Tater - I just got back from the Texas Old Time Fiddlers Association annual convention and contest. 36th Annual to be exact. Our Senior division (60 and over) used to be the largest contest of the day. Now, our Junior division (16 and under) had almost as many contestants as our Open division. The Seniors had 2. Of the kids, there wasn't a single one that didn't belong or couldn't really play. They could ALL play. The out of state division was the same. Our youngest competitor of the weekend was a 9 year old out of Arkansas that flat out played everything. Incredible. The young lady that won the Out of State is a student at Berklee and she can pick the tar out of a mandolin too! There's quite a generation of musicians in front of us right now and the truly interesting thing is the instrumentation and musical genres they are developing out of.
Mark On Mon, Dec 7, 2009 at 3:28 PM, mistertaterbug <[email protected]>wrote: > Clyde, > I've seen/heard/played with Jake too. It's been a few years, but he > was a monster then even. I can't imagine what he must know at this > point. I am curious how he's applying what he's learning at Berklee. > There's a whole group of young guys and gals who have exceptional > talent and drive, focus. I can't remember having that much focus when > I was a kid, a teenager, even adult. It's as if there has been an > explosion of talent in the last 20 years. Kids like Jake, Dominick > Leslie, Sarah Jarosz(who is currently nominated for a Grammy, for > pete's sake), Sam Grisman, Rebecca Lovell, Alex Hargreaves, Sierra > Hull, Scott Gates, etc...these kids are tearing it up and I know > there's a lot more youngsters playing other styles that I don't listen > to. Thile was the hot young guy for many of us, but now he's not even > that. These younger players are the trend. Shoot, Nora Jones is > another example. Where in the world are they coming from? What's in > the air? What kind of shift has taken place? I reckon it might be that > there's so much more access to the music now. > > Seems like people are a lot more on the ball in some ways than they > were when I was a kid. Granted, it may have just been that I wasn't on > top of it, but it seems like something's afoot. And, it appears that > it's not just in music where there are exceptional youth. I can't > pretend to even know what these kids think about, much less play what > they play. I have decided to acknowledge being completely out of > touch. I need to shut up anyway and finish notating "Rawhide". > > Taterbug > > On Dec 7, 9:25 am, Dawn Bradbury <[email protected]> wrote: > > AMEN. I concur. I listen to Mike because HE is my favorite. Although I'm > > open to hearing new talent. > > > > On Mon, Dec 7, 2009 at 8:09 AM, <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > I guess I'm on the older end of the curmudgeon list, and have been > accused > > > of being opinionated. > > > I've had the pleasure of watching Jake Jolliff grow up. Jake plays all > the > > > notes and sometimes in > > > the same tune, but he is capable of playing music that I like and even > > > understand. Jake is in Boston > > > now attending Berklee and playing in a band called Joy Kills Sorrow, > Young > > > kids, all killer pickers > > > and nice kids too. BUT I'm thinking that they are playing in a language > > > that I don't know, and I've really tried > > > as I think pretty highly of Jake. I know, it's that "muse" thing. > Anyway, I > > > told you all that to tell you this: > > > > > Last night I went see Jake's Dad, Bill, in concert. Now Bill is a banjo > > > player of the old school both bluegrass and old > > > time, a fine flatpicker, a good old time fiddler, and he taught Jake to > > > play the mandolin. ('til Jake was about 9) > > > Bill is also a very good song writer and one of my favorite singers. It > was > > > one of the best shows I've ever been to, > > > period. I understood every note, could relate to all the songs and I > could > > > listen to Bill talk all night. Just a wonderful > > > show and only 60 folks came out to see it. Sad to think that if > "Festering > > > Blackhead and the Zits" were playing in town > > > thousands would have turned out. > > > > > But what do I know? Tater is my favorite mandolin player and I've > actually > > > seen him live more than once. > > > > > Clyde Clevenger > > > Just My Opinion, But It's Right > > > Salem, Oregon > > > Old Circle <http://www.myspace.com/oldcircle> > > > > > -- > > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > Groups > > > "Taterbugmando" group. > > > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > > > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > > > [email protected]<taterbugmando%[email protected]> > <taterbugmando%[email protected]<taterbugmando%[email protected]> > > > > > . > > > For more options, visit this group at > > >http://groups.google.com/group/taterbugmando?hl=en. > > -- > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Taterbugmando" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]<taterbugmando%[email protected]> > . > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/taterbugmando?hl=en. > > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Taterbugmando" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/taterbugmando?hl=en.
