A 20 hour journey by coach was to face me after the 6 hour journey from Scarborough to Victoria Coach Station in London. The occasion was to be a prestigious Bluegrass Festival at Kopidlno about 50 miles east of Prague in the Czech Repuhlic. “Was it going to be worth it?” were my immediate thoughts. Well, the answer simply was “Definitely!” I arrived in Prague at 6-45 a.m. to warm sunshine and was met by Jiri Lebeda, my instrument maker and friend. We travelled to his weekend house at Jesenice some 15 miles south of the City and situated at the edge of the forest where there was peace, perfect peace. Time to relax before the journey the next morning to the Festival.

We arrived at Kopidlno early on Saturday morning catching the tail end of a picking session that had been going on since the night before. No time-wasting here with things like sleep! The rest period was to be between 10a.m. and the start of the concerts at 2 p.m. A look around the site I saw many faces I recognised from bands such as Cop, New Section, Vabank Unit and the superb Monogram .

All the top Czech instrument makers were displaying their products and Jiri Lebeda set up his stall alongside Jarda Pruica (maker of fine banjos and mandolins), Capek (another fine maker of Bluegrass instruments). Some of the finest banjos I have ever seen, which had engraved parts that were a work of art in themselves, were displayed by Janush. The sound of these banjos were easily comparable to any top American models whatever the make.

With about 40 Bluegrass bands in the Czech Republic the standard is very high and all the bands in their own style were very enjoyable, but for me three bands were outstanding, namely Royal Flush Fragment and Monogram. These bands are really top quality performers and would enhance any British Bluegrass Festival.

Royal Flush has been recently formed from the top performers in the Czech Republic. The band is lead by Martin Mikulas, on banjo. On mandolin was Jan Maca (pronounced Yan Martsa), who was the mandolinist who played with Lou Reid at Ironbridge . Double bass, fiddle and Guitar complete the line-up. The performance of this band from singing to musicianship can only be described as par excellence.

Jan Maca with Arthurs Mandolin

Fragment, another 5 piece, also took my attention as a class act, with a girl singer called Jana Dolakova. Jana sang equally as well as Alison Kraus and for me had more feeling in her voice. She was backed by superb musicians on banjo, guitar, double bass and mandolin (yes, Jan Maca once again). I should tell you we had met at Jiri's stand and he liked the sound of my instrument. It was louder than his Capek which he played at Ironbridge so he played my Vanden mandolin in both bands. He then played in the Festival Allstars with Druha Trava (of Second Grass, also previous visitors to Ironbridge).

Monogram is a four-piece band that really has the feel for Bluegrass music (see the CD review in this issue). They are perfectionists with their performances; even when having to wait till 1 a.m. due to a crowded programme, their performance was totally superb. Brothers Zdenek and Jaromir Jahoda were outstanding on mandolin and banjo respectively, with the lead singing shared between Jakub Racek (guitar) and Zbynek Bures (double bass) with hardly discernible Czech accents.

Their new CD, entitled simply Bluegrass Music, is a great example of their versatility with standards, gospel quartets and self-penned numbers. At an average age of 23 these guys are world-class rising stars.

At a barbecue organised for me back in Prague I sessioned with the Jahoda brothers and Milan Milas of Blanket. They had not heard of 80% of the songs I sung, but within the 2nd bar they picked up the song and played stunning breaks. If you thought Jan Maca played great at Ironbridge then you will need to see Zdenek Jahoda to believe his playing !!

The Bluegrass festivals in the Czech Republic are very friendly affairs with totally dedicated fans of the whole specrum of the music, from traditional bluegrass (which they refer to as Old Time Style) to progressive. One ‘Old Time Style’ band worth a mention (but whose name I can’t recall) did a set with a 6 piece around a single mike - they were packed like sardines in a tin but performed like vintage Flatt and Scruggs!

Arthur Robinson, Scarborough

Updated 23rd Jan 1999