Haha, thanks Ron... Don't really know if there's much to tell; it all kind of happened by chance! I met him last November in London where I interviewed him for my university radio station, and we got on pretty well. This July I happened to be in Winfield, KS and Ralph was playing a gig up in Wichita... I went off to interview him again, and he invited me if I'd like to join the tour for the last couple of dates - naturally, I didn't refuse. Next morning on the tour bus his grandson Nathan (one of the CMB's mando players) was playing Nine Pound Hammer and I pulled out my harmonicas and started to jam along. Next thing I know Ralph asked me if I'd like to join them on stage for a few songs that night (which I did), and then he asked me again the next night... and that was the end of the tour.

I think I have to agree with Leeneia on the whole 'lack of animation' issue. The CMBs play incredibly intricate stuff at lightning pace - it was all I could do just to try and keep up.. Incidentally, if anyone's interested, here's an mp3 of me trying to do just that (on 'Nine Pound Hammer' in Lawrence, KS):
Nine Pound Hammer (Lawrence, KS)