This weekend I will have my flag on display to acknowledge the men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice to keep America Free. May they rest in peace and may we all reflect on the freedoms we enjoy as we celebrate Memorial Day with those we love.
Like many of you, I often use Facebook to keep in touch with friends and family, to share news, prayer requests, photos, music videos, etc. I have joined many “Groups” on Facebook, allowing me to interact with people who share a similar passion for a variety of activities. In addition to some arts and craft and native groups, a garden group, and Martin Guitar Owners, etc., I belong to two bluegrass groups, Bluegrass, the Music that Matters Most and Bluegrass Café. I have made several “friends” through these groups and learned from and shared information with them in recent years.
In the two Bluegrass groups, there are many music videos that are shared, some by professionals and some by amateur musicians. There are people from around the world who are brought together through the common thread, a love of Bluegrass. One particular person that comes to mind is a young man from Stockholm Sweden, Patrik Sundvik. I did a short interview with him via Facebook Messenger and here’s what I discovered about this wonderfully talented Bluegrass guitar picker.
His first exposure to Bluegrass was through watching the movie “O Brother, Where Art Thou.” He had to search the Internet to find the genre of music and then researched Bluegrass guitar, tried it and was hooked. He describes his guitar picking as Clarence White Style mixed with Norman Blake with a little Bryan Sutton thrown in. His pride and joy is a Gallagher Doc Watson Signature Custom Guitar, which he bought through his favorite music shop, CJ Acoustic in Ostervala, owned by his friend Calle Jonsson. His favorite group is The Punch Brothers. He recently attended the European World of Bluegrass in the Netherlands and was impressed with the friendliness of the people he met. This tells me that Bluegrass folks are the same, the world over. One highlight of his trip was to hear the Jeff Scroggins Band. Like most musicians, he has a day job and it’s one he loves. He works with children with special needs, most of whom are autistic. Patrik attends a monthly jam in “Old Town” Stockholm where he has met several like-minded musicians. He sometimes posts videos from their jams and it’s fun to hear songs like “Cotton Eyed Joe” and “If I Lose” done with a Swedish accent. I think it’s cool too that he recently put a link to a Blue Highway song on his page. I love the unifying effect that bluegrass music has; it removes walls, blurs cultural lines, and crosses the socio-economic barriers. If you want to hear Patrik’s music as well as some pickin’ by his guitar heroes, his YouTube channel is Bluegrass Fan.
Another young man that I have been following in these groups is a fourteen-year-old boy from West Virginia named Sammy Murphy. I interviewed him also for this column. Sammy has some physical challenges due to spastic cerebral palsy but he hasn’t let his limitations interfere with his joy of making music. He says he plays anything with strings; banjo, guitar dobro, etc. His Grandfather, Delbert Wynes was a banjo picker and is one of his “musical heroes.” Other musicians who have been an inspiration to him are Don Reno, Earl Scruggs, Lester Flatt, Marteka Lake and Bill Monroe. Sammy has been performing for a few years already and was inducted into the West Virginia Hall of Fame at age eight. He won his first banjo contest last year. On June 26, he will be taking the stage at The Music in the Mountains Bluegrass Festival in Summersville, West Virginia, it’s a dream come true for him to be performing at the same festival as Ricky Skaggs, Rhonda Vincent, Gene Watson, Dailey and Vincent and a host of other big names in bluegrass. This young man is an inspiration to many. When he sings, it’s quite evident that he loves what he’s doing; I especially love his Gospel songs.
I like to see posts in these groups by people who are learning a new song or tune and are looking for feedback or critique. There is no shortage of people who can give expert advice and are very encouraging to those who are working at improving their skills. We can all learn something new from one another. I recently went to a jam at Lakeport and spent an entire morning playing Redwing with my banjo-picking friend, Shut Up John and our favorite bass player, Lou. I admire John’s determination to get it right. I picked up some pointers from both of them during that session too. They’re going to make a bluegrasser out of this ole country girl yet!
It seems like we are spending more and more time at music gatherings and camp-outs and very little time at home. Just since April, we have gone to three camp-out/pickin’ parties, and a Southern Gospel Festival. Upon coming home, I posted a statement on Facebook that I was returning to the “Real World,” and my friend Marcos responded by saying, “I thought that is your real world.” I gave this some thought, and I believe he is right.
Well, my real world won’t include The Father’s Day Festival at Grass Valley this year. As I mentioned before, Terry and I will be celebrating our fiftieth anniversary somewhere in the Pacific Northwest. Lord willing, we will make it to the Susanville Festival. This summer, we are “flying by the seat of our pants.” You all have a great time at FDF, I’ll be thinking of you. God bless.
