So as best I recall, it was 1984 at Raccoon Creek Bluegrass Festival in Dallas, Ga., I took it into my head that the Marksmen Quartet needed a fiddle player, so I crawled up on stage fiddle in hand from the audience and joined in. I was surprised Earle Wheeler didn’t kick me right back off. […]
Music begins within each of our souls. If we are lucky, God bestows us the gifts to let it out. Some sing, some play, some do both and their gifts bless their families, their church, their neighbors. For many years now, the advent of the internet has broken down the hold gatekeepers had on reaching […]
I was going through some boxes in the attic the other day and came across something that spurred some fond memories. It was an old cotton tobacco bag with a tie string. These were designed to keep the tobacco fresh and protected but instead inside of it was my collection of marbles that were an amazing part of my […]
As the leaves begin to turn into a cornucopia of color, I make my last round in the yard with my lawnmower. I have prepped and planted my winter garden hoping for the best crop of turnip greens ever seen. The branch pile at the street becomes almost as tall as me. It’s cold enough at […]
The winds blew strongly, some trees crackled as the broke while other simply bent with the wind. Around us houses were lifted off their foundations and some where obliterated into a pile of rubble or every stick that made them up was simply carried away in the wind. These were some of my memories of […]
Appalachian actor/entertainer Randall Franks, Crimson Records and Peach Picked Productions announce the release of a new patriotic recitation single and music video “The American’s Creed – Recitation“ from the award-winning performer. Written by William Tyler Page with music by Randall Franks and Wesley Crider, the creed was adopted by the United States Congress in 1918 as a statement of belief in America that would in […]
When the sounds of Southern gospel music fill Pigeon Forge, Tenn., it must be time for the National Quartet Convention. The LeConte Center hosts the annual event each September providing an opportunity for fans of all ages to hear and meet their very favorite traveling gospel singers since 1957. I was able to attend this year and […]
When I first held a violin in my hands, I was amazed by the shiny wood. How the strings connected to the tailpiece and the pegs running across the bridge and the fingerboard with a tension creating a vibration when plucked or bowed to create a sound. When I opened the back of my piano, […]
The rained poured down on the fairgrounds at the Cedartown Georgia fairgrounds. It was the site of a new bluegrass festival including many talented acts. I was there with my youth group, the Peachtree Pickers. We were dodging mud puddles from the rain that had already come in to get to the stage. When another […]
I walked across the back yard in my bare feet. I do this from time to time as it reminds me the sensation I recall from childhood, the grass wrapping its way around the curves in my feet. Touching the ground provides a connection to God’s blessed creation. I don’t think we ever get to […]
