in 7 years…so I guess it’s a big deal to be mentioned. Although, I must admit to this thing he said…”It’s harmonic and meditative, but it’s out for blood. If you ever heard the Osborne Brothers, then you know what I mean.” I guess I’m a dumbass, but I don’t know what that means. I hope it’s good. I’m elated to be mentioned by “the great one!”
s

If you have something you would like to ask Sonny, be sure to post it in the comments below, or send it to us directly.

Ask Sonny Anything… How did you get to be called Sonny?

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Ask Sonny Anything is a recurring feature where our readers pose questions to the great Sonny Osborne, one half of the iconic Osborne Brothers who redefined bluegrass music in the 1960s, and noted banjo maven and collector of fine prewar instruments. Everyone is encouraged to pose queries of your own each week in the comments, about his history in the music, his wealth of banjo knowledge, or regarding any life advice you might be needing.

TO WHOM (OR WHO) IT MIGHT CONCERN.
I’M CONSTANTLY ASKED IF I HAVE ANY COMPLAINTS. YES…I DO. BUT I FIGURE THIS IS PROBABLY NOT THE PLACE FOR IT. THATS PERSONAL AND I BELIEVE THIS IS NOT. BUT I COULD BE WRONG. YOU RECKON?

=========

Hello Sonny, I was just watching an old Bill Keith set on YouTube from about ’98 that someone had uploaded, and Bill asks a few trivia questions to the audience. He says he will give away a free set of banjo strings if anyone can guess Sonny Osbourne’s real name. Someone eventually says “Roland” and I don’t see a lot of info about why you are called Sonny, so my long-winded question is why do you go by the name Sonny? Love your banjo skills by the way and no one else has the same sound you have! All the best.

Anthony

Anthony…thanks for joining us. Well, when I was born I was supposed to be named Rolland but at the Hyden hospital nor over on thousand sticks, they might not have known how to spell Rolland so someone might have said, “just put Sonny on the paper till someone straightens it out.”

Guess what, no one ever straightened it out, so to some my “real” name was Rolland and for some reason unbeknownst to all the rest of us, everyone called me Sonny. I know this is confusing but it’s the best I can do.

So, I started school. Central grade school in Dayton, Ohio. First grade, I reckon they asked my mom what’s his name. She said Rolland….didn’t have to prove anything. From that point on I was Rolland at school and Sonny to everyone else. This continued until the 10th grade when Bill Monroe and the banjo came calling.

I went to register for the draft at age 18. He asked my name and had to verify that by seeing my birth certificate. He looked at me right funny and said, “Look, I’m sorry but your name is not Rolland”…and he kinda snickered when he said, “it’s Sonny!” OK, I’m 6’2″ weighing 215 lbs and my rightful name is “Sonny.” Hey, at least it wasn’t SUE…he gave me the birth certificate back and just looked at me and said “You’ll hear from us!”

I went home and brought this up to my Mom and she just looked at me and told me that’s what everyone knows you by, so that’s your name. I never heard from the draft board again, no one ever said that name to me again until some bunch of nosey people with nothing else better to do, found out about Rolland. I didn’t deny it but also never talked about it much until now.

Ole Anthony even spelled my name wrong…well he actually didn’t misspell it, he used the English…OSBOURNE….which is quite alright. Oh, I forgot to tell you one other thing. It’s spelled ROLLAND so all through school they spelled it with one L. I figured they couldn’t show me how to play Cripple Creek in A flat so after 3 months of the 10th grade I opted out of school (partially because my future wife told me about some punks eating lunch in my ’35 Ford every day, and mainly because Bill Monroe had called). And I got right on out of there! har har… it didn’t work out too bad, did it?
s

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Sonny – I have loved your performances since the ’60’s; thank you! Do you recall an incident in the early ’80’s, with the Rhode Island Cajun & Bluegrass Festival, where there was a booking mess-up (uh, mine, actually), and you agreed to a crazy, complicated plan: you drove the band early Sunday morning from Delaware to RI, on little sleep, played a long set for us, then boarded a small jet I’d chartered (it was after all my error…but the promoter’s money), to take you to meet your own band bus at a tiny airfield in VA, where you then played the closing set at another festival? You were real champs, and total pros – and you, Sonny, were a prince for agreeing to do it! I always wondered what that experience was like for you…and what you thought of those nutty bozos in RI.

Michael B.

Michael B….man I remember it so well. Those nutty Bozos in Rhode Island were a pleasure as compared to some of the clientele we must deal with.

Note, I am not complaining but when a promoter pays so little attention to booking artists that they hire us when they actually wanted the OSMOND clan, like Marie and Donnie….there is your BOZO. That has happened. What did I do? Collected the money and proceeded to the next day hoping it would be better. Most times it was.

Now, Michael…about that plane ride. The pilot had me ride in the co-pilot’s seat for some reason yet to be determined. We were going to the airport in Richlands, Virginia. He, the pilot asked me if I knew where this place was supposed to be and I told him I had been there before. He made three passes trying to find an airport. Apparently it showed itself on his chart but it wasn’t where it was supposed to be.

Finally, we flew over this mountain and he said…”there it is”….hidden right over that mountain top with thick tree coverage was the Richland airport, where Bobby, some 35-40 years earlier as a member of The Lonesome Pine Fiddlers had worked a date or two with Flatt and Scruggs when they were at WCYB in Bristol.

As a matter of fact, Earl and Larry Richardson had a banjo playing contest. Larry played Train 45 and Earl did The Mama Blues. First contest was a tie. Second was no contest. Ezra Cline was doing the MC work and he asked Earl if he wanted any guitar backup and his reply was classic Earl..”HIT DON’T MAKE NO DIFFERENCE!” The first contest ending in a tie, they had a playoff…or in this case a “Pick off” in which Earl won handily. Was there really a tie? My opinion, of course not, but the pickoff drew over a thousand people. Good Business!

Bobby said Lester Flatt was on the radio show next day and talking about their contest, said something like; “Erl’ showed ’em what 5 string pickin’ is all about!” That more than likely was not his exact words but you get the idea, right? The folks who saw it got the idea too. Ole Erl layed the thumb to it and walked away with the champee’nship! Justly so. Thank you Michael, without your error as you called it, this would never have been brought to light again. It certainly lives in our memories though. s

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Hi Sonny

I really like the album you all did with Mac Wiseman. I grew up in Richmond, VA when Mac and Reno & Smiley were on the Old Dominion Barn Dance there. Do you have any good stories about Mac? How about Don Reno? Did you and he ever get together to compare notes on the banjo?

I saw you and Bobby numerous times when you would come down to southern Maryland…first at Take It Easy Ranch and later at Lil Margaret’s Festival. Thanks for all the great music.

Bob S
St. Inigoes, MD

Bob. Thanks for participating in our weekly free for all.

Take it Easy Ranch… Do you remember the guy with the Huge sunglasses and always drunker than Cootie Brown carrying a quart bottle of Miller’s beer? And how bout the Dog House? Did you ever see us there? Lil Margaret…yep we were on the first festival he had there.

Not many Mac stories floating around, especially that can be related in mixed company English….not here anyhow. Don Reno was another matter altogether. But I’ve told them all so many times now that I forget the ones I’ve already worn thin.

One of our last lunches Larry Stephenson was there and someone asked me to tell something I had told, and I said I had told it a ton and Larry said, “I’ve heard you tell this probably 20 times but I really like this one, so go ahead and tell it again!” I did!

Neither Don, Earl, Kenny or any of the great banjo players that I knew wanted to discuss banjos. Don and I talked once about his and Earl’s trade a little bit. True or not, I don’t know. I just go on what is told to me and by whom.

Don said Earl made three trips to Roanoke trying to trade him out of the Granada. He also RELATED TO ME THAT HIS BANJO WAS IN TERRIBLE CONDITION. I think he said he was stationed in Kansas when he received his orders to go overseas. He shipped the banjo back to South Carolina and a chunk of fiddle resin which was in the banjo case compartment, was placed too close to a heat source and it melted. He said it was pretty bad because by the time he got back to it, the resin after melting had hardened and crystalized. But, Earl wanted it and they traded. A trade which has been discussed and talked about since 1949. Probably will be forever. But, Earl made that banjo come to life, and Don’s playing was perfect for the style 75, so they both came out as winners. I’ve always thought the style 75 was the Foggy Mountain Breakdown banjo, but Earl said no. It was the Granada 9584-3.
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Hi Sonny,

I’ve been a fan of the Osborne Brothers for as long as I’ve known what bluegrass is, and I love the column. You and Bobby were able to expand the horizons of bluegrass instrumentally, vocally, and otherwise, while still maintaining the core elements. Do you see any differences between how the Osborne Brothers changed the sound, and the changes you see happening in bluegrass now? And do you think that some modern bluegrass may be starting to stray too far from its roots?

Cameron C.

Cameron, thank you for your precious time. Man, it’s appreciated beyond words. This is really tough to answer without offending someone, and I’m not too worried about that. If you can’t take the heat get out of the kitchen. Or somewhere there is an off and on or delete button.

So, as Raymond Huffmaster used to say as he was turning the radio off when he heard something he didn’t want to hear….”CUH LICK UH!” Funny, beautiful, honest, man. Best bus driver ever. Lotta good ones, but Raymond was the best. He drove us for 10 years. Thank you R.E…thank you Lord.

Back to Cameron’s question: The bands I’ve listened to are too modernized for my liking. Lead singers are doing the vibrato thing, Banjo player type people who hold the banjo are playing a thousand more notes than is necessary. Meaningless notes that have nothing to do with the song. Did Bill Keith or Bobby Thompson do it like that? If my memory serves me right, I don’t think so!

Mandolin players to the number are playing a style my brother Bobby and Jethro Burns started in the early ’50s, and I would bet a silver dollar that most do not recognize either as mandolin players. That’s a shame too. You don’t believe it? Go listen to records they did in the early ’50s. No, neither of them play the – unrelated to anything notes – you are trying to play now, sounds like mandolin and banjo players have a “HA, I PLAYED MORE NOTES THAN YOU DID!” contest going.

And, so lets get to harmony. Today an engineer mixes harmony like country engineers would do it. Lead in the middle and the other two parts a little below that…volume I’m talking about. You might say, well, these guys who are modernizing bluegrass are taking it to the bank doing this… I might counter that by saying…maybe so, Bobby and I, Lester and Earl, Mac, Don and Red, and of late Rhonda, with a few more made a few trips to the bank too. But, when their records are played, I don’t recognize any of these modern guys…. and you cant rely on the DJ to tell you who is playing what… I guess that’s against the union to do that…my old reliable WSM is playing pop and soft rock…then I go to KNON in Great Falls, Montana and they are playing music I can Identify with. Carl Smith, Ray Price….I’m way off the subject, am I not.

I told you it was a tough subject didn’t I? Are they straying too far from it’s roots? Son, they are in the top of the tree, out on a broken limb and the roots are buried in the ground 150 feet below. Now, you can take that as a YES. One of these days someone will be digging around and find us though…maybe.
s

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I just got Chief 001 from you this week, and boy am I one happy banjo player! Anyways, just wondering when the Osborne Chief banjo line started, how many have been made, and what made you want to start making them?
Lincoln H.

So, Lincoln… how is old 0001 doing it for you? It surely sounded good the day you picked it up. I just hope that excitement continues.

When a person has that kind of fire in their eyes they can’t help but want to learn to do their best. So it will be for you. So you’ll know it’s history and someday someone who is wanting to get to you a little bit, I’ll just break right on out and tell you now. 0001 started out as all Chief banjos did, except 00 which I intended to keep which I did. 0001 came into this world as a nickel plated banjo with a Huber tone ring and it went to Dale Vanderpool.

After a while Dale called and wanted my opinion on whether he should have it changed to gold plated. He took it to Frank Neat and had it changed and that helped the sound some. Then about 2001 Dale wanted to get a Blaylock tone ring put in it…I had changed to a Blaylock exclusively so I ok’d that change. That banjo really woke up and Dale was satisfied.

After Dale’s untimely passing, Dale’s wife asked if I would take it and sell it for her. I did. Took it to Frank and had them go over it completely. Roger Sterry wanted to buy it because it belonged to Dale, and you now have it, having taken ownership from Roger. It’s a very good banjo, as good as any Chief ever. Equal to the best.

How the banjo company came to be? At lunch one day I made the remark to Wynn, Bobby’s son, that I had seen a Stelling priced at $6000 and it kinda floored me. I just said, for conversation that I bet I could have one built for a couple grand cheaper. He said, “Why don’t you?” I just said “I think I will,” and I called Frank Neat the next day. The word Chief came from the late Ronnie Blackwell. He played bass with us during the mid ’60s and he called me Chief from the moment he arrived. So the banjo became The Osborne Chief.

I would need to get books out to give you an exact count…and I’m not going to guess. But it’s more than 25 and not as many as 500. OK? My thought in the beginning was to build a professional quality banjo and give a Calton Case, Elliott Capo, and a Dogwood Designs leather strap with every Chief sold. I did that until Calton and Elliott priced their way right on out of my budget. I was never in the building business to make a living…but I didn’t want it to cost $$ to keep it up. So I stopped with the Calton attitude and Elliott neglect.

Now I give a Shubb Capo and a very good Osborne Chief case made by TKL. THAT’S MY STORY AND I’M STICKING TO IT ‘TIL SOMEBODY PROVES ME WRONG!
S

If you have something you would like to ask Sonny, be sure to post it in the comments below, or send it to us directly.

Jerry Douglas guests on Toy Heart podcast – sneak peak

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The next episode of the Toy Heart podcast is set to premiere tomorrow, June 11, with host Tom Power interviewing reso-guitar superstar Jerry Douglas. But our friends at The Bluegrass Situation, who produce and distribute the podcast, have offered it for our readers to hear a day early, along with an invitation to com learn more about Toy Heart and its many episodes about bluegrass music.

Like so many things that happen in the independent music world, Power tells us that his inspiration for launching the podcast was his own desire to listen to one such as he imagined. The CBC Radio One host is also a musician and performs with The Dardanelles, who focus on traditional Newfoundland music. He says his goal with Toy Heart is to bring out the great stars of bluegrass in their own words.

“I came up with the idea for this podcast because I wanted to hear it, really. I wanted to hear these legends in their own words, and in Season 2, I’m hoping to have more conversations with the people who made, developed, popularized, passed on and even challenged this great music. I hope people go into the archives and listen to some of these conversations with folks like Del McCoury, Béla Fleck, Jesse McReynolds, Alison Brown, Ricky Skaggs, Tony Trischka and Alice Gerrard and learn things about them they hadn’t heard before, hadn’t considered before, and may listen differently going forward. And while we plan Season 2, I hope people suggest more voices we can document in the long history of this music. I wish we had a two-hour podcast with Bill Monroe, or Earl Scruggs or Mac Wiseman, or John Hartford – so let me know who you think would be a great chat.”

Like any good podcaster, Tom had a number of interviews recorded before starting to release episodes earlier this year. This one dates back to last September during the 2019 World of Bluegrass convention.

“I spoke with Jerry in his hotel room at IBMA in Raleigh, NC. Since I was 15 and listening to Bill Monroe in my Dad’s car on the way to school, I dreamt of being where I was – surrounded by the music I love, people who love it, and about to talk to one of its greatest about his history in the music. I was nervous in the elevator on the way up, but Jerry could not have been kinder. We sat down at a table in the hotel room and just chatted; we both lost track of time as he told stories about hearing ‘Uncle’ Josh Graves for the first time with Flatt and Scruggs, using a toothbrush to turn his guitar into something like a Dobro, his father’s band the The West Virginia Travellers, being discovered by Country Gentlemen, his lifelong friendship with Ricky Skaggs, Tony Rice, JD Crowe, Allison Krauss, Ray Charles, O’ Brother and more! After it was over, we agreed we could’ve talked for another few hours and only barely scratched the surface. It was an honor to talk to one of the greatest living American musicians – but especially to focus the conversation (as we have been throughout the season) on bluegrass.”

Here’s a pre-release listen to the Jerry Douglas episode. It runs about an hour and a half. You can click the settings icon in the mini player to subscribe, share, or download the podcast..

All previous episodes of Toy Heart can be found online, where you can also get the RSS feed to have all episodes automatically downloaded using popular podcast aggregators.

Monte Warden remembers Bill Monroe – These Eggs Are Special, Ain’t They?

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This detailed remembrance of the Father of Bluegrass is a contribution from Monte Warden. During the late 1980s, Warden got to know Bill Monroe while working twin bill shows with his band, The Wagoneers, who were an extremely popular “young country” act at the time. During a package tour of Japan with Monroe, they got to know each other quite well, and Warden relates his memories of that trip here.

Monte has a new, self-titled record coming later this month on Break A Leg Records with his band, The Dangerous Few. It’s continues in his style of carefully crafted songs with a honky tonk, Texas twang. Since the breakup of The Wagoneers, Warden has maintained a solo career and contributed songs to a number of popular bluegrass and country artists. We appreciate him allowing us to share these memories with our readers. His prose is every bit as tart as his verse.

When I first met Bill Monroe in the fall of ‘88, he was not only a living legend, but also a national treasure. At 77, he was still an active touring musician and recording artist, and not just some marble statue on a pedestal. He, like so many country legends I’ve been blessed enough to meet from that era, was always very well-aware of who he was, of his place in history, and that meeting him was a special moment for you. There was an arresting old-world formality about him that left no question whether he was to be addressed as Mr. Monroe or Bill.

Mr. Monroe and I first met in the green room on the set of Nashville Now in 1988 as The Wagoneers and Monroe were both on the show that night. He came into our dressing room to introduce himself (as we would have never dared bother him) and mentioned he had just seen on our album (!) that we shared a producer in Emory Gordy, Jr. He said in his soft high Kentucky whisper of a voice, “That Mr. Gordy’s a good boy, ain’t he?” and we all four fell over ourselves with ‘yes sirs’ and nervous laughs.

Monroe kicked off the show and did a few songs, then sat on the guest couch for Q&A with legendary radio & TV host, Ralph Emery. We were the next guests on and were about to pick our 1st song of the night coming out of commercial. The stage manager announced we were on in 15 seconds. Monroe and I made eye contact, then, doing the pretending-to-look-at-his-wristwatch gesture, he looked back at me with a ‘get ready, boy’ look and gave me a wink. We picked I Wanna Know Her Again then I headed over to the couch. 

Mr. Monroe had rested his legendary 1923 Gibson mandolin on the couch cushion in the exact spot where I was supposed to sit. He grabbed it, but then just as I was fixin’ to sit down, he put it right back under me only to pull it away at the very last second. This scared the hell outta me and greatly amused him. I could already see our manager dealing with the headline, “Obscure Texas Upstart destroys Bluegrass’ Holy Grail”. 

I can remember absolutely nothing about the Ralph Emery interview, but clearly remember as we went to commercial that Monroe, obviously having noticed my attire and appearance, leaned over to me and said, “You know I wrote Elvis Presley’s first song?” to which I replied, “Oh yessir, I do know that.” He raised his eyebrow and said, “Alright then, what was it?” I smiled and said, “Blue Moon of Kentucky, sir.”  He smiled, raised his long index finger in the air and said very approvingly, “Hmm, you’re ok, Texas.” 

‘Texas’. That was the only thing Bill Monroe ever called me. I later learned from Emory Gordy that Monroe threw around nicknames and compliments like manhole covers, and if he ever gave you either one, it was noteworthy.

I have been blessed in my life and career to be called ‘Texas’ by Bill Monroe, ‘Hoss’ by Waylon Jennings (the first time when I was 12), and ‘Punkin’ by Sonny Throckmorton. The Platinum Records, BMI Awards, and myriad other accolades all pale in comparison.

The next time I saw Monroe, we were both at LAX fixin’ to fly out to Japan together for what was the inaugural Country Gold Festival in Kumamoto. Also on the bill were Roger Miller, Hank Thompson, Wanda Jackson, and Marty Stuart. Though Marty was unbilled as Miller’s bandleader, he had his 1st MCA single climbin’ the charts and Miller was givin’ him a slot during his set. The Wags had also volunteered to be the backing band for Thompson and Jackson and were really lookin’ forward to that. They would do their sets, then we would just step forward and pick ours, followed by Monroe, then Miller would close the show.  

It was my 1st trip to Japan and also the 1st international run with two new Wags, Eric Danheim on guitar and Billy Brad Fordham on bass (I actually gave Billy Brad that nickname on this trip in the limo ride from the airport—which has stuck so hard, it has graduated from nickname to just…well….his name). Once we landed, we were taken straight to a press conference and then to a 400+ year old schoolhouse that was the ancestral school of the prime minister…or some such. I never really understood why we were all there, but it was a big deal to our hosts—and I was truly jus’ so proud to be there. We were all served tea from the few remaining original tea leaves from when this school first opened. If you’ve never been served 400+ year old Japanese tea, it tastes a whole lot like any other 400+ year old food you’ve eaten, but we drank it and didn’t say a word. Mr. Monroe was seated next to me and he leaned over and said, “Can you believe we’re here, Texas? I’m just a poor ol’ country boy, I come from nothin’, and look where music brought us.” Gratitude always seemed to be his initial impulse to anything, which was a beautiful lesson to impart to a 22 year old cocky kid.

Right before the tea ended, Mr. Monroe, to everyone’s surprise, spontaneously stood up from the table and, overlooking the school’s beautiful garden, placed his trademark white hat over his heart and began singing Wayfaring Stranger in a high-lonesome acapella. All 5 verses. It was obvious that our Japanese hosts had absolutely no cultural touchstone for this and shifted uncomfortably in their seats for a few moments, until they recognized what his gesture was: a simple, humble prayer of gratitude. I’ll never forget the way the tears streamed down Monroe’s face; and then as the song went on, the tears streaming down mine. It remains one of the most special moments of my career. I assure you, no purer song has yet been sung.

The next day was our one and only day off and early that mornin’ my phone rang. The voice on the other line said, “Good Mornin’ Texas, this is Mr. Monroe. You goin’ down to have breakfast?” Now before I got all excited about Bill Monroe inviting me to breakfast, my first road instinct was that somebody in Miller’s band was probably f**kin’ with me, so I played it a bit cool and said, “Yessir, I reckon I’ll head down in about 10 minutes.” He said he’d meet me down there. 

Now, I should point out here that on the road at that time, I always wore a suit, both onstage and off, and Monroe, always dressed and pressed immaculately, had earlier commented that he liked that about me.

So, I entered the hotel restaurant and Mr. Monroe was sittin’ down havin’ coffee and he waved me over. Billy Brad came in right behind me, and Monroe said if my ‘music friend’ wanted to join us, it was ok with him. So, it’s me, Billy Brad, and Bill Monroe havin’ breakfast, as if this happened all the time. In the lobby we could see two of his Blue Grass Boys fixin’ to leave the hotel for a day of sightseein’. They were in jeans, tee shirts, and sneakers and looked like two typical, nice, young American tourists.

Mr. Monroe gently elbowed me and said, “Look at that, Texas. Pitiful. Just pitiful. That is nooooo way for a Blue Grass Boy to dress. No sir! That reflects on Bill Monroe (he said in 3rd person). Tsk-tsk. No sir! I see your boys dress right.” I didn’t begin to know how to tell Mr. Monroe that these were bandmates and not ‘my boys’, so I just said, yes sir. 

As the breakfast went on, Monroe talked about how wonderful it is to have music take us so all so far. He asked me if I knew a few folks in Texas that he knew, and one of the names he’d asked about, he realized had passed before I was even born, so he then said with a twinkle, “So, you probably never met him.” The three of us were havin’ coffee, bacon, scrambled eggs, and toast. Good. Free. But nothin’ to really write home about. Until…. 

Mr. Monroe looked at me and said, “These eggs are special, ain’t they, Texas?” I said, “Yes, sir.” He glanced side-to side and with a boys’ club grin said, “’Bout the best thing I ever ate with my hat on…. Hmmmm??” It took about a half second to sink in, then Billy Brad and I about fell on the floor laughing. Monroe was tickled & quite satisfied with himself.  

A few minutes later, with breakfast over, Billy Brad and I headed to the elevator to go back up to our rooms.  As soon as the doors closed, we looked at each other and I said, “Billy Brad, did we just hear Bill Monroe say that??” We immediately told the rest of the band. And everyone else we knew.  

When we were at the airport about to head home from the run, Monroe was sitting in a wheelchair reading Japan’s one English-language newspaper.  In it was a review of the festival. The caption read “The Two Unquestioned Stars of the Show” and below it were two photos: one of him and one of the Wagoneers.  He folded the paper over, hit me playfully with it and said, “How ‘bout that?” On the plane ride home, Mr. Monroe came and sat with me a few minutes and said, “You know, Texas, I was listenin’ to you pick and some of those songs of yours might could work bluegrass.” 

Turns out he was right. Thirty years later, The Lonesome River Band took a song of mine, Wreck of My Heart to #1 on the Bluegrass Chart. 

I only saw Bill Monroe once more, shortly before he passed, in the late ’90s.  I was at an industry event honoring him at The Country Music Hall of Fame. When he saw me, he motioned me over and said, “Forgive me, how do we know one another?” I told him my name and just before I could mention our trip overseas, he nodded, smiled, squeezed my arm and said, “Boy, we showed them Japs how it’s done, didn’t we, Texas?” 

This article has been slightly edited since it was initially published.

California Report: Mandolinist Nina Weisman talks Bill Monroe and more

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While looking for biographical info on Southern California mandolin player Nina Weisman, I ran across this from the Family Fiddle Camp, where she’s an instructor, and figured I could do no better than this.

“Nina Weisman is a fixture in the Central and Northern California bluegrass scene. She’s mentored many young mandolin players over the years and is a natural-born teacher. She’s won several regional picking contests and boasts a long list of performance credits with many California-based bluegrass bands. When not picking on her mandolin, you can find Nina sporting a ranger’s hat and leading a group or two around one of our beautiful National Parks.”

Hi Nina, how did you get hooked on bluegrass?

It took a while. My first exposures were homemade cassettes of friends’ favorite local bluegrass bands, and those never appealed to me. Then in 1994 I went to my first music festival, Strawberry, and Sam Bush was playing. I was completely blown away by him, and by the sound of the mandolin. Up until that point, I mostly listened to rock bands. I was always an avid music listener and really appreciated instrumental virtuosity. I’d never heard anything quite like his band. His set included a few bluegrass songs, and I started to pay attention when that word was mentioned. The whole music festival scene changed my life. I walked around the campsites and saw almost everyone with an instrument. Some of the campsites had jams as good as the main stage music!

By the next year, I decided to get either a mandolin or a banjo, since I loved the sound of both and wanted to be able to jam with my friends. The mandolin won since it was smaller and lighter and might fit in a backpack. I was working as a backcountry ranger at the time, and size and weight were very important. I started playing fiddle tunes of all genres, but as the years went by, I was more and more attracted to the energy and soul of traditional bluegrass. The more you study it, the more you realize how complex and interesting it is, and how difficult it is to play well. Now it’s by far my favorite type of music.

What instruments do you play? 

My main instrument is the mandolin, but I play a little fiddle and piano. I won a Deering banjo at the CBA raffle last fall and I’ve been practicing rolls, so maybe I can add banjo to this list soon.

Do you remember your first instrument?

My first instrument as a kid was our 1800’s player piano (with the pedals) that I learned on. My first mandolin was a cheap Epiphone I used to see if I actually liked playing. I was looking for a better one a year or so after that.

Were you exposed to music when you were young? 

My parents sent me to piano lessons when I was very young, and I continued them through high school. I also went to a private school where we studied a different instrument every year, so I learned some flute, recorder, guitar, and drums. After high school, I didn’t play anything until I picked up the mandolin in my 30s.

Who are your biggest influences?
Over the years, I’ve learned to appreciate multiple artists. At first, I was obsessed with Sam Bush, then got more into bluegrass and found Kenny Baker, Ronnie McCoury, Jesse McReynolds, Doyle Lawson, and finally Bill Monroe. Once I started listening to his live shows and started analyzing his playing, I realized how brilliant he was. Unfortunately, my early exposures to his playing were some of his lesser studio recordings, so it took me much too long to fully appreciate him. Now I realize it will take more than a lifetime to learn and absorb his contribution to music, so I’m stuck with him for a while.

I want to mention that the younger pickers in our bluegrass community are huge influences on me. I enjoy playing with them, and it motivates me to improve as much as possible so they’ll still want to play with me as they become monster pickers. It always amazes me how quickly younger people can learn and master their instruments compared to adults. I’ll never catch up, but it keeps me trying.

Do you write tunes? 

I love writing tunes and have a few that I really like. The hard part is thinking up a name! I find songs much more difficult and haven’t managed writing any of those yet.

How do you learn a new song? 

The first thing I do is listen to it over and over and over. Then I chart it out by figuring out all the chord changes, assigning them to measures, and writing it down. Then I listen to each measure over and over to make sure I have it exactly right and write it down. Then I listen again to make sure it’s exact. Then I play it to make sure I wrote it properly. And I use a pencil with a good eraser. In most cases, just this exercise cements the song in my head, and if it doesn’t, I have a good reference to refer to.

What bands have you played in?

My first band was called LilyWater in Ventura, California. It was all women, with three main singers and lots of instrumentalists. We played some bluegrass, folk, and Americana. I played fiddle for that band. Then I played in a four-piece band called Instant Grassification that had two mandolins. It was great! 

I was in South County Special out of San Jose for a while. That was a really fun band and we played some of the California festivals. Currently I’m in a couple of bands in Alaska in the summers, where I work as a seasonal ranger in Denali. One is called Northern River and is led by Carl Hoffman. He’s known as the Alaskan father of bluegrass. Many of the great pickers up there have been in his band. Bill Monroe once asked Carl to join his band, but he had a family and couldn’t afford the cut in pay. We play traditional bluegrass and get booked at many of the summer festivals up there.

I also play in Ginger Boatwright’s band. She was a leading member of Red, White and Blue (Grass), and was in Doug Dillard’s band for many years. She has the best stories of my bluegrass idols since she lived in Nashville and knew all of them! In her band we play many of her original songs and some traditional bluegrass.

What keeps you busy these days?

I’ve been quite busy. I work at my county library, and even though we’re closed, there’s plenty of work to do. We work in separate rooms and wear masks, and we wash our hands often! I also work part-time for the court system as an investigator, and I’ve been spending time in the garden and practicing. Soon I’ll be heading north to Alaska for the summer. The main change for me has been the cancellation of all the festivals and jams.

What interests you when you’re not playing music?

I love to travel, both in the wilderness and elsewhere. Since I bought my house I don’t travel internationally as much as I used to, but I do get around North America a bit. I also love to garden.

Do you have any students?

Currently I don’t have any regular students, although I occasionally give lessons at festivals. I teach beginning mandolin regularly at the Julian Family Fiddle Camp in April. I also do workshops on jamming etiquette and Monroe-style mandolin playing. 

What jamming faux pas do you see most often and how might a jam leader address them?

The worst mistakes I’ve noticed are when people don’t listen or look around them. The most important thing is to pay attention to what everyone else is doing, which includes listening to the volume, paying attention to the timing, and just overall being aware of what everyone is doing. It takes a lot of years of experience and practice to be able to hear everything that’s going on, and adjust accordingly but that needs to happen to have a good jamming experience. When I’m trying to get people to be aware of this, I will sometimes suggest that everybody try to hear the guitar solo, or listen to the bass so that they stay in time, or some other comment directed towards improving the sound, but not picking on any one person. It’s especially good to remind less experienced people to listen to everything that’s going on.

What are the best qualities of a teacher?

The best qualities a teacher can have are being able to understand the various ways people learn, and then being able to explain things in a way that suits the student’s learning method.

What shows, events, or venues are most memorable for you? 

Strawberry Music Festival will always be memorable for turning me onto bluegrass and the mandolin, and all the great friends and experiences there. I haven’t gone for years now though. The CBA Father’s Day Festival at Grass Valley, of course, is epic. Wintergrass is always a favorite. Pickers converge there from Canada and all over the Northwest; it’s a good opportunity to meet new people and make new friends.

You’re a champion of the Monroe style. What grabs you about his playing?

The more I studied Monroe’s playing, the more I realized how much emotion and dynamics he used. He varied rhythms and patterns, emphasized phrases, and really spoke with his mandolin playing. I also love the definitive nature of his solos. He wasn’t wimpy about it – he played it like he meant it. He also favored melody in most cases. All of these things resonate with me and my personality and my way of thinking about music, so I started studying. And I will be studying for a long time!

Are there any particular eras of Monroe that are your favorite?

I don’t know that I have a favorite. His first version of Tennessee Blues is awesome, and Southern Flavor, written near the end of his career, is one of his best. Can’t say anything uncomplimentary about anything in between.

Can you share some tips?

Practice as much as you can. LISTEN. Listen to the recordings over and over, listen to other players, listen to recordings you make of yourself playing.

What are some musical challenges you’ve had?

Learning to improvise has been exceedingly difficult for me. I originally learned music by reading musical notation. At first I used a lot of notation and tab to learn the mandolin, and still do sometimes. It’s hard for me to vary something when I know how it was originally written. There’s the melody. When I hear a song, the melody is stuck in my head. I’ve had to really struggle to learn ways to vary the melody enough to sound like I’m improvising! I have many friends who struggle to play something the same way twice. It’s just how our different brains work.

What do you do when you first pick up your instrument?

First I tune it. Then I’ll usually work on a picking exercise. I like to play one of the classical ones, and I’ll use a metronome. I’ll play it first with all downstrokes, then again with all upstrokes, then finally with both down and upstrokes. This has helped clean up my picking and also realigns my pick grip.

Why do you feel music touches people so deeply? 

Sounds have been part of human existence, and people have always created music around them. Maybe it started with imitating nature, but it sure has evolved. Then there’s the human voice. It’s how we communicate thoughts, feelings, and ideas. Humans have always expressed themselves with sounds and voices. I think it’s hardwired into our beings, and when done well it really affects us.

What other artists and styles do you listen to? 

When I decided I liked bluegrass and wanted to play it, I figured I’d better immerse myself in order to learn faster. So I mostly listen to bluegrass, the more traditional the better. I also like to listen to old-time/contra dance music. I appreciate music with a strong danceable beat but done on stringed instruments. 

What type of mandolin do you play?

I play a late-’80s Gibson F5L made by Charlie Derrington. He’s the luthier who repaired Bill Monroe’s shattered mandolin. It was a good mandolin when I bought it about 15 years ago, and it’s matured into a great mandolin. After some research, I think Charlie was trying to re-create the original Gibson Fern when he made mine.

How do the Southern and Northern California bluegrass scenes differ?

I lived in Ventura County when I started playing mandolin and spent a lot of time at SoCal events. There were many people to play with, and I enjoyed meeting other musicians and making lifelong friends. There are some jams spread throughout SoCal, but there weren’t any near me, so I helped start the Ventura jam, which is still going! I think that, at the time, most pickers were happy playing multiple genres of music, and it was hard for me to find much traditional bluegrass. As I got more obsessed, I found hard-core traditionalists in the Northern California scene. That really satisfied my cravings for hard-driving bluegrass. In the time since, I think there’s been a resurgence of traditional bluegrass in SoCal, and I’m so happy to hear about that! I’ve learned that regions are influenced by the pickers that have lived there and will be quite different just a few hours apart! It’s fascinating.

Any final thoughts for the readers? 

Hi everyone. Hang in there during the ‘Time of COVID’ and wear your masks and wash your hands! I’m looking forward to seeing all of you at the next event we can have safely! 

Thanks, Nina, for sharing your California Bluegrass story.

Thank you, Dave, for including me your list of amazing musicians you have interviewed!!!

_______________________________________________________

Since Nina mentioned Sam Bush at Strawberry, I thought people might enjoy this full set his band played at the final Strawberry Music Festival at Camp Mather near Yosemite before fires made the site untenable for festivals – at least for now. Sam was a fixture at this festival and many others throughout the West.

Anniversary gift suggestions for budget minded bluegrass couples

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Do you have a big wedding anniversary coming up? We just recently celebrated our 30th, and I decided to consult the list of year or milestone-appropriate gifts as a guide for my gift (the 60th anniversary gift, by the way, is an actual milestone, which is very expensive to ship). If you’re like me, you would probably have remembered that the 25th is silver and the 50th is gold; beyond that, I didn’t have a clue, and I found that perusing the list was pretty enlightening and at times surprising.

For one thing, there’s a “traditional” and a “modern” list. In some years, the difference between the two is pretty dramatic: for the 10th anniversary, for example, the designated “traditional” gift is something made of tin or aluminum (such as a can of diet Dr. Pepper), while the “modern” suggestion is diamond jewelry.

I think most bluegrass fans naturally gravitate to the traditional list, out of reverence for tradition, of course, not out of cheapness. Perish the thought. Bluegrass fans, though, especially ones in marriages where both spouses are bluegrass fanatics might want some guidance for ways to express their love of the music while adhering to the traditional anniversary gift protocol. 

Working with the traditional list, I’ll make suggestions for both the high and low budget bluegrass gift-giver:

1st anniversary: paper

High budget: Neil Rosenberg and Charles Wolfe’s The Music of Bill Monroe

Low budget: subscription to the Tri-county Friends of Bluegrass Quarterly

2nd anniversary: cotton

High budget: hand-sewn bass case

Low budget: 1997 “gently used” festival T-shirt

3rd anniversary: leather

High budget: Sorrell custom boots

Low budget: mandolin strap or leather keychain that says “Keys of B”

4th anniversary: fruit or flowers (here again the “traditional” and “modern” gifts diverge drastically: the modern gift calls for “appliances,”)

High budget: new banjo with hearts and flowers inlay

Low budget: a ripe peach

5th anniversary: wood 

High budget: Lloyd Loar mandolin

Low budget: wooden plaque that says, “Pickin’ Partner For Life”

8th anniversary (the 6th and 7th anniversaries are traditionally forgotten): Bronze

High budget: bronze statue of Bill Monroe

Low budget: a set of strings (at this point in the marriage you may want to change strings a little more often)

9th anniversary: willow or pottery

High budget: a set of 5 handmade ceramic mugs, each bearing a different face of one of the Blue Grass Boys of 1946-47

Low budget: a picnic in a willow garden (on second thought . . .)

10th anniversary: aluminum or tin

High budget: an aluminum barn, ideal for holding your own indoor bluegrass festival (next year)

Low budget: a sixpack of Bud Light

15th anniversary: crystal

High budget: crystal moonshine jug

Low budget: Crystal Gayle poster

20th anniversary: China

High budget: Chadwick folding bass, made in China (a stretch, I know)

Low budget: 1997 festival mug, matching 2nd anniversary T-shirt

25th anniversary: Silver

High budget: guitar-shaped silver gravy boat

Low budget: smaller guitar-shaped silver gravy boat

30th anniversary: Pearl

High budget: vintage guitar with mother of pearl inlay

Low budget: download of Flatt & Scruggs’ “Pearl Pearl Pearl”

35th anniversary: Coral

High budget: coral sculpture of Red Allen or Red Rector

Low budget: postcard of coral reef from recent bluegrass cruise

40th anniversary: Ruby

High budget: ruby-studded banjo strap

Low budget: honey, are you mad at your man?

After the 40th, successfully remembering the date at all is a gift in itself, and at this point you’ve earned just letting other people give you couple anniversary gifts.

Virtual tours offered from Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame

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The Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame & Museum in Owensboro, KY, the official repository of the history of our music, is among the many venues and destinations forced to close during the COVID19 shutdown. With potential visitors forced to stay away for the time being, Executive Director Chris Joslin and his staff have been banging their heads together looking for ways to invite people in to see all that is in store while the doors have to remain shut.

What they’ve come up with is a series of virtual online tours, where Chris personally escorts you through the Museum’s many exhibits, explaining their significance to the development of bluegrass music, and the many personalities who shaped its evolution.

A total of seven videos have been prepared, each between five and ten minutes in length, where Joslin presents different parts of their facility, and the aspects of the exhibits therein. All are posted on the Hall of Fame web site, and you could easily go through them all in about an hour’s time.

Here’s a look at the first video, where Chris talks about the early influences that came together into bluegrass with Bill Monroe, and plays a few tunes to demonstrate the sound.

You can watch them all online, and the Hall of Fame staff say that they will leave them up after reopening to serve as a preview for people who can’t make it to Owensboro to see it all in person.

Richard Greene photographer

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Richard Greene is well known as an innovative and influential fiddle player who first attained prominence with Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys in 1966. Alongside his musical life Greene has, starting as a young teenager, been obsessed with photography, from using a bathroom as a darkroom, developing black and white and color film, progressing to today’s digital photographic challenges.

In the past few years his photographs have caught my attention, showing his remarkable eye for the unusual, for sharp angles and different perspectives. He has several portfolios; those that I have thumbed through to date are the Abstract Architectural, the Landscapes, and one that Greene has called Forgotten But Not Gone. 

He applies his musical philosophy of expression, innovation, technique, and composition to his photography. 

Very active in the Los Angeles photographic community, Greene’s work has been seen in several exhibitions throughout the United States, and he has won awards each year since 2016. 

Last October he was a finalist and prize winner in the Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition, and his work is displayed in the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, Washington, DC.

The third-place winning image was of a group of youths on a Monroe, Louisiana street. In this interview he talks about the encounter.  

The national, triennial competition and exhibition is funded by an endowment from Virginia Outwin Boochever (1920–2005). 

As well as making his own recordings, the award-winning fiddler Greene features on albums by Bill Monroe, The Blue Velvet Band, Seatrain, Muleskinner, and Peter Rowan, as well as many other notable bluegrass artists.