I’ve always managed to make music out of just about anything (shower hoses, dandelion stems, rubber bands, etc.) but been slow in finding my “real” instrument of choice. Trumpet lessons in the third grade were followed by an equally ineffective ten week accordion exploration in the fifth and a two-year piano excursion a lear later…none took. Seventh grade began an eight-year Eb saxophone adventure including first alto and then (as I grew enough to handle the weight differential) baritone. I was passible but not spectacular on both.

Emergence into things with strings began about the same time as the accordion when I acquire a harmony ukulele that my mother taught me how to strum chords on and tune through the acrostic “My dog has fleas.” The ukulele morphed into a yellow Stella guitar with an action so high that it could only be played for short periods of time and, ultimately, a Fender Telecaster.

Kingston Trio-inspired Folk music in the early (yes, I’m a geezer) sixties saw me as an emerging banjo-thumping (semi) professional. Success in that venture, plus the addition of a better banjo player, led me back to guitar. The Telecaster was traded for a Gibson J-150 which gave way to a Martin D-28 and (in the wake of the Rooftop Singers) a Gibson 12-string.   As a member of a somewhat successful western New York folk group we opened for the Lettermen, the Beach Boys, strolled at house parties, played our regular gig at a lower Niagara River restaurant , and were given prominent slots on Buffalo’s Jerry Lewis Telethons.

After thirteen to fourteen years devoted to Doctoral study, relocation to Texas, and establishing a foothold in higher education, I was lured out of retirement by the slightly nasal call of Bluegrass …where I, depending on whatever the group I was playing with needed most, added chops on mandolin and bass. I also hosted a Sunday night bluegrass show on the university’s FM radio station for thirty years.

Truthfully (though I do enjoy playing anything) I wish I had found the bass earlier. I’m REALLY a better-than-average harmony singer as opposed to a dazzling instrumentalist. The bass enables me to anchor a group plus complement lead singers. All-in-all a good time was had by (though I can only vouch for myself) all.