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I've been extremely blessed thus far in the past 7 years of picking. Im no great picker, some would say not even good. I definitely dont feel worthy of the things that have come my way. Im just lucky to have surrounded myself with some of the best pickers available in NC .
Still picking banjo with some great guys in Ted Jones and the Tarheel Boys, we're picking right steady. Got a show to do every weekend for the next month or 2. Just wanted to share a lil something that i noticed yesterday.
6 years ago me and my wife were going down to Elizabeth City to see Lynyrd Skynyrd. I found out Mountain Heart would be opening. I was a big fan of them, still am. Barry Abernathy is an awesome picker and i couldnt wait to see him. We watched their set and i stood at the foot of the stage just in awe of what was going on. As they walked off stage i hollered at Barry and he came over to the fence to talk. Super nice to a young picker like me and even though he had just picked and even fell off the stage i took a moment and went and found a piece of notebook paper just to sign it for me. I found that piece of paper while cleaning the other week.
Fast forward 6 years, Ted Jones and the Tarheel Boys will be at the Halifax County VA Fair....guess who else is playing after us....Mountain Heart. I saw that and just sat and thought really im going to open for somebody who just a few years ago i was looking up to as a rank beginner trying to fight through Cripple Creek without messing up. This is an amazing feeling. Pretty Cool
In other news I've started a new project with some guys who i think are among the best in this part of the world. We are going to call this new group "Steady Drive" a 4 piece band in which all of us have an intense love for traditional grass. All of us are Crowe, Rice, Martin, F&S, Album Band fanatics. Its an amazing mesh of vocal harmony and instrumentation.
This new group has been about 2 years in the making, me and the bass player are close friends and have been talking about it for at least that long. I met up with the mandolin player after crossing paths unknowingly for about 5 years and playing together in different groups and the guitar player ive known a long time as well. We all play in different bands and will continue to. I guess were going to be kind of like Sideline.
I got a message from Lizzy Long via Facebook back in August and she asked if I'd like to bring a band down to GA to her and Little Roys Fish Fry to benefit their Festival. No pay involved but Norman Adams would be there and it would give us a chance to stick our foot in the door. I jumped at the chance and called these 3 guys and they were all in. We got one practice in, and a flash jam at the GA welcome center to put together a set list. We played our set and then hung around to watch Little Roy and Lizzy put on a show. Afterwards Mr Adams approached us and got contact info and said he enjoyed our show and thinks he might can put us to work for the 2016 festival season. Little Roy said next time they had something down there we would be back as well.
Im not trying to boast or brag but im mighty proud of this project. We're playing music we all love, and playing it really well. To go down there and do that with little preperation i was mighty pleased and just have to share it with somebody.
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