Bluegrass....All In the Family

   Tommy in the 70's

My family is musical, except for me...but they should be glad because someone needs to be the audience, right?  My husband, brothers, and son Lee have been in more bluegrass groups than you can shake a stick at.  Lee plays the mandolin, guitar, and banjo....all very well. Tommy plays the mandolin.  My brother Owen plays the dobro and his wife Laurette plays the upright bass.  My brother Wilbur plays the guitar and banjo and wife Kasie plays the fiddle. My older brother Ray also played upright bass when he was still with us.  Tommy's brother Jimmy plays the guitar. They all sing.

My son Luke is the classical musician, playing the piano and teaching music at Northwestern college in Iowa..  His wife YuJueng sings, plays piano and teaches music as well.  Luke also played the mandolin in a little group called Angel Band that he, Lee and Kasie were part of for a short time....remember, I said more groups than you can shake a stick at. Denny, son #3 also plays the guitar.

I am surrounded by music and music lovers. Currently, no group exists.  They just meet with friends in homes once in a while and jam for hours....and hours.  Do you have a picker in your house?  He is a unique specimen to behold....unlike any other.  Conversation is one sided.  They are listening, sort of, and they nod slowly in agreement or just stare if they are thinking, but if they have to speak, they have to stop the music, so it is unlikely you will get an answer until the song is over.  Ask me how I know this. 
In earlier years we attended any bluegrass festival within driving distance, lawn chairs in tow.  Kerrville used to be the place to congregate.  We knew Ricky Skaggs before he was RICKY SKAGGS.  He played the Kerrville festivals wearing jeans with holes in the knees before it was popular, and a white tee shirt. It was all very casual and he would come and visit with us.  He picked up Tommy's "Tom Ellis mandolin" and played it.  His talent was real and it wasn't long before the world knew it.
Bluegrass is NOT the same as Country.  It's all about the instruments.  Singing is great, but can you pick?  During the tunes, every picker gets to play a 'break' and display the skills he possesses.  In order to have those skills, he must practice for what seems like most of his life.  His dedication to know his instrument is obsessive.  I am speaking in masculine terms because that is what I have lived with - a husband, sons, and brothers. The "shes" of the music world equally sacrifice the time to perfect the skill.
Pickers do not have to know each other....they just have this built in radar that draws them together and out come the instruments and all that is needed is for one of them to lead by saying "G", "D", "C", etc - meaning 'play this chord next'.  It's truly amazing to see the love of this art and that focused stare come over their faces all in unison.  A phenomenon to behold - (said with some sarcasm).  Everyone else in the room becomes invisible....it's magic.
   Tommy no longer owns a mandolin and only picks one up if there is an extra one laying around when the guys play in our living room.  His skills are rusty, but the love of the music remains. 

Bluegrass lives on - and once in a while it is 'live' in our house.