Well, yes, I did just plagiarize the title of an old Stanley Brothers number, but it seemed appropriate because we had a lot of good picking with friends and family during the Christmas season. It was a good thing too, because I was feeling a bit out of practice.
The Thursday before Christmas, Christopher and I attended a regular weekly jam session near Winchester. There were not a great many pickers but the atmosphere was nice and relaxed, and a good time was had by all. Cousin David was there playing banjo, and I gave him a hard time about his being hard of hearing (I think it goes with his hard head). I suppose he plays the banjo because it’s the loudest instrument and he can hear it better than anything else!
Two days later, we drove over into West Virginia for an annual old-time picking party hosted by Joe and Samantha Hermann, two of the nicest folks (and best pickers) you could meet. Joe plays fiddle (along with lots of other instruments), and Sam plays hammer dulcimer, very well, too. We had a room full of a dozen or more players going through one great old tune after another, and the music was swinging. After an hour or two I suggested the “Old Time Yellow Rose of Texas”. That’s the best tune to get folks to dance that I know of. When we got well into it, some folks started dancing to it not just outside the picking room, but also on the second floor just over our heads—and the whole house started rocking! A bit later, Sam sat down at the hammer dulcimer next to me. I started off “Pretty Little Dog”, a number I’d learned from Sam and Joe. She really picked it up and ran with it, and that tune was well and truly played. Then we all launched into “Breaking up Christmas”, the most charged-up version I’d heard. After three or four hours we had to say good-bye and drive back over icy roads, but the drive was worth it! Great party.
Christmas Eve, all of us attended the party given traditionally by Cousin David and his wife Gay. There was plenty of good food and drink, and fine music as well. David himself played the snare drum most of the time, varied occasionally by guitar and mandolin. Cousin David invites good pickers to his parties, and this time, as before at David’s, we were honored by the presence of a bluegrass Gray Eminence. Like so many bluegrass Gray Eminences, he is extremely personable and plays very well, on the bass in his case. We all enjoyed hours of Mighty Fine music, and brought it to a halt toward midnight only when an inebriated person attempted, unsuccessfully, to play Cousin David’s snare drum. We were all ready to quit, anyway… Good party, David.
Murphy, Chris, and I made a post-Christmas visit to Georgia, and found more picking there. What better way to spend New Years night than picking with family? That evening, we gathered at Murphy’s parents’ house in Clarkesville with Murphy’s sister Argen and her husband Mike, who happens to be one of our oldest friends. A full evening of music was enjoyed by all. The next day, Chris, Mike, and I went to visit with our friend Barry Palmer, who’s a pharmacist in beautiful Cornelia, Georgia, not far from Clarkesville. On slow days (and many seem slow in Cornelia), Barry sits and picks banjo. So we went and helped him. Mike, Barry, and Chris are all excellent, flexible musicians who can play a lot of stuff, and we went for a couple of good hours straight, followed by more music back at the house that night with Murphy and Argen. It was all Mighty Fine.
You can tell, I can’t complain about being out of practice any more! All this picking was hard to beat, and I’m already looking forward to next year! Y’all all have a happy new year, now, and don’t forget to pick!
