Sound of the Week: Bluegrass

I'm going to spice band of the week up and offer my story of how I came to that music or a memory that goes along with it.

We'll start out with two versions of a great song, "Ruby".

First of all, I first heard this song on an amazingly perfect Spring Break back in 2002. Six years ago. Wow! We went to see 311 in North Carolina (it was okay), then a week of backpacking in Shenandoah, followed by Yonder Mountain String Band in Cincinnati. I remember driving up to the show after the backpacking. It was me, Shane, Sid and Mike in my old run-down '89 Blazer. We were all roommates. When we arrived in Cincinnati, we were pretty impressed with it. It was a medium size city that looked like it used to be big or was on the verge of booming decades ago. It never did. Our friend John used to live there as a kid and always went on and on about how great it was. The second we arrived there we saw what appeared to be a plane or perhaps a satellite crashing to the earth in the distant sky. We weren't sure though and tried to follow it, but were unsuccessful. I still wonder.

The show was at the Southgate House where the Tommy Gun was apparently invented. It was an odd venue. The show was in this average size hall with a balcony. I remember it was very barn-like inside; a lot of old wood and a musky smell. There was also a very post-modern museum on the top floor. We ventured up there before the show started, but got frightened when we saw the strange lighting and structures in there so we quickly scurried back down top the hall.

The first band was "Jim, Jenny and the Pinetops". The bass player look just like Richard Dreyfus. Either way, they played "Ruby" and it was amazing. YMSB came on after that and they rocked it. We drove back to Tennessee that night. It was a long drive, but one of dozens of all-night drives that Sid and I would make together. All in all, it was a great trip and fond memory.

"Sid, I bet I can fall asleep in ten seconds."

So, here is the Osborne Brothers with "Ruby"



And here is a young Ricky Scaggs.



Any bluegrass fans or good stories?