Finding Peace

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Life can be hard for every single person who has ever walked the earth.

We must all work in some way each and every day to provide for ourselves and those we love.

Today, most folks do this to get money to buy what is needed.

In the past, our ancestors, awoke to the reality each day they had to till the land, plant, cultivate, hunt or fish to fill their bellies and their stores for the year.

Food, shelter and clothing are the primary needs each of us have. Many children today are sheltered from this reality by their parents as they try to create a period of innocence as they grow.

In my parents’ generation, from the time they were walking, they were working in the fields to sustain the rest of the family. For me and my brother, we had it easier as the work shifted to home and the family business rather than the fields which was the family business in my grandparents’ day. Although we did do our share on the farm too as we were taught what we needed to do to survive but our eating did not solely depend on what we were doing.

Our world is in a moment when people are looking closely at their bottom line. They are making choices that the believe will improve their pocketbooks today and into the future.

You may not have to worry about where your next meal comes from. You may work for the government at some level, the school system or have a job you feel is very secure because the industry you work in seems secure.

There are many who cannot say that, they know where their next meal is coming from. I come from a family where that is the case. There were times my folks did without to try to provide for us and the same is true for many in my extended family.

We are at a point in our country when people are looking at elected people spending their tax dollars overseas, within our country on people who came here circumventing our laws, or for feel good projects rather than necessities and they are done watching quietly in the corner.

I think that is what we saw at the ballot box recently. Americans are tired of everything that goes against their personal budget, their livelihood and the success of their families. They have felt helpless as they watched things they cherish being destroyed in various ways.

These feelings have been tapped into by leaders throughout the world’s history. It is an opportunity to reset the direction we are going and pull us back from the brink of disaster.

A country cannot sustain the deficit spending and continued borrowing from future generations.

It must stop. It will not be easy and many will face hardships as the belts begin to tighten.

However for all our futures, it must be done. It needs to be done while there is a possibility of lessening the impact overall. Otherwise, we will find ourselves walking the rubble of our lives in rags for clothes grubbing for roots to try to put in the water for soup to live another day. That may be extreme in your mind, but we are only 90 years ahead of millions in our country living that exact same life. It is very possible we might see it again. Such happenings are cyclical and we are very close to the time in those cycles, it could happen. But maybe, just maybe, we can be pulled back from falling off the cliff or at least a few feather pillows might be thrown at the bottom of the precipice to ease our fall.

Many in our country are elated by what is ahead with new administration coming in January while others are not. So much of our focus by those that are not is being forced onto concerns of feeling by people on social media. When the house is on fire, you have to put the fire out before you worry about how folks are feeling. We are in the house on fire stage and it may be there for the next few years as we watch these serious issues be handled one by one.

Based on what I saw in the last Trump administration, the swiftness when not impeded in the efforts was amazingly quick. So, I think we will see progress for the American people and our future very quickly. We are already seeing much positive momentum just since the election.

There will be many happy times along the way as we see individual wins and successes. Cherish those and smile every day because smiles are infectious. Have faith because God is with us always. Through all things He strengthens me.

Legendary American singer Earle Wheeler is called home

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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.

Already a legendary American music singer Dr. Earle Wheeler, of Murrayville, Ga. whose appearances on “The Gospel Singing Jubilee,” J.G. Whitfield’s “All Nite Sings,” and “The Warren Roberts Show” greatly impacted Southern gospel and now he was making strides in bluegrass music. He would go on to add country music as another musical genre among his conquests.

Dr. Earle Wheeler (Marksmen Media: Leslie Laurendeau Abby-J Photography)

He contributed over 500 career recordings to American music and amassed over 20 career award wins across the three musical genres plus three Dove Award nominations for “God’s Masterpiece” and “Blue Ridge Mountain Memories” and “This My Crowd” in 2008, 2010, and 2013. He attained numerous chart songs including several #1 songs, some of those were “Sound the Battle Cry,” “He’s Still Setting My Place at The Table,” “Potter’s Wheel,” and “Preach the Cross.”

Earle left this world doing what he loved while on tour in Texas at the age of 84, (1940- 2024). An accidental fall caused a broken second vertebra requiring his hospitalization prior to his passing from heart failure on Oct. 31.

Earle had led the Hall of Fame and multiple-award–winning Marksmen Quartet since 1967, a re-branding from his group The Gospel Hearts that he began in 1961.

My intervening in their performance 40 years ago, began friendships and musical collaborations that remain to this day.

My early years in music, I spent countless nights in their home. I slept in a bunk pulled out from under guitarist and vocalist Mark Wheeler’s bed when we were youth. Mark is Earle’s only son and a mainstay of the quartet. I ate many meals prepared by his wife Shirley at their dining room table.

When I graduated, Earle helped me get my first record company job. Of course, they would soon sign with that label and I promoted their music. While there I played on my first chart record for Earle “Meet Me in Heaven” which featured a fiddle solo in it.

That was one of a long list of chart songs in the three genres Earle would bring to music fans.

I stood on stage beside Earle for many years watching him move an audience with his master level skills of emceeing a show. His performances often brought explosive response from audiences was when he led “Get Away Jordan” and “I Want to Go There.” I saw long-time stars express their frustrations to follow Earle on stage because he would wear out an audience through his ability to move them emotionally.

The Marksmen joined me in my performance for the Grand Ole Opry’s 63rd Birthday Celebration in 1987 electrifying the audience. Within a year, they were included in a performance for the International Bluegrass Music Association’s Legends of Bluegrass Concert in 1988 alongside Bill Monroe, Ralph Stanley, Jim and Jesse, The Lewis Family, and the Osborne Brothers. Their efforts garnered them nine Gospel Bluegrass Band of the Year Awards once such an award was created.

I was honored to be there for many of those great achievements with Earle and appear with them on shows such as “The Huff Cook Gospel Sing” from Bristol, Va.

Beginning in 1988, I joined the cast of “In the Heat of the Night,” and when the opportunity arose, I included Earle and the group to sing on “In the Heat of the Night” “Christmas Time’s A Comin’” CD with Anne-Marie Johnson and featured them with Carroll O’Connor, the cast and country hall of famers.

In later years, when ever I appeared Earle used to joke I left the Marksmen because Carroll O’Connor paid me more than he did.

His acceptance in bluegrass also yielded his transition and acceptance into the country genre performing side by side with that genre’s biggest stars. Still performing in the same fashion, just finding new audiences for four voices and their unique songs. The group would win Five Country Gospel Group of the Year Awards. They won Two Country Music Video Awards for “Grandpa Was a Farmer” and “Wagon Tracks.”

From our first concert to raise funds for the Pearl and Floyd Franks Appalachian Music Scholarships for the Share America Foundation, Inc., Earle and the Marksmen Quartet were there and made our efforts a success each year joining us for the last time in 2023 on the Hollywood Hillbilly Jamboree.

Earle and his wife Shirley were an extra set of parents who have checked in on me throughout my life. Earle was there supporting me when I lost both my dad and mom. He is survived by his wife Shirley, his son Mark (Joy), and his grandchildren Will, Sarah Grace, and Cana and current and former members of The Marksmen Quartet.

Rest in Peace Earle… Well done good and faithful servant!

                            The Marksmen – 1987

 

I thought I had lost my marbles

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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 youth.

A marble is a small, spherical object often made from glass, clay, steel, plastic, or agate. Typically those are around 13 mm (1⁄2 in) in diameter. These colorful toys can be used for various games, such as marble runs or races, or created as a form of art.

I don’t know if children still play marbles but for me it was an amazing past time.

A couple of friends would draw a circle on the ground in the dirt, drop marbles into the circle and then we would take turns shooting to knock the marbles out of the circle. Of course, the winner got to keep the other player’s marbles. So, our collection could grow or reduce depending upon our skill with our favorite shooter and the skill and strength of our thumb flick.

I am amazed that this childhood collection actually survived all these years. I was not the best player in the world, so I must have become tired with playing and stored away my marbles. I sort of figured I had lost my marbles years ago. Most people would probably say something similarly.

I don’t know if that little boy could have imagined who the adult man would become.

He certainly could not have imagined the crooks and turns of love and life in general. I have many friends who have remained throughout my life, others who fell by the wayside. I have fell in love several times but never successfully. The process never took as it was. That was definitely not how young Randall envisioned his future. But God had another plan.

Professional opportunities have taken me around the U.S., Canada and Mexico entertaining folks from all types of stages and placed me of TV and in films for audiences around the world. Those are also things little Randall could never have seen coming. But I will say, I was blessed by each and every moment thus far and look forward to anything He allows ahead.

Playing games was a vital part of every childhood day. Those kept us physically active, mentally engaged and strategically learning and growing. As adults, we need the same type of activities to make each day better. We all work hard to make a living; so a little time each day doing something for recreation stimulating our mind and/or our body is productive for us all.

I fondly miss those days when I looked forward to the sun coming up and I hit the door running to fill the day with all types of adventures and games. Finding people to play with and creating game to play was all that was on my mind. I guess as adults, we see our hobbies in this way – fishing, hunting, sports, racing, motorcycling, bicycling and others. So, in a way we have days from time to time we rush out of the house looking forward to doing these things with our friends and/or families.

As I stared into the beautiful colors of those marbles rolling them around in my hand, I could see myself on my knees shooting with ease at the marbles in front of me within the circle. I could hear the clicking sounds they made as they hit. I could feel my bag heavier after winning.

Marbles may be bygone for me, and I am sure there are some who would say I lost them long ago, but I am sure glad I ran across them at least for a bit before returning them to their box once again for safe keeping until I find them again.

It’s Fall Y’all

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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 night to start a fire for the heat but warm enough in the day for air conditioning. The scenes around me begin to be filled pumpkins and scarecrows decorating our light posts and porches.

I have always loved this time of year. However, like many, I dread what I really loved in my youth – the cooler weather. For so many of us, as the years pass, the aches and pains from the abuses our body has received through our times on earth, hurt with these changes.

In my part of the world, this time of year also turns our thoughts to the mountains. We head there to see the beauty of the leaves, to enjoy the fall festivals, and to experience small town America. This year however, many of our favorite spots in Appalachia are suffering due to Hurricane Helene and its aftermath. I encourage everyone who can reach out to Eastern Tennessee and Western North Carolina and other affected areas with your financial assistance and include them in your prayers. There will be ongoing needs for months and months. Now, in the immediacy, they need things to help them keep warm. But I want to remind you all that many of our favorite mountain destinations in both states are open for business. Their leaves will be filled with colors, their towns will be decorated, their fall festivals will occur. Many of these towns are banding together to advertise they are OK and ready to welcome tourists. Don’t forget them. If you are going to travel. These regions have already been devastated by the Hurricane, they need their brother and sister towns to succeed and keep the tax base that will help rebuild from bottoming out. I am sure also you will find efforts to help their neighbors in all these communities.

Another aspect of fall coming on are the blooming of signs on corners and in yards reminding us that its time to go to the polls and place your vote for local, state and national political candidates. In many areas, early voting has already begun. Our neighbors are sitting there anxiously awaiting your arrival to cast a ballot. A right that each of us adult American citizens have due to the forethought of our founders and the blood, sweat and tears shed by thousands of people who have served in the military to defend all our rights across generations.

So, get in the car, drive to polling place, if close enough, enjoy a pleasant walk in the fall sun, cast your ballot either early or on the day of the election and let your voices be heard about your wishes for the future of your town, your county, your state and our country. While you are at it, thank every veteran you come across for their service! I plan to vote on election day. I look forward to spending some time with my neighbors hearing about their lives as we wait on line.

It’s a privilege to vote for the future. Don’t miss your chance to be part of the solution rather than the problem. Most of us want to run our own lives. However, we are all like the children riding in the back seat of the station wagon. We are not holding the steering wheel, our foot is not hovering over the gas or brake pedals. However, unlike childhood, when we could not choose our parents and their driving habits, we can decide who is driving the car in our respective towns, counties, states and our country.

So, as you get ready to get in the back seat to ride along for the next four years: which candidates will make you feel safe, content in your life and opportunities, happy with the direction they are taking us,

ever ready to hit the brakes and steer a different direction, or prepared to hit the gas to get us towards an amazing destination when they see an opening for successful forward momentum.

At every level, these people we elect impact our lives, take it seriously. Vote for the future of your lives, your families, your pocketbooks and wallets, your opportunities in business and employment and the generations ahead of all of us.

Vote for the success of us all, your hometown, your state and our country.

Just vote. Make a difference. Put on the sticker, wear it proudly, thank a veteran and enjoy fall, y’all!

Help where you can

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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 living through a tornado 14 years ago that impacted 600 homes destroying many and many businesses in my home town. The coming weeks and months while serving in rescue, relief and rebuilding were an unbelievable experience that I would not wish to live again.

In the process of doing those efforts, rescue and relief workers develop their own type of post traumatic stress disorder. This doesn’t become apparent in many until after all is said and done.

Our Southern country and my native Appalachia have been dealt a terrible blow by Hurricane Helene and now we learn Florida will face another with Hurricane Milton as I write this piece.

As I watched the stream of bits and pieces coming out of east Tennessee, southwest Virginia, western North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, I found myself rolling back into my post tornado senses.
I had the urge to go out and get in the car to go to help with the rescue and response. The reality of it was, I was hours away, there was little I could do in areas where I was unfamiliar with the territory and without an organization on the ground to which I could connect, unlike in my own hometown.

As I saw ancestral towns that previous generations called home in distress, it pulled upon me, knowing there was little I could do at this point but pray and share opportunities for people to assist financially as I found solid leads for help.

From my experiences, I learned it is the local churches and local non-profit volunteers supporting local fire, sheriff’s and police departments alongside the responding city and county workers that carried us through. Endless hours and endless tasks as long as there were more to help, more to seek out, more to provide for days, weeks and months.

As I have seen the needs on social media streams, the remote areas impacted in the Appalachians, I know the rescuers have their tasks cut out for them to try and reach as many as they can. I have seen teams on foot, on horseback followed by pack mules or pack goats, folks on ATVs, and helicopters and drones carrying in supplies, and those same helicopters taking survivors to safety.

The devastation across six states will require months and in many areas years to recover as towns were simply wiped from the face of the earth. We need to include these rescue and relief workers and the victims constantly in our prayers as our lives go on as normal, theirs are mired in the mud that now surrounds all they knew.

If you are able to physically respond and volunteer in any of the impacted areas, I encourage you to seek out opportunities and bless those in need. If you are able to give, please find local churches or non-profits or those you know for sure are on the ground making a difference. My experience is your monies go farther and are better utilized with them than if given to well-known nationally known organizations. The one exception to nationally known in my experience is Samaritan’s Purse which I have seen on the ground working in the Appalachian areas. The Cajun Navy has been very active in the response as well. Also, there are many private helicopter pilots flying missions and their fuel costs are extensive. So, if you can find ways to help those through charities or individuals, I know it will be an appropriate place for funds.

Once all the areas are reached and the living are initially helped, there will be thousands without a houses because insurance will not cover their losses either at all or even in part. Their homes will have to be rebuilt and there will be need for money and volunteers.

There will likely be thousands that must be buried once that phase becomes the focus. I read of one family that lost fifteen members as a house slid down a mountainside. In the end, many families will never know what happened to their loved ones because no body will be recovered or will be recognizable or identifiable wherever they may have washed to rest. With their homes washed away, knowing whether they had any life insurance will likely be very difficult. Their survivors will need help and I imagine counties will be developing cemeteries for rest of the unknown victims.

American music brings smiles

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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 enjoy some of the most talented stars and up and coming performers on the main stage and on showcases at the event.

Jeff & Sheri Easter, the Troy Burns Family, the Inspirations, Jeff Tolbert and Primitive Road, the Kingsmen, the Down East Boys, the Dixie Echoes, the Perrys, Gold City and many others that play a part in Bill Gaither’s Homecoming Friends kept the attendees smiling, laughing, tapping their toes and praising the Lord for show after show.

Radio and television personalities catch them for special interviews and they spend hours around their merchandise tables talking with friends.

The Singing News Fan Awards – seeing groups such as the Inspirations sweep many categories, Ray Dean Reese honored for Lifetime Achievement and Karen Peck Gooch as Favorite Soprano and the Southern Gospel Music Hall of Fame inductions honoring Herb Henry, Mike Holcomb, Kelly Nelon Clark and Jeff Stice are major highlights of the week.

I remember the earliest conventions I attended in Nashville, then Louisville and now Pigeon Forge. The genre still allows for the personal touch between the music stars and the fans, much as it has been done throughout its history. Don’t miss your chance to be part of the tradition in 2025, visit https://www.natqc.com/ to watch for future events.

Another destination of my recent travels was to participate in the IBMA World of Bluegrass in Raleigh, N.C. where I was enthusiastically impressed with the large number of youth I found smiling and jamming in corners around the convention center between special conference events, concerts, the annual awards and exhibition hall where current performers share their latest and talk with fans. I was honored to direct segments of the award show this year working with my talented hosts Mike Compton and Joe Newberry. Compton’s work is well known for his many associations in numerous genres and for the hit film and recording “O Brother, Where Art Thou?”

The annual IBMA Awards saw the Del McCoury Band win Entertainer of the Year; Deanie Richardson as Fiddle Player of the Year; Album of the Year by Molly Tuttle and Golden Highway; Vocal Group of the Year is Authentic Unlimited; among other award winners and Laurie Lewis received a Distinguished Achievement Award; Wyatt Ellis received the Momentum Instrumentalist of the Year and Dobroist Jerry Douglas, banjo player Alan Munde and Radio Host Katy Daley were inductees into the Bluegrass Hall of Fame. For 2025, the IBMA World of Bluegrass will move to Chattanooga, Tenn. Watch www.IBMA.org for future news.

On the heels of both these amazing events, many of the musical participants and attendees returned to their homes across the Appalachians and the South finding devastation in their communities brought on my Hurricane Helene. I encourage any of you reading these words to seek out local organizations across Western North Carolina, East Tennessee, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida in the affected areas. Send monies to those that are closest to the victims that can make the greatest difference in the recoveries and eventually rebuilding of these communities. I pray for all affected. I fear the story to be told in the future will be one of greatest loss and sadness seen across these regions since the Civil War. That sadness will likely be recorded as not only from the impact of the storm but also from the lack of early response from authorities and others outside the region after the fact.

Strings, wood, tension and connections

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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, I was also fascinated by the intricate workings of the internal mechanisms which prompted the internal hammers to hit the strings and make the sounds when fingers hit the keys.

In both of these cases and most every other instrument that ever touched my hands, the similar nature of the creations used the tension of a tightened string to precipitate the opportunity of a musical sound to be created. That tension has lined the foot path upon which my shoes have traveled through my life.

The amazing miracle of that tension, has allowed me to make some amazing and not so amazing sounds with my fingers.

Those sounds have brought so many unique individuals into my life. Stars who we all know by name, some we once knew but are now fading as the new generations of stars fill people’s ears. Musicians who have created sounds that warm our hearts, spark our memories and uplift our thoughts, have stood within a few feet of me sharing their gifts beside me or me with them.

I could have never thought that possible when I first picked up that ¾ size violin and tucked it under my chin, picked up the bow and scratched a sound that could peel paint out of it.

That tension, those strings and the wood which as craftsman brought together, has given me an opportunity to chase my dreams of standing on stage and sharing what is within my heart and head.

It has made me friends, who similarly hold an instrument and entertain. The strings, the wood, the tension, the miles traveled and the long, long talks to fill that travel make brothers and sisters that will never leave you or forsake you.

They are there in sickness, in happiness, and in sorrow. It may be a helping hand, a performance, a call or so much more, but my music family is such a gift in my life. Sometimes, we may not see one another in years, but we can pick our conversation up where we left off. If we play together, we can once again find our groove usually pretty quickly. It’s actually almost second nature to us.

I could fill this column with dropped celebrity and star names who God brought into my life, but that’s not the focus of what I am sharing with you. If you are really interested, check out the bios on my website or Wikipedia.

My point here is in the case of musicians, unlike most folks, tension is a good thing, and how we connect with other like-talented folks. If I had not found that tension, my life would have been much poorer in the spirit and gifts of other folks. They have uplifted my walk down that foot path of life.

If you have the desire to play, it’s never too late, or perhaps you have a youth with those aspirations. Encourage their desires by leading them into and instrument that they can play throughout their lives and enjoy alone or with a small group of musicians.

The tension has been a bridge to a life I could never imagine. It might do the same for you or yours.

David Davis, a bluegrass mandolin stilled

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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 storm front came through, my father and I sought refuge in a cattle barn on the grounds. Inside, we found David Davis of the Warrior River Boys (www.DavidDavisandWRB.com) and his father also dodging the bad weather. They were also on the bill that day.
This deluge created an opportunity for us to meet and talk. That day began a four-decade long friendship that led David and I into an unusual musical creative partnership.

As we both plotted the course for our future careers in Bluegrass and beyond, we saw the opportunity to be cheerleaders, counselors, and sounding boards for ideas and opportunities as they came to us. Our talents and our styles were different, so we didn’t see each other as competing for the same ground and jobs, however we believed in each of our strengths we could compliment what was ahead.

Doors opened for both of us as David landed on Rounder Records and created critically acclaimed albums and a widening festival audiences with his Monroe-infused Appalachian roots sounds.
I shifted to guest starring for the Grand Ole Opry and crossed over to acting in network TV reaching large country music audiences.

Whenever David needed a musician, all he had to do was call and went to help. When I began mounting my country variety shows – The Hollywood Hillbilly Jamboree, I asked David to join me and provide the bluegrass portion and do some songs with me as I moved from country, to bluegrass, to gospel on my shows.

He moved along to Wango and Rebel Records and even had some Time-Life recordings as the years ticked off before returning again to Rounder.

As I was focusing more closely on my Appalachian roots, I asked David to record a brother-duet album with me called “God’s Children.” He didn’t hesitate and we created some eclectic sounds with pioneers “Doc” Tommy Scott, Cotton and Jane Carrier, and my television friend Sonny Shroyer “Enos” from “The Dukes of Hazzard” as special guests.

Through much of what we considered the ups and downs of the music industry, we held on, grew, learned, and tried to remain relevant, reinventing and creating opportunities to leave a mark. There was not much that either of us did in the music business, that the other didn’t chime in his thoughts.

I know these memories are probably not of much interest, but I received the sad news before writing today that my friend David died due to injuries sustained in an auto accident Sept. 15 in his home state of Alabama. His wife Cindy was injured but is recovering.

The news has rocked the worldwide Americana and bluegrass music community as he was widely respected and admired. He had also become a mentor to many talented young artists now finding their place in the larger music scene such as Wyatt Ellis, The Price Sisters, Jeremy and Corrina Rose Logston Stephens of High Fidelity, Kody Norris of the Kody Norris Show and RFD-TV star Alan Sibley and so many more.

I helped his family prepare a press release about the Alabama Bluegrass Music and National Old Time Country Music Hall of Famer’s amazing life and his extensive musical catalog that has touched millions through performances, television and radio.

We will soon gather in Cullman, Ala. to remember and celebrate the life of a true Southern gentleman whose mandolin playing and vocal stylings have touched two generations of music fans.

I hope you will celebrate his talents by finding his music, download or buy an album, or listen on YouTube and share it with friends. You may also donate to support Appalachian music scholarships in memory of David Davis at www.ShareAmericaFoundation.org or by sending to Share America Foundation, P.O. Box 42, Tunnel Hill, Ga. 30755. Rest in peace David. You are missed.

Grass, water and people – reconnect with the world

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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 old to remember the sensation.

It was much the same the first time I waded out into the lake as a child. Feeling the water all around me. I knew no timidness as a youth. You don’t worry about what is lurking beneath the water. Just that the cold water makes you feel better. However, for me as time went along, that desire evaporated from within my thoughts. I really don’t care for swimming or wading in lakes these days.

Since my earliest days I was fascinated by hiking through the mountains. The trees, the wildlife, and sometimes simply finding a rock sitting down and staring out across a unique vista I had not seen.

It’s in such moments of peace that I have found the inspiration to write. The words can create songs, lessons, ideas for films or books.

God’s gifts seem to flow when He blesses. Yet, sometimes there seems to be a block. At those times, more of His gifts must simply come into view.

Those gifts can also take the form of other people.

One of my favorite times of year was Christmas as a youth. A place I loved to be, now unfortunately pretty much a thing of the past was the shopping mall. It was a joy to find a quiet corner and simply watch folks as they enjoyed their time together shopping. The kids filled with the joy of the season. The mothers and fathers a bit hurried and out of sorts as they tick off things from their to do list.

From these moments, I could also see God’s gifts.

When we touch the earth with our hands as we plant within the garden, when we take the time to run our hand across someone’s pet, we are connecting to the creation.

Nothing we can do in life can move the spirit within us like God’s ability to uplift us with His amazing creations which sometimes we don’t take the time to recognize.

Spend some of your time reconnecting with the earth and the people around you and you might find a new muse that could inspire your life.

Take down the fiddle and bow

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I was sitting on the linoleum floor looking up at the fiddlers as they sat around in the den of the Everett’s house playing tune after tune. Musicians flow in and out and spectating listeners line the seats around the walls. I was pre-teen and trying to pick up licks they were doing as I watched their fingers move and the their bows go up and down.

Unlike my youth learning experience, today, youth doing the same have the amazing ability to simply take their phone and find a video of a fiddler playing the tune they want. But there is nothing like being in a room hearing and seeing another fiddler play.

That is what many of the youth who competed at the 53rd Grand Master Fiddler Championship had the chance to do as many of the greatest fiddle competitors gathered outside Nashville at the Turner Theater in Franklin as the contest took place Labor Day weekend.

I walked down the hallway between the stage and the warm-up rooms and youthful fiddlers leaned against the walls watching the older competitors warming up with their accompanists getting ready to walk on stage and be judged for America’s top Grand Master Fiddler.

I was blessed to return to serve as celebrity host, a role I been honored to conduct since 2007. I was a teen the first time I came to this contest brought by my childhood mentor Eugene Akers getting to see the great fiddlers.

As I looked in the eyes of the youth while walking down the hallway, I could see their excitement. In their anticipation, I knew their fears as they waited for their chance to convince the judges they had improved in their efforts.

Many of the former youth are now competing in the adult open category. Seeing the young adults excelling is such a blessing.

When I was starting out the youthful fiddlers who were ahead and plowing the way for us kids were Mark O’Connor, Jimmy Mattingly, the late Randy Howard and others. This year’s event was special in that Mark was there sharing a special hour of music with his wife Maggie. Jimmy was there being honored with the Dr. Perry F. Harris Award. Another early competitor Monte Gaylord of Oklahoma came back and competed after many years, shining in his performance.

This year’s event was squeezed into one day, filled with about 40 fiddlers sharing a breakdown, a waltz and a tune of choice. Two Canadians and one fiddler from the Netherlands also tried their luck. One that seemed to be a favorite this year was Kenny Baker’s “Festival Waltz” as fiddlers of all ages shared it. Another often played tune was “Don’t Let Your Deal Go Down.” A tune I played as a Blue Grass Boy with Bill Monroe – “Road to Columbus” also seemed to be more prevalent this year.

From my vantage point at the podium, I will have to say, there were more existing Grand Master Fiddlers competing against each other or simply present at this event than I ever recall in my years of participating. The audience certainly heard the best of the best.

The 2024 Grand Master Fiddler of the open category is Ridge Roberts of Granbury, Texas, and in the youth category is Tristan Paskvan of Southlake, Texas. Todd Varble won the accompanist award. Marty Elmore received the Charlie Bush Traditional Fiddler Award. Naomi Dornfeld received the Matthew Thomas Lin Scholarship Award. Learn more about the Grand Master Fiddler Championship at grandmasterfiddler.com or follow them on Facebook.