Dole

The year was 1993, and the place was Simpsonville SC (more specifically West Georgia Road, and even more specifically the passenger seat of Jim Frady's car).

My trusty daily driver, a 1966 Pontiac Lemans, was in the shop for repairs, and I was carpooling with a good friend and co-worker. Jim came every morning that week, picked me up at home on Pliney Circle, and drove me on to MARC where we both worked (and still do!). Each day as we drove to and from work, behind our conversation I could hear some really, er, different music coming from his cassette tape player.

Asking Jim what kind of music that was, he said it was bluegrass. More specifically, he had a tape of the Dillards (aka the Darling Family from the Andy Griffith show) and another tape of a band called Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver. Now, Jim hails from Waynesville NC, and he said this kind of music was quite popular up in the mountains of North Carolina. I remember he and I chuckling at a Doyle song called "Stormy Waters", where the bass singer seemed to go so low it made the speakers rumble..."Tis the rock of ages, cleft for MEEEEEEEEEE." I also got a kick when Jim told me that the proper mountain pronunciation was "Dole", not "Doy-le" (silent y!)

I recall deciding that I liked that kind of music - it was upbeat, with great vocal harmonies, intricate picking, and lots of gospel-related content. Over the next year, I bought a bunch of bluegrass CDs from Horizon Records, the best store in Greenville for bluegrass. I took a particular liking to Doyle Lawson's music, and ended up with at least half a dozen of his CDs.

Shortly thereafter, I decided I wanted to learn to play this style of music. I bought a banjo (sorry Cathy) and started trying to teach myself how to "pick". I played those CDs over and over, singing along and trying to pick the banjo that fast (forgive me, Cathy!)

Fast forward 10+ years to 2008, specifically yesterday afternoon.

My band, Last Road, was honored to be able to open for Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver at Greenville's Peace Center! Now just so you understand, Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver is probably one of the top two bluegrass groups in existence today (the other being Del McCoury). Their live shows are so polished, they sound identical to their studio CDs -- perfect playing, perfect vocals. They have won the IBMA award for "Best Bluegrass Vocals" seven years in a row. Doyle is considered a bluegrass legend in his own right, having gotten his start in the original Bill Monroe & His Bluegrass Boys (the band from which bluegrass got its name).

So to put this in terms for the average person, this is the equivalent of a budding actor being asked to co-star in a movie with Harrison Ford, or a fledgling basketballer getting the opportunity to go one-on-one with MJ. What a blessing!

It felt surreal, standing backstage looking out at the beautiful three-tiered Peace Center auditorium, and watching as Doyle and his band members ran a sound check. They rolled through a couple numbers, checking microphone levels and mix. Then, they put their instruments down, stepped up to their mics, and launched into a flawless acapella version of...Stormy Waters!

I instantly thought of that moment in Jim's car, and realized that a dream of mine had come true.

Once again, and this can't be understated...God is good!