This is our third year of attending the Tygh Valley Bluegrass Festival. (Pronounced like ‘tie valley’)  Each time it just keeps getting better. This time we talked some of our friends in to joining us in Tygh Valley. Long time friends, Fran Pickering and David and Adrienne Schilling joined us at the fairgrounds. Adrienne, Fran, Judy and I sang together in choir for many years. In addition, Fran is an excellent, classically trained violinist. We perhaps corrupted Fran just a bit. Read More »

You may have been wondering, “Why haven’t we heard from the Dinsmore’s?” Well it is very simple. We have been at a Bluegrass Festival in Blythe California for four days now and all we have been doing is eat, sleep, listen to Bluegrass music all day and wander around the pickin” tents all evening doing more Bluegrass. There are probably 400 RV’s jammed into the Blythe fairgrounds and most of them either have a guitar, a fiddle, a banjo, a mandolin or a bass in them.

The music starts at nine in the morning and continues until sunset. They have open air stages and professional bands from all over the country. They have names like Lost Highway, Bluegrass Patriots and The Dry Branch Fire Squad. They must love their work, because in the evening many of the members of these bands can be found in the pickin’ tents jammin’ away with us duffers. Perhaps I should describe a pickin’ tent. If you think of your typical RV, most of them come with an awning on the right hand side. Well if you run one RV in straight and then back another one in beside it, the awnings come out together and can be made to overlap, or better yet just touch. Then you put a tarp across the windy end and put a washing machine tub stove at the other end and perhaps a couple propane heaters in the far end. You gather a bunch of lawn chairs around the perimeter and you have a pickin’ tent. All evening people wander about visiting these pickin’ tents all over the campground. There are two types of people. Those that have their instrument under their arms like me, and those that keep them hidden in their RV’s and just come in to listen and dream. Of the first group there are those who are pretty good and they sit up front and play. Others of this group hang out in the shadows in the corner and quietly strum their instrument trying to screw up their confidence. Believe me it is a delicate balance between finding a group just good enough to be challenging and just bad enough to not be intimidating. When we find a pickin’ tent that has a few professionals in it, I am in the back row being very quiet.

Each time we come to one of these festivals, I get all pumped up and start practicing all the harder. We usually find a favorite band. This time it was the Dry Branch Fire Squad. The leader, Ron Thomason, is just loaded with red neck dry humor and talks so slow you keep dozing off between words. Their music is anything but slow, and we had to buy some CD’s to bring back and share with you-all. When asked why he named his band “Dry Branch Fire Squad?” He explains in perfect dead pan, “’cause Grateful Dead was already taken.”

Well we have to run; The jammin’ will be starting up soon. Judy and I send our love to all our friends and relations.

Gary and Judy

Dry Branch Fire Squad on Stage at Blythe California

One of the neatest things about Bluegrass is the cadre of new friends you have as soon as you setup camp at a Bluegrass Festival. I am coming to believe that Bluegrass is not so much a musical style as a state of mind. In this genre there are few super-stars specifically because it is “do-it-yourself” music. Yet the music must be played in ensemble. This draws people together to pursue their passion, and a passion it is. Read More »