I've been a fan of Lonnie since I was 14 years old and "Rock Island Line" was all the rage. He lived a mile or so away from me in Woodford (actually it was Manor Park but Woodford sounded better!) Me and some mates found out where he lived in St.Margarets Road and went knocking on his door. His wife, Maureen, answered it and Lonnie came downstairs and signed some photos for us. The next day he was off to the States to promote the record. We were in 7th heaven! I now live in America yet still love hearing his music. I flew over in 1999 for the Royal Albert Hall concert and my sister arranged for me to get front row seats and also to go backstage after the show.

I've got the Bear CD set and it's well worth the money, especially the great book with so much detail about the man and his recordings. I've also got the last CDs he made with Van and Chris and love 'em. I had planned to go to England for the latest tour but the September 11th stuff put all that on hold and I never made it. Mel Roberts, Lonnie's biographer(?), keeps in touch and lets me know what's happening. He told me about the Martin Signature guitar and I have all the specs and the prices but at $3000 and $4000+ it's probably a bit out of my range.

Last year I started my own skiffle group, the LonDon Skiffle Band, and played a few local gigs in Portland, Maine up here in New England. It's a great town for music but I've found it hard to get regular gigs as most club owners haven't heard of skiffle and are unwilling to gamble on an "unknown" style of music unless, of course, it's free. But I keep promoting with mail-outs and personal calls and hope this summer might prove to be the "summer of skiffle!" Everyone who heard the band play last year keep asking when we'll play again as they enjoyed it so much so that's an incentive to keep trying. Meanwhile I keep my hand in with a local 50's to 70's rock 'n roll band "The China Plates" (Cockneys will recognise the rhyming slang) and I introduce a few skiffle songs throughout the set. We always finish with "Sloop John B". I like to throw in a couple of Chas 'n Dave songs too (anyone remember them?)like "London Girls" and they are also popular. Chas 'n Dave started in a skiffle group too in a pub in Canning Town, East London.

I'm so glad I found this site and got to read all the comments here. Sorry I took up so much space but you got me on a roll!

Best wishes to all you skifflers.