I keep getting into trouble with the webmaster/editor of the Welcome columns because I have been posting my column late on my third Sunday slot. Maybe this has something to do with waiting until Sunday morning, making a cuppa tea and then smacking my forehead and muttering some expletive about forgetfulness and procrastination. Such is life and I expect to have my generous CBA Welcome Column Writer stipend withheld yet again. Oh wait, that’s right, it is a reverse stipend. Silly me.
So let’s see, what has been happening in the world of California bluegrass this week…well I am happy to say that the Congressional budget shutdown will have no immediate effect, and maybe no effect at all, on the CBA. Actually maybe it will have a positive effect because those furloughed federal employees might want something to do with their time so why not pick some bluegrass. But that’s not really what I had in mind writing about when I sat down with my cuppa tea this morning.
Let’s see, what was I doing this time last week? My mind just seems to not wake up and remember…oh yes, we were all at the Great 48 either picking or trying to wake up to catch a train or start the drive home. The Great 48…good name and it really doesn’t do the event justice. Maybe something like the Hopelessly Fantastic 48, the Un-imaginably Great Out-of-This World 48…it is beyond me what we could call it that truly describes what goes on and how much fun it is. I rode the train down and back, and while we didn’t get to pick on the way down, the conductor on the way back was making announcements on the train to get folks to go to the dining car where we had a hot jam going. If you check Facebook there are some video clips of us playing and one I can’t dare look at of me singing. What a great event and I want to encourage everyone who reads this to send Jack Pierce and his Great 48 committee heartfelt thanks for organizing such a unique and wonderful event.
What I had in mind at the beginning of this stream of consciousness was writing about our successes as an organization, and we have many. What I mean by our successes is how many lives have we touched and how many people have given back to the CBA, all for our music and our community. I think by any measure we have done well…we have a major festival we put on every year, a successful music camp, youth academy, Kids on Bluegrass, events like the Great 48, concerts, other festivals, innumerable jams and get-togethers, bluegrass bands, and a really active statewide music scene.
And the quality of music…my-oh-my the musicians that helped build our bluegrass scene, and the kids that are picking, are mindbendingly good. Even Josh Gooding, the old man that he is (joking Josh…how old are you anyway…maybe 20?) and awesome mando-picker, made a joke on stage at the Great 48 about how the upcoming young pickers are scary good. Think about some of the names that are or have been part of our community, Laurie Lewis, Tom Rozum, Bill Evans, Blaine Sprouse, Chad Manning, Sharon Gilchrest, Keith Little, Jim Nunally, John Reischman, Dix Bruce, Kathy Kallick, Sally Van Meter, Mike Witcher, and Brandon Godman. Then there are the musicians that moved east like Rob Ickes, Frank Solivan, Molly Tuttle, Megan Lynch Chowning, and who am I forgetting? I am sure some of ya’ll can add to the list on the message board. But what about some of those up-and-coming pickers…it seems like a lot of them are part of bluegrass families like the Quayles, the Schwartzes, the Ludes, the Foleys, the Wilhoytes, the Brandlis, the Foleys, the Haskettes, the Goodings, the Personninis, the Januarys, the Tuttles. I have to apologize for everyone I have missed because I know there are many more.
We are very special. We have all these great musicians we get to play with and they are from all over the world, all professions, creeds, religions, ages, genders, gender preferences, tall, short, conservative, and liberal.
And it is all just for the music.
