My head is filled with book orders and anatomy trivia and biology and scholarships. (Did you know the nose remembers about 50,000 different smells, but our olfactory sense shuts down when we sleep?) I hope you’ll get a smile from this re-run of my first “Bluegrassian Questionnaire” interview, featuring an imaginary chat with the incomparable Mr. Bill Monroe.
1. Thanks for talking with me, Mr. Monroe. What’s your idea of perfect happiness?
Perfect happiness is at the cabin. In the rocker or feeding the hens. Driving the mules and horses. I like to do something physical every day. I consider myself a farmer with a mandolin and a high tenor voice. Maybe buckdancing during a song is perfect happiness, too. You can call me Bill. Here’s a quarter.
2. Who was your earliest inspiration?
My mother. She played fiddle and accordian. And Uncle Pen, of course. He had the prettiest shuffle on the bow you ever saw. He was one of Kentucky’s finest old-time fiddlers. And Arnold Shultz. When he and I played those square dances, he’d pay me half.
3. What was your first instrument?
A little “tater bug”, a round-bellied Neopolitan-style mandolin. I think it was bought for three dollars. I used to call it “The Gourd”.
4. What bluegrass recording first “blew your mind”?
Answer: Wayfaring Stranger. Still does.
5. Do you have a favorite original song?
Blue Moon of Kentucky.
6. Do you have a music tip you’d like to share?
I get my best thinking done when someone’s talking to me. Good thing for you I’m the one doing the talking on this questionnaire.
7. What is your greatest extravagance?
Handing quarters out to the kids. And sweets. I’m not one to pass by a slice of pie or chocolate sundae if I can help it.
8. What do you like most about your music?
The sound is higher. It’s faster. And the drive. That’s what I was after.
9. Who is sitting there in your dream jam?
Lots of kids.
10. What bluegrass memory makes you smile?
Playing at the White House. Four times.
Well, Mr. Monroe, er, Bill, thank you so much for the experience of my lifetime. I especially appreciate the tip about downpicking those eighth notes. Oh, and thanks for that quarter!
