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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.
1 comment on “Freakishly Talented Players”
banjotef Says:
Wednesday, March 14, 2012 @11:59:27 AM
Couldn't have said it better!
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