Simply Put- Headin' For The Hills

If you’re reading this column on Thursday I’m en route to Wilkesboro, North Carolina. If you’re reading it Thursday night or later, The Good Lord willin’, I’ve made it to the Blue Ridge Mountains of Carolina. I’m headin’ there to attend America’s largest Bluegrass festival, Merlefest. I’ll join 80,000 other folks as we’ll take in 4 days of the best bluegrass you’ll find anywhere.
For those unfamiliar with bluegrass, it is the genre of mostly acoustical music comprised of guitars, banjos, fiddles, dobros, an upright bass guitar and no drums. Some folks poke fun at the music, calling it hillbilly music. I heard someone recently call it hoedown music. Others call it mountain music and that’s just fine with me.
You see the mountains have a very special place in my heart. I can’t explain why, but the mountains and the culture that surrounds them have always fascinated me and captivated my interest. Even as a youngster I found myself drawn to the culture through books such as "Where the Lillies Bloom." As a young teenager in the early 70’s I listened to rock and roll just like everybody else. But I also become hooked on bluegrass, in part thanks to my brother Gary. The first bluegrass I remember listening to was music that belonged to him. He had the album that was the soundtrack to the movie "Bonnie and Clyde". Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs played a very traditional brand of bluegrass for the soundtrack and songs like "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" fit the movie like a glove. But I enjoyed some of the newer strands of bluegrass as well. Groups like "The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band", who put out a double album called "Will The Circle Be Unbroken" that is on a bluegrass lover’s must have list. Another group was called "Goose Creek Symphony" and they mixed bluegrass in with some rock and roll as well as country to produce a sound unlike anyone else. My brother also took me to my first bluegrass festival which was in Tallahassee and called Miller’s Landing Bluegrass Festival.
That was over 30 years ago and I’m still hooked on bluegrass. And I have come to love the mountains more and more over the years. The mountains grip me down to the very depths of my soul. When I’m in the mountains I feel like I belong there. I don’t believe in re-incarnation, but if I did I would say that I had spent a previous life in the mountains.
Don’t get me wrong. I was born and raised in Marianna and I’ll probably live here the rest of my life. It’s home and it’s where my wife and I chose to raise our family. That should say a lot. But I love the mountains and I’m headin’ for the hills this weekend. Simply Put, paddle faster boys I hear banjos ahead. From the front porch: Uncle Bob said the trick is growing up not growing old.