Clay Hess is a monster......and not the only one!  Now I know lots of great musicians in several genres, but the more I get around bluegrass the more multi-instrumental freaks (I mean that in the kindest sense) I find.  There's no way to make a complete list, but among the pros I know Ron Stewart, Josh Williams, Cody Kilby, Andy Leftwich, Clay Hess, Sierra Hull, etc......   There are way more amongst the amateur ranks...just in Minnesota we have John Bodle (add the B-bender to his list) and Mark Kreitzer (he's a jazz guy, too).  What do they all have in common?  They play with smiles on their faces and they play all the time.

I jammed with Clay Hess for a while at the Minnesota Bluegrass (MBOTMA) winter festival...it was well after midnight and he'd been playing and teaching all day.  I saw the same thing at SPBGMA last month...Kenny Smith, Mike Cleveland and Sierra jamming in a room @ 3AM.  Laughing, challenging one another and people ducking around Mike chopping that bow on his fiddle. 

What's my point?  I don't even know really.  Maybe the camaraderie....that front porch/back porch feeling.  Maybe the pure joy of making music together.  I guess it just reminds me why I love bluegrass music so much.