Banjonut's Bluegrass Blog

I am Aaron's Mom, Hoot{Bruce} Whitehead's youngest daughter. Not only was I there, so was Aaron. He was a little tot, still in a stroller. I, too, was biten by the banjo bug! As a stay-at-home Mom, I decided to get a banjo and take lessons. My husband spent a lot of time at the stock car races, so I packed up my 2 babies and went to festivals and other "pickin's" with my parents.

I have known all these pickers and craved to hear their great music again. Those were the days! Billy Womack and Mose Herron have gone on to that great picking in Heaven. They are both sadly missed, especially Mose, he was my Dad's best friend for many years, and the finest guitar rhythm picker ever. His knowledge of bluegrass, and his relationships with the professional artists went deep into the heart of the bluegrass community.

If you happened to see a lady playing the bass around the camp gathering, it was probably my Mom, Carrie Lou. She bought a very good sounding bass at a festival in Bean Blossum, IN from a "hippie" who needed gas money to get home! She not only still plays this bass regularly, but sings as well with Dad in a group called 'Back in Tyme.' Last year they recorded a CD and have sold it at shows where they played and it has been a good seller. People have reported radio stations have played their music as far away as Texas and Alaska. They still pick 2 or more nights a week, and do shows at festivals and other venues.

My Dad has been known to pick his mandolin for an hour or so in the bed before his feet even hit the floor in the morning. When he gets a song on his mind, he goes into another zone until he has perfected it.

I have spent my formative years at local TV and radio stations, other shows, and in private homes listening and hearing their music, and would not trade these memories for anything. So I bought myself a beginner's banjo and starting taking lessons from Billy Wayne Chambers{now deceased and sadly missed}. I've spent many days watching my children at play while I picked until I had SORE fingers! I never had aspirations of getting on stage, I just wanted to entertain myself mostly. I love the music!

After having child 3 and 4, This musical interest was passed on to a new generation. Three of my four children play an instrument. My son, Yancy, is a very good guitarist, Jordan{the youngest} plays the mandolin, and my daughter, Candace, is a semi-retired banjo picker.

As a small child, she always cried to pick my banjo, so when she was about 11 or 12 we got her one at a pawn shop as a Christmas present. By then we were living in north GA, and my husband drove her and Jordan over the mountain to Dunlap, TN for music lessons from Ed Brown. He is an excellent teacher, and she has a natural talent for banjo. Show her something once and she can play it!

We entered them both in contests in Smithville, TN and they did well. Jordan was a bit shy and had some stage fright, but Candace stood in front of hundreds of people and entertained as though she was born on stage. She won money 2 years in a row, but her interest faded in favor of other things that teenagers are interested in.

She got a call from Mike Snider{a Nashville banjo picker}, who invited her to play with him and some other banjo pickers from Nashville on a CBS Christmas special called "Christmas at Opryland. She was 12 years old and received union scale for participating, not only that year, but for the next year when CBS re-ran the program. The following year CBS sold the program to the Family Channel and they played it, but she no longer got paid for it. She has made a small bundle playing her banjo, but it now has cob-webs on it.

She now has a 2 year-old son{Elijah}, who cries to play her banjo! I pray that my parents live to see him carrying on their love of music and the tradition that they have started.

For me it started early, and really blossomed as I experienced my first festival. I would go the their motorhome to get in bed, and would hear a campsite group playing something that sounded so great that I would jump up and go over to listen. Can't get no sleep at a festival, the music is so good!

Sherry Patterson