I’ve never sat down to a meal with Peter Thompson. He’s never been to my house. I’m guessing that he and I have been physically in one another’s presence no more than fifteen times in our lives. Yet, as friendships go, his and mine is one I treasure. Peter’s a man of great integrity and humor and astounding commitment to the music he loves. That latter is where our friendship was ignited.
Right around twenty years ago I was given the trust and honor by the CBA’s board of directors to build a web site for the Association. I built it with the help of a lot of people way, way smarter than me and, low and behold, it’s still going strong today and I’m still web-mastering it. Early in those twenty years Peter Thompson and I discovered that we could be of service to one another. As a well-known D.J. with his fingers in everything bluegrass in the Bay Area, captain of Redwood Bluegrass Associates and a nationally-known authority on our music, he certainly had a lot to offer me, and I returned the favor as content generator of cbaweb.org. Hence, for nearly two decades, web-based communication between Peter and I has been continual, very productive and, for me at least, a joy. Our back and forth has, of course, extended beyond music, but it’s always come back to the stuff of Bill Monroe.
So I decided to take my Welcome Column turn this morning by acknowledging my friend and his most recent contribution to our bluegrass family–the 2020 Northern California Bluegrass and Old Time Music Calendar. Please glance to your right.
Thanks Peter, for everything you do and have done.
R