John McCutcheon last night at the Country Store told about the time in his early 20s when he set out on a three-month “self-study” of the banjo players of Southwest Virginia. Some of those he ended up visiting with were student-friends of mine, jamming in the snack bar at Wytheville Community College. Â I was new faculty, 27 at the time; he would have been 23. Our kids grew up with his music–in particular, the Birthday song, which he noted last night was written by …
What th’ WHAT? The answer to writer’s block, I’m afraid. Trolling through the few images from the past month this is the one that was by far the most unusual. I confessed a few blog posts back (which at one time would have meant a few days and lately a few weeks) that I had pulled the guitar out of moth balls. I’m pulling lyrics and chords of the Internet. That’s the easy part. But remember chords and words at the same time–a bit more …
Maybe I should have said HOPPIN’ Many of you have heard Hoppy Vaughan at Pine Tavern over the past few years. You don’t want to miss this one! [su_button url=”https://tackk.com/5g00ey” target=”blank” style=”soft” background=”#a1c8ea” color=”#1f1717″ size=”5″ wide=”yes” center=”yes” radius=”5″ icon=”icon: thumbs-up” icon_color=”#ffffff” text_shadow=”1px 1px 0px #000000″]Order tickets (or get them at the door) and hear Hoppy and the Ministers of Soul by clicking this box![/su_button]
Sort of a busy week ahead, with many hours of sitting in metal folding chairs. Committee animal this boy is not, and yet I will be because it is required. Hopefully the human end can tolerate the required hours to achieve the organizational means. At the end of the week, on the other hand, I expect to be entertained in pleasant surroundings–by Wayne Henderson and friends. And to visit Draper Merchantile for the first time. [Directions] The occasion a celebratory focus on the New River …
First the bad news: FloydFest 12 is sold out. The good news is that you’ve got your tickets. Right? I don’t think I had any Fragments readers on my several hikes at FloydFest last year, but you never know, so I thought I’d let you consider putting that on your list for things to do-see-hear this year. Frankly, I have pretty low threshold for crowds, noise and heat–which is pretty much a description of the biggest event on the Blue Ridge Parkway called FloydFest. …