This publication never reports what Jean and I get up to, because (a) I’m the editor, so it’s ‘infra-dig’ so to do, and (b) we don’t often do much. But when we do play we use the name Almost Bluegrass because we’ve been told before now that “two people can’t play bluegrass”. Our reply to that is “Maybe not, but it’s almost bluegrass!” So we stuck with the name, which has the added advantage that when we play with others we can go out as The Almost Bluegrass Band, a name that has a certain.... er.... something about it!

Anyhow, for better or worse The Almost Bluegrass Band represented Bluegrass at the 1997 Chester Folk Festival, Kelsall, where they played a set in the Saturday afternoon concert. Completing the line-up were Dave Russell (bass) and Chris Lee (mandolin), both from Chester. Dave also plays guitar and fiddle, while super-picker Chris can play anything with more than three-eighths of a string on it though, after mandolin, his fortés are guitar and stand-up bass.

Derek, Jean, Dave & Chris at Chester Folk Festival June, 1997

Trying to do our bit for Bluegrass, we all played in several jam sessions which attracted sometimes large crowds, in company with North West and North Wales pickers John Les & Gill Williams, Andy Johnson, Jane & Ian Groves and Jeff Blythin. Last year at Chester FolkFest there was a larger NW-NW contingency - in addition to the aforementioned The Bluebillys and Tom Degney played.

Derek, Ted, Tom, Belle, Charley:- "Belle Monroe & her Brewglass Boys"
play at "Sweetwater" in Mill Valley, Marin County, California

Not content with representing the NW in Folk circles, we did the same in California. We’d gone to visit our daughter who lives near San Francisco and I was pressed into playing with Belle Monroe and Her Brewglass Boys, who had a gig at Sweetwater, Mill Valley, but an absent banjo picker. Lead singer/guitarist Belle had to leave the stage early at the end of the first set, so Ted announced “Hey, we were just going to do Little Maggie - is there anyone in the house can cut it?” Jean was volunteered to stand in, which got rapturous applause and whistles, but it was all a plant, of course. She sang it in the key of C, as we saw Ralph Stanley do on the same stage last year. Belle, alias our daughter, had left the stage to get changed into D’lilah Monroe, ready for the main event, The Chazz Cats , who do 20’s-30’s Roadhouse Swing - "Swing with an attitude!" - same personnel, less us, plus fantastic horns man Greg Laakso. The mandolinist in both bands is Ted Silverman, who sometimes writes in this mag. Happy to report our contributions were well received!

Derek & Jean Brandon, Chester

Updated 23rd Jan 1999