On May 5th, the bluegrass world lost another wonderful traditional voice. Evelyn Cox Hobbs, singer and guitarist for the Cox Family, passed away at the age of 66.
The Cox Family as a band was started by father Willard in the late 1970s. They resided in the Cotton Valley of northwest Louisiana. As kids, Evelyn, along with brother Sidney and sisters Lynn and Suzanne, would learn instruments as well as sing harmonies to gospel music. From performing at local hayrides to appearances on the the Grand Ole Opry. The band won a Grammy in 1994 in the Best Southern, Country or Bluegrass Album category for I Know Who Holds Tomorrow, a collaboration with Alison Krauss.
Probably the biggest boost to the band’s career was an appearance in the movie O Brother, Where Art Thou?, as well as in the documentary of the soundtrack to the movie Down From the Mountain. The band performed two classic songs at the Ryman Auditorium for that film, which showcase the beautiful harmonies that they were known for.
Willard retired from the band shortly after the appearance, but the siblings continued on. Evelyn and Suzanne retired a few years back, and Sidney reformed the band with his daughters to create a second generation of the legacy.
I was fortunate to see the band during the Down From the Mountain tours. Willard had already retired, so Evelyn was the spokesperson for the group. She had kept the laid-back humor that her father always showed on stage. However, it was those precious harmonies that melted my heart. Whenever I need shot of joy, I pull up the performance of “Will There Be Any Stars In My Crown” from the Ryman performance on YouTube. Simply beautiful to hear.
Evelyn, thank you for giving the rest of a voice that could only have been given to you by God to put to good use,, which you did. You are now in Heaven, singing in the Angel Band with your father.
I was recently asked to assist in getting a bluegrass jam started at a bar here in Detroit. Basically a person that I met at a local jam has an uncle that owns a bar, and this person wants to start a regular bluegrass jam at the bar. I checked out the place, and it has pretty much a faux Irish pub look to it, but the outdoor patio is spacious enough for small concerts.
It got me to thinking about my experience with bluegrass jams over the years. While most bluegrassers may be familiar with the night-long jam sessions after performances at festivals, there is occasionally the established jam session organized somewhere during the times when festivals are not happening, like during the winter up here in the north.
These types of jams are hard to predict as far as success. Most local bluegrass associations (like the Southeast Michigan Bluegrass Music Association) attempt to set up or help sponsor jams, usually after a business meeting. SEMBMA used to do that, but it would be disheartening, as the meeting would have five or six people attending, then as the meeting was wrapping up, 20 people would show up with instruments in-hand. Thus, not much got done by the association from its “members,” as they only seemed to join just to have a place to play. SEMBMA has had to cancel many sponsored activities due to lack of membership volunteer help at them. If the only reason to join the association is to plant your butt at a place to play, then why bother?
One association up here in Michigan used to sponsor a monthly jam at a school. About 10 classrooms were open, and the cafeteria had a small stage for sign-up performing. I went a few times, and the folks that ran it were stand-offish to say the least. Each room was taken up by some amateur band that did not want anyone from the outside coming in to jam. The last that I heard, this association has dissolved sometime around COVID.
Jams at places like restaurants and bars are also hard to keep going. One has to remember that the owner of the establishment is hoping to make money at this business. Live music, even with established bands, can be a coin toss as far as profitability. I am sure that every bar owner would love to have a Billy Strings or Del McCoury play at his/her venue once a month to make up for the dead evenings the rest of the time. Open mics and jam sessions are very shaky at bars. The bar owner may try it once or twice, but if he/she is losing money on that night, forget it going past a third time. I have seen way too many times that jammers show up, play for hours, not buying a drink (or worse yet, try to sneak in their own drinks), then up and leave without spending a dollar on food or beer. There is usually no cover charge on these nights, but I have also seen places that charge a few dollars for jam nights, which stalwart jammers thumb their noses to. In the end, bar owners lose money, and jammers are out of another place to play.
One jam night here in suburban Detroit that I have enjoyed hitting is at the Cirrus Guitar shop. Once per month Mike Franks opens up a room for two hours of bluegrass and folk jamming. After which, everyone there gabs about music, instruments, or other topics, while Mike takes any newcomers on a tour of the shop. This is successful because Mike has a deep love for the music, his shop would probably be open anyways, and the people that show up do not take advantage of his gratitude. If I do show up, I usually bring some snacks for afterwards.
Jams take some time for the news to get out. That first one at Cirrus had five people. It has grown some, but there are other factors (only once per month, it is on a weeknight, and not centrally located). However, the main factor I see that would make a regularly scheduled jam session a success would be the cooperation of the jammers themselves. Accept that someone is allowing you to come into his/her facility for a few hours to play with others. See what you can do for that owner. Provide snacks, help clean up afterwards, help set up beforehand, even pass the hat and throw in a buck or two (if no cover charge is being made) to help play the electric bill for that evening. If that is too much to ask, then just stay home and jam with yourself, or have a jam session at your house. See how much time and effort it takes to make a bunch of jammers happy at no cost to them.
Shortly after I bought my Martin D-28 acoustic guitar, I wanted to use it to honor the founders of bluegrass music. While December 8, 1945 is considered the birth of bluegrass music as we know it, since this is when Bill Monroe appeared on the Grand Ole Opry with Lester Flatt, Earl Scruggs, Chubby Wise and Cedric Rainwater, this incarnation of the Blue Grass Boys made its first recording in 1946. That year is considered the “big bang theory” of bluegrass music.
While playing bluegrass music on that Martin was perhaps tribute enough, I just felt that it needed something more. I didn’t want to do anything drastic to the guitar physically, but wanted to give it something unique. A few years ago, while checking some change in my pocket, I came across a 1946 Lincoln Wheat penny. Wheat pennies are not too rare in general, but you don’t see much in circulation.
Knowing how important the year 1946 is to bluegrass music, I thought that this find was a bit of good luck, or even a message from a spirit. Thus, I taped that 1946 penny to the back of the headstock of the Martin. For some reason, playing that guitar felt a little better. I look at it as a good luck charm when playing the guitar.
Now that I have a few quality acoustic guitars, and I like to play each one equally, I figured that I should mount a 1946 penny to each of them. So besides the Martin, my Cirrus and Sevillana acoustic guitars will now have pennies on the headstock back. I am thinking that instead of taping them on, I may route a small cavity in the headstock back, enough to tightly pound in the pennies. Also, these 1946 pennies are not that rare or valuable, worth about $1.00 each. There are some 1946 pennies that have rare markings that are worth in the thousands of dollars, so if I were ever to come across one of those, trust me, I would not be knocking it into the back of a guitar!
At my new job, my official title is Valet. At the dealership that I work, I greet the customers that come in for a scheduled service appointment, take down the vehicle information, hand it off to a service advisor, park the car in the service lot, then when the service is finished, drive the car back to the waiting area for the customer. Nothing special, a lot of running around, but definitely not as stressful as my previous job.
I meet a lot of people there, probably talk to 30-40 customers each day. It mostly is a formal greeting and asking for any additional concerns with their vehicles. One customer a few days ago was no different. We were mutually friendly, then I directed him to the assigned service advisor. As the advisor was finishing with him and providing him with a loaner vehicle for overnight service, my eye caught the personalized license plate of his own vehicle. MANDOLIN.
I thought that was some message from above. I ran out to his car before he left and had to ask if he did actually play the mandolin. It turned out that he did, and was an avid fan of bluegrass. Well, we talked for a few minutes, and I gave him my number of he wanted to talk more or even jam.
When he returned the next day to pick up his car, we had an even longer talk about the music that we enjoy, and I got him interested in a monthly jam session that goes on at the Cirrus Guitar Shop. We talked about mutual artists that we have seen live, and I let him know about the Charlotte Bluegrass festival in June. Hopefully, he gets in touch with me again soon.
In my five years at my previous job, I did not have an experience like that. There were people into playing music, but it was mostly other genres than bluegrass and Americana, so we really only discussed equipment and instruments. I still stay in regular contact with the one former co-worker that I am helping learn lutherie and guitar building. However, seeing the same people every day and knowing what their life is like outside of work becomes stagnant, and with next to no one interested in your interests, the job becomes redundant at best.
I have only been at this new job a little over a month, yet this experience alone has helped me feel a lot more happy that I made the switch. I do feel that this experience was more than a coincidence, but I also feel that one has to be more observant of his/her surroundings. Keep looking as well as listening. Here in the Detroit area, bluegrass music is far from popular with the population, so I have to go that extra mile to find people with mutual interests. Along with wearing bluegrass-related T-shirts whenever I can, I make it known through related conversations of my passion.
I know that this incident is rare, but if it comes along, one has to learn to grab it.
This past week we lost two influential artists in the bluegrass and Americana fields. Ronnie Bowman died from injuries due to a motorcycle accident on March 22, and Chip Taylor passed away from cancer on March 23.
Ronnie Bowman was well known throughout the bluegrass community for his wonderful voice and great songwriting. As with many bluegrass artists, he got his start performing gospel music in church. His first break came with joining the Lost and Found band in 1987. From 1990 to 1002, he was the singer and bass player for the Lonesome River Band, which also included his lifelong friend Dan Tyminski. He would later form Band of Ruhks with Kenny Smith and Don Rigsby.
His solo career included a number of albums, but he was best known in the bluegrass and country music community for his songwriting. He wrote and co-wrote a number of songs for Chris Stapleton, Lee Ann Womack, and Brooks & Dunn as well as many bluegrass artists.
Awards received included IBMA Male Vocalist of the Year for 1995, 1998 and 1999. His album Cold Virginia Night won the IBMA Album of the Year for 1995, as well as the title song winning Song of the Year.
I only talked briefly once at an AmericanaFest back around 2008. He was performing with showcase artist Melonie Cannon, with whom he had co-produced her album and co-written songs. A very humble man, one could tell he enjoyed all aspects of music performance, be it writing or being on stage. His presence in bluegrass will surely be missed.
Chip Taylor should be considered a legend in the music industry if for only two of his many songs that he wrote. It was he that wrote the Troggs’ classic “Wild Thing,” which has become a garage band staple. On the other side of the music spectrum, he penned “Angel of the Morning,” which was a country hit for Juice Newton.
He was born in Yonkers, New York, and was the brother to actor Jon Voight. He wanted to be a professional golfer, but entered the music business instead. After his success with “Wild Thing,” he continued to work freelance as a songwriter. While “Angel in the Morning” was originally written in 1967, it wasn’t until 1981 that it was a hit for Newton.
Other songs of Taylor’s includes “I Can’t Let Go” (the Hollies/Linda Ronstadt), “I Can Make It With You” (Jackie DeShannon), “On My Word “Cliff Richard), “Try Just a Little Bit Harder” (Janie Joplin), and “He Sits at Your Table” (Willie Nelson).
By his own admission, he had a gambling addiction, being unsuccessful as a professional gamble during the 1980s and early 1990s. During a performance at SXSW in 2001, he met fiddler/vocalist Carrie Rodriguez, and the musical partnership led to a number of albums that helped jump-start the Americana music format. He also performed with Canadian fiddler/vocalist Kendel Carson, as well as released a number of solo albums.
In 2009, Ace Records released a compilation CD of Taylor compositions recorded by other artists entitled Wild Thing: The Songs of Chip Taylor.
He began receiving treatment for throat cancer in 2023, but eventually succumbed to it last week. I was fortunate enough to get to meet up with him at an AmericanaFest in the early 2000s. What a wonderful man, totally appreciating the newly generated fan base that he was getting with the Americana format. I have a photo of me with him on one of my old computers that unfortunately, I do not have access to right now. But my memory of talking to him remains with me, and he will be a permanent “cool guy” with me, if only for writing “Wild Thing.”
Back in the early 2000s when I still had satellite radio, it was always tuned in to for or five stations. One of them was Bluegrass Junction (of course). During that time, a band in heavy rotation was the Earl Brothers. Led by banjoist/vocalist Robert Earl Davis, the San Francisco-based bluegrass project had heavy gothic overtones to its sound. Instrumentally, it sounded like early Stanley Brothers, but Davis’ vocals gave it an alt-country grit. While many bluegrass bands at the time were starting to lean toward the progressive side, the Earl Brothers stayed traditional, with minimal solos and doing songs about death, drinking, and the Gospel. Chris Hillman of the Byrds fame (who started out playing mandolin in the bluegrass band the Hillmen) is quoted as saying “The Earl Brothers have got the soul and the songs and the attitude that brought us all into bluegrass music in the first place.”
They put out a few albums from 2004 to 2012, all with that lo-fi bluegrass sound that felt more like jamming on the back porch than in a studio. They had a cult following with the bluegrass and Americana fan base, but did not do much touring after 2013. I figured that Davis had pretty much wrapped up his work and moved on. Every so often, however, there would be a YouTube video of some new single from the band posted. About two weeks ago, Bluegrass Today posted a new video from the band. This one, entitled “Chicken Biscuit,” strays from the minimalist bluegrass and adds some electronic instrumentation. The overall sound still has what Davis calls “hillbilly trance.”
In the early days of the Americana Music Association, I hung out with a female bass player from SF that worked in an earlier project with Davis. She had told me that he was always more into bluegrass than Americana/alt-country, and forming this band was what he intended. I can totally understand, as when I became immersed in bluegrass in the late 1990s, I was getting into the early stuff by Bill Monroe and the Stanley Brothers. My personal favorite bluegrass band is still Reno & Smiley. While I love listening to any bluegrass, be it traditional or progressive, it’s that old-time sound just hits me the right way. That is why the Earl Brothers CDs will always be in the front, and as I go back to learning the banjo, that is the sound that I want to get.
Last week in Nashville for the SPBGMA conference was an adventure to say the least. Arriving Thursday saw sunny skies and 50 degrees. By Sunday, we had an inch of ice everywhere, power outages, and temperatures in the single digits. While it was hilarious that the local officials kept saying on the news that they were fully prepared, they were not, as when I left Tuesday morning, roads were still not plowed and I was on I-65 north not going faster than 40 mph until I was close to Louisville. This photo is of trees down at Vanderbilt University.
But enough about the weather. Let’s get into the conference.
Arriving at the hotel Thursday afternoon, there was already jamming in the lobby, and while the valets and other employees may not be into bluegrass, they are very courteous to all of the participants, whether or not staying at the hotel. While much of the jammers are pretty much amateur hobbyists, it is great to see professional bluegrass artists sit in at jam sessions. Moreover, some of the amateur players can be really impressive, especially the younger crowd. I caught two young gals, Maya Ross and Shay Morgan, dueling their mandolins to “Cherokee Shuffle.”
I was glad to see my favorite young fiddler, Hollace Oakes, not only jamming when available, but she was with a band that was registered in the Band Competition. This young lady is 15 years old, and I predict that by the time she is 21, she will be one of the most watched stars on the bluegrass circuit. She is that good!
One of my favorite bands out now, the Kody Norris Show, spent the weekend not only doing some hosting (Kody MC’d the band competition), but continually talking with fans and joining in on jam sessions. This band KNOWS the meaning of entertainment. They know that it is the fan base that lets them do what they do for a living, and are always providing friendly advice to musicians just starting out.
There were a lot of bluegrass bands performing over the four days. Some of my favorites included Dave Adkins & Mountain Soul, the Stephens Brothers (which is just the husband and wife duo that fronts the band High Fidelity), Edgar Loudermilk Band, Red Camel Collective, the Kody Norris Show, Nothin’ Fancy, Volume Five, Special Consensus, and my favorite bluegrass gospel band, the King James Boys (more on them later). It seems funny that, with the large room dedicated to the performances, it is usually about 1/4 capacity for these performances due to so many non-registrants jamming in the halls. For the price of the four-day admission, it is more than worth it to just sit back and enjoy all of the scheduled bands.
Once again, I got frustrated that they call the one seminar a Songwriter Workshop. Four songwriters up on stage talking about the songs that they wrote is NOT a workshop — it is a showcase! I wish SPBGMA would think about that.
I took my Cirrus guitar with me and had a few people try it out. Among them were Dave Adkins, Kenny Smith, and Kody Norris.
Saturday evening has the Awards Show. I am not a big fan of such shows, as I would pretty much skip the local ones, even if I was nominated for a category. To see a list of winners go to the Bluegrass Today article (https://bluegrasstoday.com/2026-spbgma-national-bluegrass-award-winners/). I did catch a great performance from Carson Peters & Iron Mountain.
What I find most heartwarming is the amount of young people, and I mean YOUNG, playing bluegrass and old-time music. Check out these three youngsters in the hotel lobby.
Sunday morning was when the storm had its biggest impact on the conference. Power went out around 5:00 in the morning, and lasted about eight hours. Of course, bluegrassers were not going to let something like no power get in the way (except for the few complaining that they couldn’t get their morning coffee). Both Daryl Mosley and the King James Boys performed their sets without a PA, and the people in attendance were more than appreciative. The final round of the band competition was also held without amplification, and all of the bands did a great job even with the handicap. The winner this year was Strings of Green. The whole list of bands and their ranking can be found here at Bluegrass Today (https://bluegrasstoday.com/strings-of-green-win-2026-spbgma-international-band-championship/). Honestly, I thought that Hollace Oakes’ band Travis Watts & Mountain Blessings did much better than 4th place, but that is my opinion.
Power came back on just as the conference was closing up. Unfortunately, the conference did not have all great news. Songwriter/banjo player Rick Faris had a banjo come up missing (https://bluegrasstoday.com/rick-faris-banjo-missing-after-spbgma/). As of this writing, it still has not been located. I am hoping that it was just mistakenly grabbed by someone else and will be returned. However, as the conference was closing and attendees were heading home after the storm, there was a large influx of people registering in the hotel that still did not have power. Bluegrass people are usually trustworthy around other people’s instruments. However, if there is an unknown crowd present, there is a better chance of something going wrong. Aside from the dogs leaving “calling cards” in the lobby and entrance, and tons of kids running around until all hours of the night, there were people walking around the hallways scoping things out. I truly hope that Rick gets his banjo back and there is a happy ending to this.
I got back home in one piece on Tuesday (I stayed an extra day, hoping to do some networking, but the roads in Nashville said NO). Despite the weather, I thoroughly enjoyed myself. I plan to go next year, even though I wish they would move the conference to November or March.
Next week’s blog will cover Catherine O’Hara and my visit to a local antique radio swap meet.
I’m in Nashville for the SPBGMA conference, and the winter storm that they have been talking about for the past few days is just starting to hit our area. The National Weather Service has named this storm Fern (uh, OK), and it will be a combination of snow, ice and rain in this area. Still no prediction of actual accumulation, but from what I saw this morning, the salt trucks are out on the roads.
I am off to do more networking within the hotel, and it looks like I’ll be here until Tuesday morning. I will update you on the conference (a lot of great bluegrass stuff!), when I get back home, probably next weekend. Stay safe if you will be in the eye of this storm.
I don’t usually attend open jam sessions, as being a songwriter, I tend to lean more toward writing and co-writing original material instead of playing covers, especially with other musicians of varying competence and choice of songs. However, I did want to attend a particular one held this past Thursday by Mike Frank, the gentleman who built my Cirrus acoustic guitar. The jam session was held in a small waiting room/lounge attached to his workshop, and was co-organized by his assistant Steve.
Mike and Steve were extremely welcoming to everyone there, which totaled eight jammers including myself and those two. Mike provided refreshments and was more than willing to show everyone around the shop and the guitars they are working on. Mike showed me a list of bluegrass musicians he has orders from, so his reputation for a solid guitar at an affordable price is getting around.
Two hours were spent playing covers of bluegrass, folk, and Celtic songs, with an abundance of acoustic guitars, although Steve did pull out his banjo and mandolin, and there was another banjo player there. While I would have liked to have done more classic bluegrass songs, it was good to hear what others liked to perform. The doors opened at 5:30 in the evening, the jam started at 6:00, and wrapped up a little after 8:00. Being once per month makes it something to easily fit into my schedule without growing tired, so I will definitely be attending again. Many thanks to Mike and Steve.
I took Friday off of work to get my windshield replaced, and afterward took a trip to Toledo (actually, suburban Oregon, OH) to attend the second day of the three-day Bluegrass in Superclass festival at the Maumee Bay Lodge. Google sent me on a crazy route to get there, and the wind advisory all day that was tossing my subcompact care around didn’t help. The lodge is a really nice place to be sure, and they had a hall set up for the performances with ample seating.
The big reason I went down is that the Kody Norris Show was headlining. The band is definitely one of my favorite live shows, it’s no wonder that they keep winning SPBGMA awards every year. As I was walking around the hall, Kody spotted me and came over to say hello. Soon the rest of the band came along and were happy to see me as well. I was able to spend a few minutes talking to fiddler Rachel Norris about some original material as well as getting more press for the band. She actually inspired me to consider doing an online magazine dedicated to bluegrass musicians and instrument manufacturers, eyeing the musicians themselves as the potential readers.
Of course, they put on a fantastic show. I video recorded one of the band’s songs to send to a co-worker. I won’t post it here, as the room as not well lit and it came out grainy. Unfortunately, I was not able to stick around for the second set, but we made an agreement to get together for some writing at SPBGMA in two weeks.
As for the festival, it makes a great getaway for those of us in the area needing a bluegrass fix in the middle of winter without having to drive 12 hours to a festival down south. I do plan on keeping this one in my calendar for next year, even if only for a day. I also found a much better way to get there without Google’s help.
So as far as my music stuff listed on Craigslist, I got a real doozie of an email last week. I decided to put up that Dean Playmate bass up for sale, and listed it for $70.00, knowing full well that I would probably accept a lower offer and lose a few dollars on the overall deal. Well, I got an offer that has made me and everyone I have told about it just scratch their heads and laugh.
Someone emailed me to offer a trade on the bass for a 2025 Nike hat with adjustable headband. Really? A Nike hat isn’t worth more than $20.00 brand new (I’m sure his was worn). Not even a music-related hat, just a Nike. And he never said if it was limited edition or if someone like Tom Brady autographed it. It was such a joke of an offer that I only responded “No thank you,” as I usually reply with an explanation. That offer didn’t even require an explanation, it was embarrassing. Obviously the guy didn’t get the hint of “get lost,” as he has to write band saying “well, then I will pass on the offer.” Uh, I didn’t make a counter offer, but I let him have his last word.
This incident was almost worse than the exchange I got a few months ago. I have a made in Mexico Fender Stratocaster on CL for $500.00. One guy wrote me that he would take it for $225.00 CASH (his emphasis, not mine). Oooh, like I would consider being paid by Venmo or PayPal and I was that desperate for cash. Similarly, I wrote back a no-thank you reply, but did give him a little explanation.
Every November, Bluegrass Unlimited puts out its Annual Talent Directory. This lists a number of bands, artists, and songwriters that request appearance. I have been included for a number of years, and every July I get sent an application which I take five minutes to fill out and email back.
The Directory takes up about 12 pages of the magazine, and includes from around the globe, although the international representation is quite small. However, what surprises me the most about the listings is that there are so many bands and artists that do not take the time to request inclusion.
I can understand some of the A-list bluegrass bands such as Alison Krauss & Union Station, The Del McCoury Band, and Ricky Skaggs choosing not to, as they are well enough established that they do not need any type of recognition in the listings. However, looking through list, there are plenty of bands that I am familiar with that have performed at festivals and conventions I have attended that do not appear.
I am sure that it has little to do with not knowing about the directory. Bluegrass Unlimited is pretty much the only print publication exclusively covering bluegrass, and if anyone in any bluegrass band subscribes to the magazine, he/she would be aware of the Directory submission usually appearing in a summer issue. The listing is free of charge, and bands/artists are able to enhance their listing by submitting a photo for a small charge, as well as note that they are available for school programs.
I do see that managers/publicists such as Penni McDaniel and Wilson Pickens Promotions take full advantage of the Directory, listing all of the artists that they represent. This is great on both fronts, as it allows them to show who they represent, as well as any interested festival organizers to contact a single source for a few acts.
I highly doubt that the following is the reason, but perhaps a lot of bands do not want to promote themselves that much, preferring to playing occasional parties and VFW halls. I would think that any band that takes the time to continually practice in order to sound professional would take that five minutes to have themselves listed in the Directory, if only to show some reader that there is a bluegrass band that is in his/her vicinity, so that he/she can keep an eye out for a possible show in the near future.
As I do not do much performing these days, I choose to list myself in the Directory more for networking with bands and other songwriters for possible collaboration. Moreover, some promoter/manager may get in touch with me to find a location for he/her band to perform in the area.
The Directory should be filled with a lot more artists than it is, but Bluegrass Unlimited can lead a horse to water but not make it drink. Bands and artists themselves need to be more productive on their end and take the few minutes to fill out the form. I do not see how in any way that it can hurt the band.
Luegra 