Stories:

May 15, 2011
The season's first festival in Shelton managed a success in spite of the torrential downpours that started on Saturday at 4 pm. It was about a 50/50 festival weather wise! Half was sunny, half rainy. All the bands were in good form and everyone got their dose of bluegrass! Aaahh! Headliners, 'The Boxcars' did four shows and workshops. These guys are among the BEST in bluegrass and all were generous with their time and expertise.

There were lots of kids attending the 'Chick Rose memorial.' Chick's Kids and all of them, even the 'newbies' got on stage and played. The place was full of the cute factor and budding musicians. We all wonder how festival season will be this year…… with the price of gas and all. But the RV's and campers filled the spots to over-flow and the jams went late into the night, even in the rain. So all you 'bluegrassers,' mark your calendars and get to your favorite festival in spite of the rain and the price of gas. You won't be disappointed. The hearts of the bluegrass faithfuls will continue to appreciate this music and get to festivals 'cause we love this music!

You all know this is the anniversary year of Bill Monroe's 100th birthday……… Thank You Bill for carving out this niche of American music…….. BLUEGRASS! Where would we all be without it?

His birthday will be celebrated in many ways this year, especially back east at IBMA, SPBGMA, Bean Blossum, Rosine, KY and other places. Way out here in the west, we will not know about other celebrations at festivals/events in the east (even all over the world). So, let's have our own 'tip of the hat' for BILL! Here are some suggestions for you to do personally to honor the founding father of this music:

• Get a friend to join an organization devoted to bluegrass……… local, regional, national. Purchase a membership yourself, in someone else's name, as a gift. SURPRISE!
• Support bluegrass on the radio by donating during a pledge drive. Sign up for a service on-line that plays bluegrass….pandora, wamu etc.
• Subscribe to a magazine that has acoustic bluegrass music as it's focus, get two, one for you and one for a friend!
• Donate a bit of extra funds to Wintergrass in support of that great festival, in addition to your admission ticket. Send in that pink envelope!
• Donate funds to the Bean Blossum Foundation in Indiana, they struggle to stay viable and purchase land to continue.
• Bring along a 'newby' to a festival, offer to buy a day or weekend pass for them. Bring someone to a bluegrass jam, to play or just to listen.
• Another easy one would be, to share some hot playing tip or song with a less advanced player!
• My favorite, make sure you are being inclusive to lesser players at your jams. Help raise them up musically!
• If you are a festival organizer, ask your contracted headliners/bands to include a Bill Monroe tune/song in their set and especially acknowledge the anniversary by saying 'this one is in honor of a founding father, Bill Monroe's 100th birthday anniversary.
• In an organized bluegrass band, with gigs, even? Include a Monroe song or tune on every set list and add your own birthday salutation to the audience.
• If you play or teach music on a bluegrass instrument, offer to give a child some basic instrument instruction at a reduced rate or free, for a month of 'birthday' lessons. If you don't teach, try it for awhile for free, so you can get the knack of being a good mentor/instructor for kids……on their wave length! Duh!
• Got Skype? Teach someone far, far away.
• If you are in a band, make yourself available at no/low charge to a school. Do an in school performance for KIDS. Not just play for them, but encourage them to pick up acoustic music by explaining your instrument and a bit about your kind of music…… sort of you own mini version of 'bluegrass in the schools.'
• Do you know a music teacher or just a teacher in any school? Offer yourself and your band, make the connection yourself….. don't wait for someone to contact you. You could use a mini performance as your practice session for band practice. The kids won't care, if you make mistakes or work out a tune or song!
• Here's one we all can do. Purchase an excellent representation of this music on a video/audio DVD/CD and donate it to a library system. Some libraries don't have good collections of bluegrass. Maybe make it a CD of some good local group, get two, one for you, one for a library. This helps a local group survive financially as well!
• Make arrangements in your 'Will' to donate some of your bluegrass CD collection to a library system. Sad but true, we're all gonna end, someday.
• Give a bluegrass CD to a friend who doesn't know about this music! Do we have many of those…… humm? Okay……then rave to them about a new CD you have purchased or heard about!
• Play a Bill Monroe tune at a jam and say 'this one is for Bill's 100th birthday'……. Open the jam with a Monroe tune or end with one. How easy is that? EASY
• Learn to play/sing a new Monroe original tune or song, that you do not now know.
• Here's another one, for all you tech savvy folks out there. If you have a photo personally taken by you of/with Bill, post it on the web on one of the many bluegrass or social websites with the caption in 'honor of……., in celebration of'………etc.

Well, I'm sure you can think of a dozen other small ways to help celebrate and raise up Mr. Monroe's music in honor of his birthday. Do one/some of these or make up your own!

Here is a little "gem" of a song from the SteelDrivers. Great music. Fine harmonies. And a classic story. Hard to beat.

Please share Bluegrass On The Tube with your friends. If they like bluegrass, they're going to love this. Dedicated to the preservation and enjoyment of bluegrass music - past and present. Bluegrass on the Tube, 81 Amy Lane 5324, Ellijay, GA 30540, USA

Most of you were at Wintergrass!! We made it home all smiles and memories. Whew, again a great music festival for the 2nd year. in Bellevue. The shock of the move has worn away, everyone seems at home & finding their way @ at this single venue w/satellites.

Alas, my Wintergrass was a bit of winter craps! On Friday morning in remains of 7+" of snow, I readied/loaded our gear to go, successfully. Then returning from the mailbox, I slipped, fell, KERSPLAT, big time on my left knee. As we left, I grabbed a cane. It was good I had it to hobble my way @! I had planned to visit as much as I could, but I had to sit a lot to save myself for a few WBA chores and carefully hand pick venues I could visit. Things fell by the way, as a result, workshops, jamming, the satellite venues, but I will report on what we saw.

Mostly we tried to stay with straight ahead bluegrass. Friday we heard a bit of the Henhouse Prowlers, Chicago funky grass, Crooked Still, a bit of groove grass…..+cello, Boxcars (ya'll know that pedigree) good stuff, not too much chatting 'tween tunes. The Josh Williams Band, on my list, did not disappoint….someone should tell Josh to hush up and play more, though! First time we ever saw Sam Bush live..….why does he spend so much time with his back to the audience? 'Don't he like us?'

We ended the night at the dance venue for a bit of good HOT Cajun fiddlin'! Alas, we left 'cause we could not do any dancin'! So sad.

Saturday we listened to hallway jams and saw folks from all @. Some just come back to WA. for the festival! Nice.

I always hear raves about Darrell Anger, so we heard some of that amazing 'not' bluegrass music. He is so all over music, that you really have a hard time trying to put a name on his stuff…… virtuosity, is the right word. Then we headed to the Regency Ballroom early, to get seats for The Gibson Bros. and saw some really great local musicians, Timberland Ridge w/ Thea Wescott…..the well played original things they did were really enjoyable. Then, the big let down…… the Gibson's were delayed due to snow in New York. Oh, sad to say…. we were in a bit of a state! They were FIRST on our 'list of buckets' to see!

Errands used up a batch of time and we met Jerry & George of 'Prucha Banjos' from the Czech Republic, as we grabbed a bite to eat. We caught Laurie Lewis and all her right handed friends! She never has had a bad set! She is amazing, a bit of a legend in her own time and yodels too!

Close to 7p.m. we made our way back to the Regency area and there hauling boxes of CD's was Leigh Gibson. ALRIGHT! I could hardly contain myself and we had a quick chat before I headed to my front row seat!

WOW….. if you have never seen them…… they are just the best. Their band just plays it perfectly tight & drivin,' old, new, original or other's songs in the best brother duo harmony, maybe ever in bluegrass! Better than Jim/Jesse, Charlie/Ira, Tony/Larry Rice, Carter/Ralph. Name a brother's duo in bluegrass, Eric and Leigh just have them beat voice blending wise! Not bad on their instruments either. We were at all 3 of their shows. Every one was just a top event in attendance! I had several other encounters with them before we left. They played the 3 songs I requested with a personal nod at the last show! So, they made a little old lame lady, a happy soul on the trip home. 'Help My Brother' their new CD, was playing all the way to Shelton! 3 times!

Wintergrass Academy Youth Orchestra 2011. We also made a point to catch the Wintergrass Academy Youth Orchestra concert early on Sunday. That was a real highlight, to see so many young people exposed and investing in American roots music. It was very special… if you were at Wintergrass and did not stop to cheer these kids on…… be sure to give it a nod next year! We must pass this music on to the next generation!

So sorry that there were many other things I could not hobble to…… spent a lot of time with my leg up, trying to ignore the pain! Next year there will be no SNOW for Wintergrass!

January 26, 2011
'Playing up'……… for the love of bluegrass. Now here's a musical phenomenon that I would like to comment on. Don't we all just love bluegrass and acoustic music…? Of course, yes! A bit of playing with others, warms our hearts and our musical souls, bringing us great JOY. Yet, I've heard, that some feel a bit of a sense of let down or frustration……! Those who can sing and play with ease, expertise, are in an organized band, have lots of chances at what is called 'playing up.' That is, playing with musicians who are a bit better than yourself. It gives one exposure to a diversity of playing styles, the extra challenge of playing new tunes or simply a streeetch to play at your best, 'playing up.' Walk around at any festival and see the sparkling eyes of some musician who is playing in a jam with a HEADLINER…….now there is a bit of this special 'playing up' JOY. All of us have some cherished memories of playing with our heroes or heroines…….. That's the best kind of 'playing up'. Agreed? Here's my point. There occurs among players, now and then, a kind of musical snobbery. In an effort to always 'play up' musicians tend to sequester themselves with others they feel are better or at least as well practiced as themselves. At festivals this manifests as a tightly closed circle, shoulders to a newbie, unknown or lesser player. Sometimes, it occurs as invitation ONLY jams. Hold on now, I know all about 'jam busting,' the curse and bane of the superior jam session but, a friend said to me, this kind of environment tends to "keep music to where there is no chance to improve." Meaning, those whose skill level is not at the top of the heap, have little or no opportunity to 'play up' because they are stuck outside jam circle opportunities or not 'invited'. How can lesser intermediate ability players ever have a hope of stretching, learning new styles and tunes or 'playing up,' if all those with better skill levels never let them participate in a 'play up' jam? So…., here is my admonition to all 'ye excellent musicians' out there. Hopefully you will be occasionally inclined to give others a shot of the JOY you feel when you are 'playing up' by; opening up that jam circle at a festival just a teeny tiny bit for others, invite or ask them if they would like to play their best tune, OR visit a jam you would not normally attend or invite someone you think would enjoy an opportunity to 'play up' to your jam. Didn't we all start somewhere on the musical spectrum? Think of it as your bit of passing this on……. Spread the JOY of 'playing up' for the LOVE of BLUEGRASS…..That's what we are all about, isn't it? Sharing the JOY of this great music! Sally B.

By Sally Burtscher

Claire Lynch so beautifully sings the Monroe song My Florida Sunshine line 'Way down in the state of Florida, Florida where the old Swannie River flows.' so we went! Not to the Swannie River area of song, but to the central west Gulf Coast area. It was warm, sunny, with BLUE skies while the rest of the country was covered in snowy blizzards or rain here in Washington. Aaahhh! We wore shorts and T-shirts.

I had spent some time poking around on the internet, searching for bluegrass music events/jams/ venues. I found among others, the Southwest Florida Bluegrass Assoc. and contacted the president Herb Washburn. He was very helpful, lived right in the area we were visiting. I found many other music associations, the fiddle folks, folk music, contra and clogging groups & etc. I copied, cut, pasted, pages of info on things happening while we were in Fla. Most things happen 2nd & 3rd weekends but we could have a choice of something to do every day/night…. if we wanted.

On Sunday, we got up early, drove 60+ miles north to Ruskin, to see and hear Adam Miller, storyteller, autoharp virtuoso (Drain, Oregon). He was making a tour up and down Fla. The show was at 2 pm. We arrived in Ruskin with plenty of time to spare. It took awhile to find the exact location, South Shore Regional Library but we found it with still ½ hr. to spare. I went in to ask, 'Where was the music program?' I was directed to a lady at the circulation desk. I approached and asked, 'Where can we see Adam Miller?' She said 'I'm so sorry, you have just missed him, he has left.' Just left? It's not 2 pm yet. She sheepishly said, 'The library did not know he was scheduled and all I can say is, I am so sorry.' 'Holy cow' I said, 'I've come 4000 miles and you didn't know he was coming?' She asked, 'Where did you hear about this?' I explained that it was all over the web, folk music assoc., fiddle folks, and his own website. 'I'm so sorry!' She gave me a phone # which I called and left a message. I did get a message back from Adam, he was as torqued as I was about the whole thing, but said he did get paid….for not playing! It took a whole day for me to get untwisted, I was so disappointed. A kindred MASTER autoharper. DAANG!

We returned home. I got out the pages of music events and started searching for Monday events! I called Herb and relayed the mixed up, he said, 'Well, come up to Venice Beach to The Swinging Bridge jam at The Pavilion. Just to make sure, I said, 'Well, are you going to be there?' 'Yep, be there'. This was on my cut/paste list.

On Monday we packed a couple sandwiches and drinks and headed north on the old 'Tamiami Trail,' Florida's first modern highway, built in the early 1900's. We got to Venice @ 4:30 and made a left turn at the first sign that said, 'this way to beaches.' Not the correct beaches it turned out…. we passed a couple dog walkers. I hopped out and ran after them yelling, Corgi, Corgi….. Can I meet your Corgi? 'Lucy' made all the correct Corgi moves and was glad to meet us.

We found that indeed, this was not the Venice Beach 'with' The Pavilion and got instructions how to get to it. So many beaches in Florida….duh… Who knew? We got to see a bit of "OLD" Florida on this short side mistake. Venice is an old moneyed city with lots of the quintessential classic, parged block, awninged, mini villas with red tile roofs. Venice Boulevard (the street we should have arrived on) was amazing! A 100' wide esplanade boulevard with the most amazingly huge and beautiful palm trees and the biggest Live Oaks I have ever seen, over 100 years old, at least. They covered almost from side to side of the street! Someone said there are 10 different kinds of palms along that street and lots were paid for by the city at $40 grand each! Yikes! Now that's a street tree budget to die for!

The Pavilion was at the end of the street and we walked down to the beach for our picnic. When we returned the area had livened up with folks arriving, unfolding chairs. Three musician types were unpacking instruments and yakking Bluegrass next to bench we'd picked. We smiled, they nodded. One fella was rattling off his likes, dislikes and names of this and that known player and he came to a point he couldn't remember a name. I hadn't heard all or much of the conversation but knew he meant to think of, Patty Loveless, I chimed in! Yeah, That's the one.' he smiled.

The place was filling up fast. In the end, as I counted, there were 15+ musicians and about 85 grinners in chairs. Herb showed up close to 7pm and joined the circle. He sang a Tom T Hall song, somethin' about the best hunting dog in Clark County…which I haven't researched yet for the correct name. It was a good jam, lots of guitars, a bass, two mandolins 2 fiddles but only one banjo. How's come, lots of banjo players look similar? He sure reminded us of Jeff Farmer, plaid shirt, jeans, cowboy boots, knees bent, leanin' in, tenor harmonies and flashing fingers!

Some players moved in and out of the jam. There were core players from the local Swinging Bridge group then others who seemed to be from everywhere else, all Fla. short timers, down for the season. While I was standing in the back I started chatting up the guy next to me. I mentioned that I thought it so amazing to travel all the way from Washington state and feel like I hadn't come very far musically with folks singin' the same songs in the same style with the same repartee`? He agreed that this jam was about as close to the genre' that he had found while in Fla. with lots of traditional tunes/songs/pickin.' Turns outs he is on the board at Bean Blossom, now proudly with a foundation (2008). He also is neighbors with the famed violin maker who made Michael Cleveland's five string fiddle (the one with the extra C string). As we talked I said, 'What the bluegrass world needs now, is that movie in the making about Bill Monroe's life, to boost interest again like "Oh, Brother".' He said that, 'As of now, they are NOT shooting any scenes at Bean Blossom!' Holy Cow! That's a shame!

My favorite song we heard at the jam was the J D Crowe song, 'Lefty's Old Guitar.' Mel and I got in one turn @ the deck before they packed it in! The jam broke just before 9 pm when the bass player left. We found our way back south with big smiles on our faces! Aaaahh! Bluegrass! It had been almost 4 days since we heard any! Yikes!

Tuesday was another day with planned music at the end. Herb had mentioned a place called 'The Bean Depot' in our emails, if we were going to be way out in the far west side of Port Charlotte. Now here's the biggest HOOT! The Bean Depot is in a teeny tiny little berg called El Jobean! It's not much of a town really just a double sided road sign! What a friend used to call a 'duck and plum,' meaning you duck to get in the door and you're plum through the whole thing! We'd gotten a spot tour of 'the bean' the first day we arrived. This place is on the National Historic Register! The Bean Depot had served as first post office, grocery store and jail (good grief) for El Jobean, way back in 1922. Honestly we couldn't figure, a national treasure?

I guess not so much for the impressive structure but for what happens there now in terms of good times, social interaction and MUSIC! It is definitely 'OLD' Florida, really funky, no holds barred OLD! Xmas wreaths still on the doors, plastic Frosty on the porch and permanent holiday lights strung from an outdoor stage back and forth in the palm trees, as well as, in what could be called the interior, a big screened in porch @ the thing, with visqueen plastic stapled to the inside. What a place, such ambiance! No one seemed to mind the time warp! A teeny tiny kitchen shovels out pretty good eats (We wondered when the health dept. last visited but ate there anyway!) Lots of on-tap beer and a whole bunch of cars always piled up higgelty piggelty up and down the nearby streets. All of them from somewhere else: Nova Scotia, Ontario, Kansas, Michigan, Ohio, Minnesota, Missouri, on and on! So the biggest HOOT of all this is the place was within walking distance of where we were staying with our friend! We didn't walk though, too many lurking night critters and a little too far for me on uneven ground in the dark!

We were cautioned to arrive early to get a seat, in the lovely (sort of) white plastic chairs and tables, so we did. The musicians were tuning up on stage @ 5:30. The Myakka River Band began playing @ 6:20. This river stabs right through tiny El Jobean on its way to the ocean, just west in a huge open bay. This 5 piece group of mostly older guys, played lots of traditional songs and tunes for about 40 minutes then took a break. I noticed that the guitar case had lots of stickers. I like to see where folks have been or what they like to advertise on their cases. I noticed a couple that intrigued me, SPGMA and my first time ever seeing 'black diamond strings.' I asked whose case this one was and they directed me to J. R. He was standing next to our table so as I passed behind him I asked, 'You ever been to the SPMBA Awards, they happen this weekend?' 'Nope' he said, 'I just got the sticker from someone.' Then I said, 'That's the first time I've ever seen a black diamond strings sticker, I really love that Larry Cordle song.' Well, then it was like I was in the 'in crowd.' He said, 'Not many folks would know about that song in a place like this!' He started chatting with us big time, turns out he is also an officer in the SWFBA (Herbs group). He has another more formal bluegrass group that plays a lot @ Fla. I think he said Highway 48 or something like that. (Visit www.hwy41bluegrass.com/ to see the band.)

He said that The Myakka River Band is more of a jam band and only plays here locally. He mentioned some of the big timers he knew and played with. Turns out we had plopped down in the middle of Raybon country. Marty spends time in Englewood Fla. (our friends call it 'Wrinklewood!') the next town up the road about 4 miles! Then he pointed to the bass player and said, 'As a matter of fact, that guy is Marty's dad's best friend and he's known Marty his whole life.' They played two more short sets and I did get to talk with the bass player. We talked about Marty and his bro Tim and the great country group Shenandoah. There was always a bit of a tinge of bluegrass there if you knew what to listen for. I miss that group. I especially mentioned that I'd gotten, right when it first came out, (2003) Marty's bluegrass CD 'Full Circle.' What a great CD! The show jam ended just before 9 p.m.

On Wednesday we headed back to 'the bean' for a brew after a day of touring in Ft. Myers at the Thom. A. Edison/ H. Ford summer estates. Those two guys sure knew how to live right…beautiful homes on the Caloosahatchee River near the water, big huge breezy porches, lots & lots of wicker furniture, more OLD Fla. There was an amazing Banyon tree planted in 1890, the tree's branch drip line covers over 3 acres and the rooted branches made jail like enclosures all at the visitors center. It was stupendous! The music at 'the bean' that night was jam night and the place was crawlin' with it, two nice jams going, one in the indoor seating area and one in the tiny 'museum room.' Once again the parked cars were from everywhere. Most of the players were obviously retired types with lots of sittin' down between tunes. At the end I spoke with one retired guy who had lived in Maryland. He's a long time friend of B. Eldridge (and knew Duffy). He played a nice banjo and introduced himself as Roy but wouldn't give his last name, 'cause he said, 'I'm wanted!' He was kidding! Nice old guy!

That was the musical part of our sojourn in Florida. I didn't get to hear a group I had wished to, 'The Wirebeaters' because they only played on Friday night. We had to get up at 3a.m. to catch a plane. It was kind of a drive to get to the venue. We'd already heard lots of good music and had fun times, enough to satisfy our yen for BLUEGRASS, Florida sunshine style!

Friday morning I visited the Englewood ('Wrinklewood') library to print out our boarding passes. Right there in the window was a really nice poster for Adam Miller, playing on Feb. 6. Not at the library, as on my cut/paste list but just next door at the community center! Whew, at least they knew he was coming! So sad, we would be on the plane headed toward SeaTac!

My other observations about Fla. are there is not much left of old Florida near where we were, due to hurricane Charlie that went blowin' by there 7 years ago. Most of the that area at El Jobean, Port Charlotte is all new since then, big box stores and strip malls with only hints and peak-a-boo views of anything of age. I really enjoyed the Live Oaks, palm trees, Slash Pine, shrubby Palmetto Palms, the Mangrove swampy canals and channels. We walked on the warm sunny beaches and gathered some nice shells to send home. I didn't like that we could never get any vista views except at the Gulf waters edge. I never really got any sense of the land but… that it is soooo flat. Me thinks what Fla. stands for is FLAT!

They were lurking but to hubby's delight, we saw NO GATORS!

The Olympia Community Bluegrass Concert, Jan. 21 was full of some really HOT music! There was a packed house, an even larger crowd than last year. Funds were raised for the Yelm Animal Rescue group and Thurston County Food Bank hauled away a great bin of donated items for their needy clients. The audience seemed full of local folks, eager for bluegrass, lots raised their hands, indicating they heard about the concert through print media.

Musically, Josh's Junction opened with traditional and tight playing and were joined for one rousing tune with Bill Evans, legendary banjoist. Bill then invited the crowd to come to his bano/history/style/tune presentation at Traditions Café' and for an after show jam with some of evenings performers. The Oly Mt. Boys, in new matching black cowboy hats, played to rousing applause. The Blackberry Bushes brought down the house with their girl harmony, original tunes and foot stompin' enthusiasm. Runaway Train, always tight and together again had a great set of hard drivin' bluegrass. All the bands received standing ovations but sadly there was not time for encores. Thanks to our great local sound guy, Jack Bunch the sound system was flawless!

The after show jam at the café was to die for….. in the end twelve musicians came to jam with Bill Evans. They sounded good enough to record!

Thanks to Jim Miernyk for putting together another great benefit community bluegrass show. Kudos Jim! See you at next year's event!
Sally

Hello fellow WBA members. I am really excited to be elected to the Board of Directors. Thank you to those who got their ballots in by the election deadline and to those of you who voted for me. And a big Thank You to friend Greg Linder for his service to WBA. Fellow directors elected me as secretary for the coming year. I've taken minutes in other organizations and will do my best to take precise minutes for WBA.

A little about myself……. We first joined WBA in 1995, having looked for a BG connection for many years! Hooray, Hoorah was the day….. when we found WBA and BG. festivals!! Music has always been a big part of our lives, especially BG! We have attended many festivals over those years, when we could make the time. Some favorites were: the days of yore at NW Folklife on BG hill, the Orting & the old Ryderwood festivals, (fun & intimate) the usual biggies like Stevenson, Darrington, Wintergrass. (How fun that is……& now in Bellevue!) Of course, any year at the WBA Toledo festival is the best of times!

We are mostly grinners, but I have been playing autoharp for 3 years now, my heroines being Mother Maybelle Carter and our very own Charlotte Runyan. I LOVE to play, when conditions are right. It's a bit hard to keep all those 21 strings tuned upped, on our misty Washington evenings. I worry that others will wonder 'who is it that needs a tune up?' and boot me out of a jam! So I don't get to play as much as I would like. We always wish for the clear sunny skies of good weather on festival weekends but don't we all?

The thing we find so astounding about seeing the festival scene is, folks, just regular folks. Who play so well, that are so friendly and knowledgeable about the music and love to play and have fun around bluegrass. What a great American tradition. Thanks to Mr. Monroe for carving out this niche' we all love so much.

This past year, 2010, we plunged into BG with both feet and purchased a small trailer for sleeping, after years of crowding into a truck & camper. What luxury to have a bit of room for gear, the corgi and etc. We managed to get to 13 festivals this past year, biggins' & littlin's……what joy.

I look forward to meeting more WBA members next year at festivals, my personal goal is to get to at least 1 summer festival in Oregon, and 1 in eastern Washington. I also look forward to the closest festival just up the hill, here in our town of Shelton...Bluegrass from the Forest……with head-liners…the Boxcars. Mark your calendars for the weekend after Mother's Day. I will be emceeing the band scramble again in 2011. Last year, we actually had many 'butts in seats' for that, which was very special!

See you all in Toledo, for sure, in 2011. 'Keep on Pickin'

We just returned from the River City Music Festival..... that was amazing.... There was such good music with so many legendary veteran musicians and equally as many young hot driving legends in the making! Kudos to the organizers, volunteers, musicians and the Red Lion (Jantzen Beach).

A few highlights for us were, Guy Clark (songwriting legend) and his playing partner Verlon Thompson. These two played as one, with either of them smoothly trading finger and flatpickin' styles to sound at times, as if there was only one guitar. It was jaw dropping and the audience was surely appreciative. As for the younger hot pickers, The String Dusters and Steep Canyon Rangers were in perfect form and a treat to see. We had never seen a wall of Texas style fiddlin' and it was a WALL!!! The Time Jumpers filled the large venue with the spirit of Bob Wills perfectly. It was very special for these master players to choose to play at River City, only one of two out of Nashville gigs for the group all year, and they brought along Vince Gill and Ranger Doug Green to give a bit of their talent to the SWING!

Carrying on the Monroe tradition as always was Peter Rowan. His great shock of hair is now almost totally gray. Sometimes to me, he had just a certain aura of Bill Monroe about him. He still sings some of Bill's original songs, great gospel standards and he and his new band fashioned a sort of Buddhist gospel, complete with 'Ohm' like harmony on the choruses. At the end of his second show (in the smaller venue) he got the crowd singing along with his infamous 'Panama Red' tune and did sort of a current events tea party sing over, as the crowd chimed in with the chorus..... it was fun and we all had good laugh!

There were lots of other great STARS of the genre': Rhonda, Tim O'B. Sutton, L. Reid, M Compton, D. Grier. All did 'shake and howdy' and were gracious and giving of their after-concert time. There were jams in the lobby/hallways and I heard on Sunday morning that the last jam of Saturday night ended at 7:30 a.m.on Sunday.....good grief.... hope those folks didn't have to drive too far to get home....... when the party was over! A wonderful festival all in all and if you couldn't make it there this year, get yourself to Portland next year!

p.s For musicians traveling with your instruments.... there were several instrument beatings on flights to Portland... Christy Reid's bass was thrown to the tarmack from the luggage compartment and damaged and Vince Gill's acoustic guitar arrived in unplayable condition... so be advised.. travel with them closely and guard them when you are able!