Homer and Jethro Tull Bluegrass

I have to admit, getting a good title up there really gives a guy a boost up, if ya know what I mean. I can look up there every ten minutes and see if what I'm writing about has any bearing whatsoever on the title. If it doesn't, that's a whole paragraph right there explaining what went wrong.

People love to know what went wrong. They hang on every word of a what-went-wrong tale, grimacing convincingly at all the really bad parts to let you know how deeply your tale of woe moves them. Then they tell all their buddies about how you thought you could use your shop-vac to siphon gas from the Dodge to the Plymouth and caught your garage on fire.

Shit-fire. It said right on the outside you could use it for liquids. And what is gas? Hmmmmmmmm????

Anyhow, we played at Waterloo, NJ, and I have no idea what relationship this place has with Neapolean or with the other English guy, ummmm..not Wellington, that's those funky boots all the Brit's wear when they are mucking out stalls or paddocking or whatever else they do over there. Besides smoking, that is.

Anyhow, today everything went pretty much bang on, as the Brits would say. We arrived at the antique show, and all the vendors and shoppers were happy as hogs. Weather was
picture perfect and the music was like a dream.

Last night I went over to Neil's and jammed with Anthony Hannigan, winner of the 1999 World Championship Mandolin competition someplace out in Kansas. Gibson gave him a Sam Bush model mando..killer, and Anth man traded it off for his daddy's Hutto, the twin of the one I ordered and got after my brother Paul died.

Scotty Eager was there, too, his hand was kinda mashed because he had a disagreement with a fork-lift and the fork-lift won. He plays any instrument twice as better as me with only 3 and a half fingers.

And then Anth man's friend Jillian was there, played bass on one set and left me play the mando, as they would say here in Mun-roe county, with Scotty on Banjer and Anth on fiddle--that was a nice set, even if my left hand was falling asleep every three seconds. That fargin carpy tunnel thang, from my days as a tileman, may they never be repeated!

Then she picked up her flutes and her whistles, and it was just like the title says up there--Homer and Jethro Tull. I mean, we did Buck Ellington's song, that there "Caravan", and she was growling and fluting all over the place, just like that Ian whoosis.

Folks loves seeing them girls up there, blasting out the tunes. I could understand why!

So it was a blissful day, with the exception of the Eagles, who defected late in the game and gave heart to the team who knows no state: the "Giants."

A bluegrass pox on their house. We may be Christians and we know that we should always forgive our adversaries, but we also know that all men are sinners, and we would hate to let the good Lord down. So we'll just hold onto that grudge for a couple weeks.

Tops.

In the meantime, I have a trip slated out to the wilds of Wellsboro to correct some clams in the recording. Chances are better than even that I'll be using Mr. Greenjean's bass, a gorgeous German full-sized baby that really makes the rafters rattle. His real name was Hugh Brannen, and his wife, Joan, was wanting it played.

I was kinda choked up about that, tell the truth.

Anyhow, if I can get Bob Dorough into a studio this week up here in Stroudsburg and Scotty in one also down there in Ahhhhhlantawwwwwwwn, they can download the "files" and we might have the Rambler Nation CD after all.

This hick music is all done with space-age electronics and sent on the internet, which I think is kinda funny.

Then I have to get the PR out for my book-signing at the Deerhead on October 8th, with Johnny Skehan and Coleman Smith, maybe Andy Goessling and Tim Carbone from RR Earth as well.

Lord God. Now I understand what Lou Gehrig meant when he said he was the luckiest man in the world.


Well, to my readers, I send my regrets that I am not on here more often to report on the life of a bluegrass mime. Many wonderful and happy things have transpired this season, but things have also been unusually hectic this past year, what with the death of my best friend and brother Fred---may he travel light and happy.

Things may slow down soon. Fact is, I'm kinda looking forward to winter and a bottle of nice Shiraz, a fire and my sweetie-pie.

In the meantime, here's hoping all your tunes are toned!