Last Friday night I played at the White Horse in Black Mountain, North Carolina,high in the Appalachians, with a superb Band, No Strings Attached, who learned my all-original set of Bluegrass Songs in just a day, and played them as though we had been performing the set together for years. This photo was taken at the White Horse, and shows, from left to right, Joe Trimbauch on Fiddle, Scott Woody on 5-string Banjo,[ playing a Nechville] Yours Truly on Guitar and Vocals,Robb Parkes on Bass, and Steve Johnson on Guitar. I have to pay tribute to these guys for their dedication and musicianship, and we will be working together again !
I have never had any doubts that the way to go in this Bluegrass Music Business was to contribute original material to the genre, but if I ever needed re-assuring, I have got it in spades here in Tennessee, Kentucky, and North Carolina. The Bill Monroe Festival at Jerusalem Ridge was an amazing experience, but with almost seventy Bands performing over six days, from a mostly predictable set list of standards, most folks found it very refreshing to hear new and original material, and have shown their preferences through very healthy CD sales. Onwards and Upwards. Niall, Irwin, Tennessee, October, 2011.
