I THOUGHT YOU MIGHT be interested in a real mystical experience I had at IBMA... My friend Jerry Adair has a good old flathead Granada that he was going to loan to J.D.Crowe for a while so that it would be played instead of sitting in the case. We took the banjo up to Darryl Adkins’s room where J.D. was, and there was... Earl himself! And Louise, J.D., Snuffy Smith and Phyllis Adkins. After some talk, Jerry’s banjo came out and was passed first to Earl, then to J.D. Once they had road-tested it, Snuffy got his Granada out (a killer) and both Earl and J.D. played it.

Earl Scrugs (seated)

Earl said he didn’t bring any picks with him, so I offered mine; he declined at first, so I put them on the table. He played Cripple Creek barehanded, then looked at his fingers and said “About one of those is enough” and put on my picks. He cut down on Sally Goodin and it sounded just like the record... magic. No, the picks aren’t for sale, and no, I’ll never use them again and remove Earl’s fingerprints! Jerry kept saying all evening, “Lemme have those picks, gimme those picks!”

It was a thrill to be in an intimate setting with the Grand Master and arguably his principal successor. I asked J.D. to play the break of I’ll Stay Around and he said “What - in front of Earl?” like he was embarrassed to do it. Of course, he nailed it just like everything he does. It’s interesting to see that these great masters like J.D. and Sonny are in as much awe of “The Man” as the rest of us.

The next night, Earl and Josh Graves were on stage with Vince Gill, and Earl got the standing ovations. Not to take anything away from Vince or Alison Krauss, but Earl is The Man. What a thrill to see him on stage again to delight us all!

Gary Price, K5VEL, Jones, Oklahoma, USA
Write to Gary: ghprice@telepath.com  Visit Gary's web page:  http://www.telepath.com/ghprice

Updated 23rd Jan 1999