09/16/2023
In the year 2000, the regular bluegrass band that played every sunday at the Wood River stopped showing. The owner at the time started booking bands with keyboards and drums. For those like me that found a little slice of heaven at the wood on sundays, this was unwelcome news.
I asked the owner if I could take over the sunday booking which sent me down a 15 year long road of cat herding musicians.
The first thing I did was, to the chagrin of my banjo player at the time, made sundays a revolving schedule with multiple bands instead of one. With the addition of the first sunday open mic, also my idea, the wood became a breeding ground for at least three bands that weren't in existence prior to.
It was a largely thankless job of trouble shooting, promotion, booking and filling in the gaps when someone couldn't make it. In those cases, I created throw together bands, "The Wayland squares", "The Framptons" and "Horseface" being my favorites.
One of the greatest pleasures was bringing the stars of the once a month open mic, The Outhouse Trio, up to the radio station I'm affiliated with to give them the recognition they deserved. A true highlight of my time at the wood.
For 15 years my band, The Rank Strangers, occupied the 2nd sunday of each month.
It wasn't the pay that was rewarding for I did not recieve so much as a grilled cheese in my 15 year tenure for doing this, it wasn't the recognition for I never used my name and preferred to be behind the scenes. The pay for me was seeing a full house of appreciative listeners resembling myself back in the day watching "northwind bluegrass" and the elder states people of bluegrass in this state.
To this day, when friends and relations go to the wood, they ask me why I wasn't there or that they were thinking of me.
Well.....I'm back this Sunday (5-8pm) with "Saddle Up The Chicken". Really looking forward to being back in my natural setting of a standing behind a microphone and bending strings at the Wood!
Hope some of you can come say hi!
Thanks to the Wood River Bar & Grill for keeping acoustic music alive on sundays at the wood!
