Obit: Mose Rager's acoustic guitar

Subject: RE: Obit: Mose Rager's acoustic guitar
From: GUEST,BRENDA JEAN RAGER GOODE
Date: 04 Nov 11 - 10:56 PM

I WOULD LIKE TO SAY MOSE RAGER WAS KIN TO ME, MY DAD WAS HAROLD DEAN RAGER AND HE OFTEN SPOKE OF MOSE AND HOW HE TAUGHT HIM TO PLAY THE GUITAR, MY DAD PLAYED JUST LIKE MOSE, MOSE WAS MY DADS UNCLE AS MY DAD SAYS, HE TAUGHT ALOT OF FOLKS OUT TO PLAY...

Subject: RE: Obit: Mose Rager's acoustic guitar
From: GUEST,michael del collett
Date: 01 May 11 - 12:45 AM

I'm sorry to here of all the loss of mose regers music im his great nephew on my moms side of the family iv herd some of hi stuff I was about 7 or 8 when he passed I was at his wake so I barely know him but I love him and I feel close to him

Subject: RE: Obit: Mose Rager's acoustic guitar
From: Jayto
Date: 16 Jul 10 - 02:23 PM

I am watching the video of Sunrise on a Guinea Farm now. That sounds great!!! Eddie used to have a Goat Roping on his farm in Christian county KY every year. It reminds me of that a bunch. Just a bunch of musicians sitting around out in the country playing great music. he stopped doing that several years ago now but I miss it. He would do it every August but the choice for time of year was not the best in my opinion. August in KY is not very pleasant haha. Normally flaming hot temps and enough humidity to drown you. He moved it to Sept which was perfect but for some reason just decided to stop having it. I really enjoyed that video everyone sounde great. Thanks for sharing it with me.

Subject: RE: Obit: Mose Rager's acoustic guitar
From: Jayto
Date: 16 Jul 10 - 02:06 PM

Steve Rector had back surgery a few years back and has had a hard time getting over it. I talked to him on the phone last month. I am going to go over to his house and record him telling me stories about Mose Rager and a bunch of the other older guitarist that helped advance the style.
Moon Mullins came back in this year. If I remember straight he is living in Florida now but came back for the weekend. He sounded great and it was good to see him. I hadn't seen him in years. It is still odd for me to look at him without that big beard he used to have haha. His daughter, Alonzo Peninngton, my brother Joey, Jenny Armitage, and me used to be shooed away to play music by ourselves when we were kids. We had to let the grownups pick together haha. I have pics of all of us sitting on the steps of the music store in the "Kid Group" so we wouldn't bug the grown ups haha.

Eddie went last year but he wasn't there this year. He still picks alot but I hardly ever see him. I saw him at the Pennington Folk fest a few weeks back. We talk on the phone pretty frequent and he is doing good. He played at CAAS (the Chet Atkins Appreciation Society) convention last week as did Steve Rector. I was booked every day of the convention so I couldn't make it down. Somewhat frustratin for me because I was in Nashville a few days but because of gigs couldn't make it out.

Ben Hall was there this year.

I think I met Scott Nygaard years ago in Seattle at PSGW. I know I have heard him and he is a GREAT musician. I am almost positive though I met him years ago. I know my buddy Pat Kirtley talks about him alot. I am going to check the video in a few minutes. I have heard tons about Justapicker on here. I am going to be adding more of my instrumental stuff to my site coming up. My hard drive crashed last month and I lost tons of mp3's so if I have to I will record more but hope I can get some of them back. I don't have alot of mp3's to post thanks to me not having a back up haha.

Subject: RE: Obit: Mose Rager's acoustic guitar
From: Art Thieme
Date: 16 Jul 10 - 12:49 PM

What a marvel this thread is! Thanks to all for allowing me to look in on you.

Subject: RE: Obit: Mose Rager's acoustic guitar
From: Mark Clark
Date: 16 Jul 10 - 12:11 PM

Jayto, I wish I'd been there to see that. After the 2008 event, when the contest was canceled, I wasn't sure the Travis weekend would continue. Bresh doesn't seem to go anymore, Mullins moved away, and it seemed like Steve Rector had a hard time trying to get through tunes. Ben Hall was a bright spot. Does Eddie ever go there?

That same weekend is a flatpicking guitar event up in Steelville, MO, that Bill Starz puts on at the Peaceful Bend Vinyard winery. It isn't a contest but Bill gets some of the best flatpick guitarists on the planet and the audience is limited to around one hundred people. We've gone up there the last two years. If you Google "Joy Ward" you'll see a video of Joy playing "Sunrise on a Guinea Farm" with Scott Nygaard; I'm the old guy playing rhythm.

There was a wonderful thumbpicker in Toronto, ON, who used to post here as "Justa Picker" but he doesn't seem to be around anymore and I can't seem to find any way to contact him. He wrote a real nice tune called Mudcat Rag. Justa was very knowledgeable and helpful. He wrote a lot of great tutorial stuff about thumbpicking here on Mudcat. I always enjoyed him.

If you'll go read your private messages, I'll send you my email address so we can keep track of each other.

      - Mark

Subject: RE: Obit: Mose Rager's acoustic guitar
From: Jayto
Date: 15 Jul 10 - 08:58 PM

I just saw this Mark. That is funny yep that was me bummed out in Ak haha. I went this year and had a blast. I took third in the competition and had a wonderful weekend. Mose passed on before I started playing. I rememeber my Dad coming home and I would be plucking around on the guitar and he would tell me "There is a man over in Drakesboro that taught Merle Travis. If you want me to take you over there I will." Some guys my Dad worked with in the mines knew Mose and told Dad they would take me over so I could learn from him. I was just a kid and didn't want to go over even though Drakesboro is no piece from my house. I could kick myself now for not going over there. I just had no real interest in playing at that time. I was real young and you know how kids can be. Years later my cousin Eddie Pennington started teaching me. Eddie learned from Mose so I guess I ended up learning from Mose after all haha.

Subject: RE: Obit: Mose Rager's acoustic guitar
From: Mark Clark
Date: 21 Jun 10 - 11:58 PM

A random search unrelated to Mudcat popped this thread. I missed it when it was new.

Some thoughts...

Jayto is a very fine player. I got to meet him a couple of years ago in Mountain View, AR, during the Merle Travis weekend. He was bummed that they'd canceled the contest for lack of enough entries.

Losing anything of Mose Rager's is truly sad. I love to watch that old film from 1963 or so where Mose is playing I Am A Pilgrim for folklorist D. K. Wilgus.

Finally I keep thinking how much Rick would had loved the interchange with Jayto. Rick loved the style and having a real life connection to Mose would have kept him excited for a long time.

      - Mark

Subject: RE: Obit: Mose Rager's acoustic guitar
From: GUEST,Jayto
Date: 17 Apr 09 - 01:42 AM

Sharna I know some of your family then. your great uncle is one of my all time musical heroes. his contributions to the music of western kentucky is so massive I can't even put it into words. I am happy to see someone from his family on here. He is truly a hero of mine. I put him up there with all the all time greats.
cya
JT

Subject: RE: Obit: Mose Rager's acoustic guitar
From: GUEST,Sharna Rager
Date: 16 Apr 09 - 03:31 PM

Although I never met the man, he was my great uncle. I am pleased to see that many people loved him and that makes me very proud. My grandfather was Joseph Rager, his brother. My father was Jimmy Rager.

Subject: RE: Obit: Mose Rager's acoustic guitar
From: bankley
Date: 04 Mar 09 - 04:13 PM

I really look fwd. to it.JT   it'll be righteous to fill that place again with playing and singing, be it ever so humble... when you told me about Chet and Lenny (among others) just hanging out... that hooked me....
it's hallowed ground for pickers for sure....
maybe I'll just bring a kazoo or at least a comb and wax paper.
thanx beaucoup...

Subject: RE: Obit: Mose Rager's acoustic guitar
From: Jayto
Date: 04 Mar 09 - 01:05 PM

No but it is similar. I remember them talking about that one though. I think a newphew of Mose's had it or something like that. There was a squabble over the authenticity of it but decided it was his. He didn't have it long or something like that. I forgot to mention that one. I think it was sold on ebay or something I can't remember though for sure so don't quote me on that. I will ask his daughter the next time I go over about that guitar. Mose is and has always been my hero. I listed him first on my myspace page as influences because he was a great person and picker.

Subject: RE: Obit: Mose Rager's acoustic guitar
From: Jayto
Date: 04 Mar 09 - 01:02 PM

You won't show up empty handed you will have your guitar so we can play for her. She loves music man and it would thrill her for you to play for her. Noone hardly visits anymore and she grew up with a room filled with musicians every day. She would love it.

Subject: RE: Obit: Mose Rager's acoustic guitar
From: bankley
Date: 04 Mar 09 - 01:00 PM

that would be great JT, but I don't want to show up empty-handed..
that's why the tape to CD transfer and maybe one of our songs would make a nice gift for her...

Subject: RE: Obit: Mose Rager's acoustic guitar
From: GUEST
Date: 04 Mar 09 - 10:38 AM

Is this the electric Jayto?

Subject: RE: Obit: Mose Rager's acoustic guitar
From: Jayto
Date: 04 Mar 09 - 10:18 AM

If you want man I will take you over to meet his daughter and pick his only remaining guitar outside the Country music hall of fame. I really appreciate it man.

Subject: RE: Obit: Mose Rager's acoustic guitar
From: bankley
Date: 04 Mar 09 - 10:13 AM

it'll be a great honour ....

plus almost finished 'Thumbin' back Home' which gives tribute to Mr Rager and a few other Kentuckians, influenced by his unique approach to the instrument....

Subject: RE: Obit: Mose Rager's acoustic guitar
From: Jayto
Date: 04 Mar 09 - 09:38 AM

You are right M.Ted.Mose was studio shy so there is very little recordings out there at all. I used to have copies of everything his daughter had of him. Somewhere the many moves and a divorce I lost them. Last wk though I found one of them at my Parents house and I am thrilled to have at least one. Different musicians would take him to a studio in Central City Ky named Mach 1 studios and try to get him recorded. They never could get anything because he would lock up everytime they started to roll tape. They had a lightbulb that would come on to let the artist know they were rolling and someone thought of unscrewing the light bulb. They then told Mose just to pick around while they were setting levels but they actually rolled tape. That turned out to be the only studio tpe they had of him. I think what I have was taped at his house. Most of the tapes I had were. I haven't checked it out because I am nervous it will break. Bankley is going to help me put it on CD when he gets here in April.

Subject: RE: Obit: Mose Rager's acoustic guitar
From: M.Ted
Date: 04 Mar 09 - 12:49 AM

There are not many recordings of Mose Rager, and so the loss of the recordings may be the greatest loss of all. Material things seem so permanent, but sometimes, they just slide away like sand. Damn.

Subject: RE: Obit: Mose Rager's acoustic guitar
From: katlaughing
Date: 03 Mar 09 - 11:59 PM

I hate that, too. Mudcatter, Night Owl, lost all of her musical instruments and everything else, old and new, in a house fire.

I know it's just a fictional story thread, but maybe THIS will help a bit...there's a few postings, esp. about resurrections of old guitars, so to speak.

Subject: Obit: Mose Rager's acoustic guitar
From: Jayto
Date: 03 Mar 09 - 11:50 PM

I have sad news to report to anyone that plays thumbstyle guitar. Tonight I went over and visited the daughter of Mose Rager. Mose Rager for those who are not familiar is credited as the father of Western Kentucky Thumbpicking. Mose taught Merle Travis to play and was visited regularly by Chet Atkins, Lenny Breau, and many others. Mose's daughter had a house fire and among other items lost was Mose's Gibson acoustic guitar as well as a bunch of recordings of Mose Rager playing around the house. She did manage to save a Gibson Electric that belonged to Mose but the amp was lost in the fire. Ine other guitar belonging to Mose exists and is locked away at the Country music hall of fame in Nashville Tn. I loved the acoustic and remember playing it alot when I was in my teens. I hate to hear the loss of his daughters belongings and I am sickened by the loss of the guitar and amp of one of my heros. I am just thankful they got out and are safe. I just hate the loss of a musically historic piece.
JT