I am proud to say that I am starting my freshman year at Clark University in Worcester, MA this fall. It is a prestigious school and I am lucky to have been accepted. But of course, it is very expensive and I have a lot of work to do to put together my tuition and prepare to live by myself for the first time in a dorm room 3,000 miles away from the home I have always known.
I plan on bringing California Bluegrass to the Bay State whether they like it or not. But I know there is lots of good bluegrass as well as talented young musicians out there, so I have hopes of getting a bluegrass band together.
To help with my tuition, my move to the East Coast, the transition to living away from home for the first time, and paying my way once college has started, I have created a YouCaring fundraiser for any of my friends and family who feel they can help me at this important time in my life.
My long term plan is to become an attorney, and my goal as an attorney is to fight anything that might stand in between our bluegrass community and being free to have jams and play in coffee houses, which BMI and ASCAP with their bully-like behavior, have sought to eliminate. I definitely see myself going into some type of law related to the arts because I always plan on being a bluegrass picker. That way I will be able to both have my own thriving career, and help bluegrass music and music as a whole, which is of course my other true passion. My goal is to repay to our community many times over what I raise in this fundraiser.
Ever since I was in the womb I have been listening to bluegrass music and have gone to bluegrass festivals. It has been our family vacations for my entire life and I don’t mind it at all. During my childhood and adolescent years I have had the privilege of meeting and playing with some of the biggest names in the music including Frank Wakefield and the Infamous Stringdusters.
To repay the California Bluegrass Association for the opportunities they have given me, I have volunteered in numerous ways. In 2011 and 2012 I was able to be a teacher’s assistant at the CBA’s Father’s Day Music Camp. Here, I met more incredible musicians as well as learned to teach and help my fellow bluegrass enthusiasts. I was also one of the Stage Manager’s assistants at the Father’s day Festival. There, I was responsible for coordinating workshops, as well as anything else that needed to be done. While this seems like grunt work, it will help me in the long run. I also write a monthly article for the CBA web site where I am able to present opinions about the current Bluegrass albums out. So don’t worry about losing touch with. You will still be hearing from me in my monthly Welcome Column. I will bring you lots of stories and keep you posted on how I am doing.
I promise to work hard in college and make you all proud.
I also want to thank all of my previous funders who have helped me in my journey to come.
I am extremely proud to announce that I was selected as a recipient for the Grey Fox Festival Scholarship. Such other winners have been the incredibly talented Rushad Eggleston and California legend Bill Evans!
I would like to thank Rick Cornish Darby Brandli Tim Edes and the rest of the California Bluegrass Association for all they have done to help this happen. And I would like to thank all of the California pickers who have helped me out musically throughout my years of improving.
And now! A word from Rick Cornish!
Good morning from Whiskey Creek, where each and every inhabitant, homo sapiens, canines and camelids alike, have said their own little version of a prayer that today will be cooler than yesterday, which, of course, it won’t, but whether you’re a human or a dog or a llama, deep down inside you just know you’ve got to give it the old college try.
And speaking of college, I remember as though it was just last night that my two boys and I sat outside on the deck and talked about Phil’s imminent departure to college. Even though the journey would be a short one in terms of miles, San Jose to Berkeley, we three knew that in terms of the human experience, it would be a very long and important trip. I don’t remember exactly what triggered it, but a one point I found myself sobbing uncontrollably, Phil sitting on my lap sobbing too. Neither the sobbing nor the lap-sitting were exactly characteristic of our father-and-sons bull sessions so it was very clear to us that something monumental was up. After eighteen years, my boy was leaving home and, aside from visits, he would never return.
This morning, sitting down with my tall cup of half-caff, trail mix and banana and logging onto my computer to begin the day the way I’ve been beginning it for fourteen years now, I quickly scanned the list to see which Welcomer was up…and in that split second, I was transported back, for just an instant, to that August evening out on the deck with Phillip and Peter.
First Saturday………………….Marty Varner
So, in truth there is a little melancholy I’m feeling this morning, but it’s nothing compared to the pride of knowing that one of our own kids, a bluegrass kid whose life each of us had a chance to touch, has started his own monumental journey. We’ll celebrate that beginning with a quick detour back in time…
(Editor’s Note–We want to welcome Marty Varner as our First Saturday of the Month Welcome columnist. We’ve seen his excellent and exuberant writing in this spot several times in the past, but it’s official now. The kid’s got plenty to say, and he figured out quite a while back that the better he says it, the more it will be heard.)
