Scamp: an impish or playful (young) person
Scoundrel: a disreputable person: a rascal
Scallywag: scamp, reprobate
In most walks of my life I run into a few notable people…some better avoided, but some are notable for their creative approach to living life, more so living life big. My bluegrass life is no exception. In fact, I sometimes believe that in bluegrass we are overrun with big lifers that fall in the Scamp, Scoundrel, Scallywag pot of notable personalities. Maybe, just maybe we are a breeding ground for big personalities, a fertile plot where all sorts of exotic species take root, crowding out the mundane, pushing the routine to the peripheries, and shoveling the sheepish onto a pile for recycling. These souls tend to belong to folks who walk into a room, or mosey onto a stage and kind of just pull your eyes in that direction. They don’t have to do anything overstated, nothing loud; all they have to do is stand quietly, tuning their guitar, noodling on the base, bowing a few arpeggios and the room turns to notice.
Maybe that is one reason why I am so attracted to this community because I can sometimes indulge in these outsized characters that live to play and enjoy the occasional glass of bourbon while cracking an off color joke. Laughter is their aphrodisiac and applause their addiction.
Some of these folks have created mythological reputations, not for their musical skills, those aren’t in question or even required, but are legends for the stories they leave behind. These are the folks who founded the CBA and the volunteers who keep it going. There’s a whole pile of names I could list but if you want to know who these folks are, go to the web site and look up our Year Round volunteers, check out the Lifetime members, and see who is on the Board of Directors. You can also belong to this list of notables, show us your outsized personality, and become a mythological bluegrass legend by volunteering for the CBA. We need folks to fill a whole bunch of Volunteer positions, we need area Vice Presidents to represent the CBA in different regions of California, we need folks to manage the CBA Mercantile, a really important year-round position, folks to help with FDF at the Ice Booth, the Water Booth, Safety and Hospitality, Stage Lighting, and Vern’s Stage Setup. We need folks to help sell advertising for the Breakdown and folks who can help us get Sponsors for our educational programs and for the Festival.
So if any of this strikes a cord with you…shoot me an email or talk to one of the volunteers listed on the web site because we want to enlist a new cadre of myths, legends, scamps, scoundrels, and scallywags.
