The Best

May 16, 2016 | Welcome Column

Ask yourself this question: Who is the absolute best Bluegrass musician you ever in person at each of the Bluegrass instruments? For the purposes of discussion, I include six hallowed instruments on my list. There are of course a few others like the accordion, the harmonica and a few others that have earned their spot in the mix but let’s talk big six for now.

Here’s my list. (Most of them I heard at Grass Valley):
1) Fiddle is Michael Cleveland. I have never heard anybody else even close to that guy. He is a true phenomenon.
2) Mandolin is Ronnie McCoury. I just love the way that guy pounds the strings so hard and epitomizes the evolved Monroe sound.
3) Bass is Mark Schatz. Not only does he play a great bass line in any style you like, he can clog and hambone as well.
4) Guitar is Mike Wilhoyte. I never made it to a concert where my idols Norman Blake or Tony Rice were playing but if I had I don’t know that I would have been anymore entertained than by this local guitar wizard.
5) Banjo is Bill Evans. He really knows his banjo as witnessed by the Banjo in America series and he can play just about anything on a moment’s notice.
6) Dobro is Rob Ickes. Not even close. I was fortunate enough to hear him at a house concert up close and personal with his sidekick Trey Hensley.  
I’m not a concert goer for the most part, except for making sure I get to Grass Valley every year for the Father’s Day Festival. And I haven’t been into the live Bluegrass music scene for very long. I’ve mostly just listened to records for my Bluegrass experience. Your personal best list may be even more star studded than mine.  But I am very proud of my Bluegrass all-star band. I can’t think of anybody I have ever heard live that are better than these six.
What’s your best I ever heard live list? We should definitely have a separate category for the best singer but personally I don’t want to even go there. It’s just too hard to choose.

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