Notes From The Road: This is my “Pete’s-eye view” feature on this site, with reports on interesting people and events I encounter in my travels. I posted this piece in July 2006 on the BGrass-L discussion list when a number … Read More
Louise and Earl Scruggs first met at the Ryman Auditorium in 1946, and in the years to follow, thanks to her steadfast efforts as his manager and booking agent, she watched him perform there countless more times.… Read More
Louise Scruggs’ life can be described as one of dedication. It’s hard to imagine a woman more devoted to her husband, and her family. In show business, tight families are the exception, not the rule, and Louise showed the kind of day-in day-out loyalty to her man and her family that never lapsed for well over 50 years in the fray.… Read More
I was very surprised and sad to hear from a friend at the recent Merlefest, that my good friend Winnie Winston (living in New Zealand for the last 10 years) was suffering from cancer. I had had recent contact with him and he hadn’t mentioned it. So I wrote him, and indeed it was true, and not only that, he was writing from a hospice.… Read More
He was the lead singer for the Greenbriar Boys, the first nationally significant band to come out of the Northeast. As such, he was a pioneer and a leader for us in the bluegrass generation behind him. I watched him … Read More
I was about 15 or 16 when I first heard “The Hit Parade of Love”, performed by some folks I knew in NY City. They had a cool harmony on it, and it seemed like a pretty upbeat song, with snappy lyrics and good banjo picking. Before long I picked up my first Jimmy Martin record (his second of two at the time), and connected with one of the greatest musical forces bluegrass has ever known.… Read More
John Hartford is one of my dearest long-term friends, as well as a great influence and inspiration. We met about 30 years ago and have shared a lot of great times and music every year since then. He’s been battling cancer for most of that time, though until a few years ago it was mostly in remission. Early this year he started losing the use of his left hand. By April, he had lost the use of both hands and contracted a bad case of pneumonia that has hastened his decline.… Read More