There is this television show, “America’s Heartland,” on RFD-TV. If you can find it, it’s worth watching. The show usually focuses on farmland in the good ol’ US of A, and provides insights to city slickers about who is growing what, when and where. From asparagus to sweet potato vodka, you can learn everything you didn’t ever think about farming, and how food makes its way from the farm to your fork. For me, this TV show usually starts out as a ho-hum experience, and then ends up as, “Wow, that is really interesting!”
On a recent episode, one half of the thirty minute show featured Rodney Dillard. Yes, that Rodney Dillard, of the notorious bluegrass band, “The Dillards.” From forty-years ago when the Dillards made their way from the paths of the Missouri Ozarks to sidewalks of Hollywood, Rodney Dillard is now back in Salem, Missouri.
But early on, some forty-years ago, Rodney and his brother Doug, along with local friends Dean Webb and Mitch Jayne, lit out from Missouri to try their luck at making it in bluegrass music. Unlike most bluegrass bands, these boys from the “sticks” stumbled onto the luck they needed to make a living in the big city as bluegrass musicians. Armed with a guitar (Rodney), banjo (Doug), mandolin (Dean), and acoustic-standup-doghouse bass (Mitch), their ammunition was a bunch of original songs that they carried with them. The bluegrass angels were watching over these boys, because after two weeks arriving in California they had a record deal with Electra Records. Not only that, the TV star Andy Griffith was looking for a bluegrass band for his TV show, “Mayberry RFD,” heard about the Dilliards from the Hollywood Grapevine, gave them an audition, and as they say, “The rest is history.” But that was then, and this is now.
Rodney is now back on his family farm that has been there for 100 years in Salem, Missouri. When asked why he went back to the farm after a successful career in bluegrass music, Rodney says, “It’s hard to explain why farmers do it. It’s like trying to put sunlight into a bottle. It’s got a lot to do with family values and going back to the land.” Make no mistake, Rodney is a farmer. He is often on his tractor, pulling down tall trees, and clearing the land when it needs to be done. But when bluegrass music needs to be played, Rodney does just that.
Sitting in his chair, under a canopy of trees on his farm, surrounded by his wife, daughter, son-in-law, granddaughter, friends and neighbors, Rodney sings, “It’s been ten long years, since I left my home, in the hollow where I was born….” That’s the opening line to the song, “The Old Home Place.” As a child growing up, Rodney was surrounded by family, relatives, friends, and neighbors who played music on guitars, fiddles, banjo, mandolins, and upright basses. “It was just a part of our lives,” Rodney says. And an important part of that life was Mitch Jayne, who played bass on Rodney’s porch, and then went with the Dillards to California. Mitch was not only a bass player, but a songwriter, novelist, school teacher, and log cabin dweller. Many of the songs that brought success to the Dillards were penned by Mitch Jayne.
“Old Home Place,” is a song every blue-grasser should have in his/her bag of musical tricks. You probably know it, you should know it, but if you don’t, go for it. It’s out there, been out there a long time, and has been covered by more that a few bluegrass singers. It’s about a guy who leaves his home in the country, moves to town and falls in love, gets jilted, loses his home, and can’t go back. Sound familiar?
One thing is for sure, this song is not about Rodney Dillard. With a big grin on his face, guitar in hand, and one eye on his tractor, he’s right back home. Back in the hollow where he was born. Rodney Dillard is living proof that you can go home again.
If you’re lucky.
