Bluegrass and Buckdancing: Day 5

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Tonight we, four of the writers of this week's retreat at Doe Branch Ink, took the meandering dirt road down the mountain to the main drag of Marshall, NC, where on Thursdays nights at Zuma Coffee there is a weekly bluegrass jam session.  

By 7 p.m. ten musicians had assembled — with fiddles, banjos, guitars, a bass and a piano.  Six men, three women, and a pigtailed fiddling eight-year-old girl.  Often the players include Bobby Hicks, formerly of Bill Monroe's Bluegrass Boys, now fiddling with Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder.  The pickup ensemble tonight did just fine without him. 

Bold Moves:

*A guy who looked like Willy Nelson stood up alone and started the buck dancing (which is a lot like clogging) in the open space near the cash register.

*The little girl played lead fiddle on Tennessee Waltz.

*Ten people played pickup music in front of an audience; as the fiddler in the green shirt explained: they practice while they're performing.

*One of the writers who attended is so prone to carsickness that she had to take dramamine for the weaving 30 minute ride; she came anyway.

On the way out the door I put down the take-out I was carrying and joined the dancers for one round, as did the aforementioned writer. A born flatlander, I once took clogging lessons at a Y, and only know two steps and tonight I forgot one of them. Even so, it was so much fun that I wished I'd danced all night.  Next time…!

 

Categories: enhancing creativity

Tags: Bobby Hicks, bold move, buck dancers, Doe Branch Ink, Marshall NC, writers retreat, Zuma, Zuma Coffee