I saw the show last Monday night. About half of it here in L.A. was pledge breaks, so it seemed somewhat sparse pickings (so to speak!). I myself was most impressed with Del McCoury, who I hadn't seen in years. Guess I'm a traditionalist -- his voice and style just wows me! And of course Stanley. You newgrass fans will like the (one) Nickel Creek performance, and Alison Kraus (sorry, she's just too mild for my taste). The finale with everybody jamming, was a gas.

About the banjos at garage sales (how past experience does give us perspective!) Interesting articles in our local papers in the past few days about how, despite the record selling 4 million copies, country radio continues to stick to its slick diet of Shania Twain, Faith Hill, etc. Country music today doesn't even want a working-class audience anymore -- the target audience, it said, is women in their 20's-30's, the suburban BMW crowd. Here in L.A., it said, "listeners rejected the 'O Brother' soundtrack, saying it didn't mesh with the Brooks & Dunn, Tim McGraw and Dixie Chicks in heavy rotation." Yuk. But a lot of people think it still may crack radio. Maybe, as some of you have said so wisely, it will pick up faithful new fans the way every trend does ("Dueling Banjos," etc.). Funny though -- they can listen to and love "A Man of Constant Sorrow," and yet not make the association with other music like that, or move on to it.