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A couple of times per year, the Sunday afternoon brew pub pickers and BRC founder trek across the rolling plains of MO for a Saturday jam session with our Bluegrass brethren in the rural community of Eldon.  The musicians convoke in the activity room of the mid town McDonald`s burger emporium, just across the street from the bait shop, for a marathon of picking and grinning. This gives ample occasion for the joyful acolytes of Bluegrass to renew communal vows of poverty.

Local citizenry gather at the eatery throughout the day for a family meal, and youngsters pull-off their thumping hip hop headphones briefly to regard the live acoustic  music. As a musician resined-up his bow, a coltish youngster asked, ” Is that a violin?”  A smiling response called it a fiddle. As the lad departed,  he shrugged, “What`s the difference?”

A picker quietly mused later, “When you spill beer on a fiddle, no one cares.” The jammers chuckled warmly. A rookie musician, first timer to a picking session, was gently advised that rather than a jam session, this was a Bluegrass Immersion Experience- like a language school. An avuncular veteran encouraged her, “Educating Bluegrass musicians is like breaking wild horses. It`s a total cultural reintegration.” The band generously welcomed the newcomer.

Puzzled parents looking on wondered if this hillbilly culture could be a risky and potential avenue for their kids to experiment with other mysterious music genres like Zydeco, Celtic, Django`s gypsy guitar, Western swing, Flamenco, Ravi`s sibilant sitar, or Klezmer. No worry, mom and dad. Bluegrass music is as homegrown as barbecue on the Fourth of July.

P.S. Check-out the latest BRC “Peace Dove” banjo, our workshop`s signature model, on ebay from Feb. 23 to March 2nd (sold). Upon receipt of purchase, the buyer emailed, “Great looking and sounding banjo!”