Wow what a weekend! As many of you know we enjoy Bluegrass Music. We are spending this weekend in Tygh Valley Oregon, attending a Bluegrass Festival. Best of all we run into old friends in these places. Friday, Dale and Sharon picked us out of a group and introduced themselves again. We originally met them in Goldendale Washington and they have been reading our blog ever since. They tell us they like following our journeys.

Never heard of Tygh Valley? Well go to The Dalles and head south on US 197 and way before you get to Bend Oregon you will zip through the city of Tygh Valley, all 200 or so residents. What they have is a really nice fairgrounds and an annual Bluegrass Festival. This festival is really fantastic for its local talent and parking lot pickers. I have nearly worn the tips of my fingers off playing my guitar and now the fiddle too. But that is another story.
As usual we have gone around the picking tents before the festival on Thursday and Friday and then in the evenings too. The rules are generators off by 9:00 pm but the music can go on all night. Also as usual I joined a scramble band. It is a wonderful way to meet new people. We get selected at random. Today there were five bands of about eight people each and we all made up a name for our band and had 45 minutes to practice two songs. Then we all took our turn on stage and performed for the audience. By now that is getting to be old hat for me, but the stage is still a strange place and a whole flock of butterflies take wing as soon as you look out over that mic. at the audience. I was leading one of the songs so I had to really concentrate so to not forget the lyrics and the chords.

That was early in the day. At supper we got to talking about the “Open Mic.” session that was coming up as a prelude to the evening professional band performances. I have a song that is considered a “jam buster.” It’s a song that is tricky enough you have to teach it to the group or people get lost and the group grinds to a halt. It is one of my favorites, “Whiskey in the Jar.” I had mentioned that this would be a good place to show-case the song and my mate gently shoved me along. I finally got up courage and asked a new friend and professional mandolin player, Brian Oberlin, to back me up if I could get signed up for “Open Mic.”

We entered the stage and my butterflies reared up and all took flight in different directions. My knees were wobbly and my fingers started trembling when I gazed out over the expectant faces of two hundred or so Bluegrassers. Brian warmed them up for me with a fast moving instrumental, I haven’t the foggiest notion which one. Just a straight I-IV-V Bluegrass standard that I could follow mindlessly. Now I was as ready as I ever would be. I cut loose and let-er-fly. Everything went according to plan and I didn’t forget the lyrics. However I did screw up while Brian was playing the break. Love this guy, without a flinch Brian brought us back to the correct chord progression and lined me up for the next verse. I am not sure that any but the savviest musicians even caught the error.

If any of my readers are in the Portland area and get a chance to sit in on a gig by a group called Ida Viper, go for it. They are fantastic and be sure and tell them I sent you.

We have no internet here in the heartland of Oregon, but as soon and Judy and I get back in range of our connection we will send this out with all our love.

From Tygh Valley Oregon,
Gary and Judy

P.S. Don’t follow this link unless you are able to handle a bunch of narcissistic, self serving photos of Gary on stage.

Brian wrote to say it was the “Red Apple Rag” that he led us off with.

Thanks, Brian