REILLYworld...

Say Bill, where did them pesky banjar players go??

My foremost hobby is playing Blue Grass music.

I primarily play mandolin and take as my inspiration the Father of Blue Grass Music, Bill Monroe. Click here for Bill Monroe's Page of Fame.

In a memorial to the Founding Father of Blue Grass, I have posted a tribute to Monroe that I wrote for the BBU (see below) Newsletter after his death. I have also gathered up a number of good photographs and added them to this page of tribute to the spiritual leader of the music. This way to my Bill Monroe Tribute, my appreciation of the man and his music.

Since I primarily play mandolin, I have several mandolins; my current favorite is a custom-made Phoenix mandolin, crafted by Rolfe Gerhardt of Thomaston, Maine. As they say on Bgrass-l, it is a 'hoss'.....

Of course, The Gibson F-5 has always been the Blue Grass mandolin, at least since the day Bill Monroe kicked his F-7 under the bed.

A neat new e-zine has come online for mana'lin enthusiasts; it is called MandoZine and it covers lots of mandolin territory....lotsa good vintage mana'lin pix also. Also lotsa links to other sites mandolinistical.

The Blue Grass Music has a great e-zine as well, covering all facets of the music. Click here for CyberGrass.

THE WILLOW CREEK BLUE GRASS BAND

Willow Creek's picture All the above talk and reference to Bill Monroe should be sufficient to introduce the band I played with. We played around the eastern part of Massachusetts and were one of the bastions of the traditional style of the Blue Grass music in our area. Our focus was on the music of the early era of Blue Grass, and we tried our best to interpret the music as we believed it should sound, within the bluegrass tradition. The band was comprised of Gene 'Killah' Ketelhohn on guitar, Louis 'Dr. Bop' Kaplan on banjo and resophonic guitar, Cathy 'Tootsie' Goode on violin, Tom Speth on bass and yours truly on the mana'lin.

Other Local Bluegrass Bands and .orgs.....

WayStation

...bunch of good musicians...they are much more on the smooth, progressive current edge of acoustic/bluegrass/folk music (they don't wear matching hats). Richard "Earl" Stillman keeps up their homepage, as well as picking the 5-string banjo for the band. Click here for WayStation. If you listen carefully, you can maybe hear an echo of my mana'lin on their new CD. And not only is Earl an accomplished musician, he is able, merely through somewhat primitive dance, to bring forth at festivals the ultimate bluegrass food: .
Not bad fer a banjar picker!!!

Southern Rail

...now, these folks been playin' a real long time, have lotsa music product out there. Jim Muller even lives here on the World with me. Click here for Southern Rail. If you look real hard, mebbe u find a familiar mana'lin somewhere in their musical offerings too.........

Stringtown

...now, this crew stands out by their sartorial attire...they do the hats, shirts & string ties...Barb Diederich has compiled the compleat listing of Boston area BG...check out BarbCal on their homepage...Just a little jump to Stringtown.

The Boston Bluegrass Union

the name sez it all BBU as Gerry Katz says, "Bluegrass is our Middle Name!"...........

The International BlueGrass Music Association

...IBMA...just what the name says....

there's more good Blue Grass around, but I hear the Opry...gotta git...

"Speakin for all the Blue Grass Boys, we hope you like yer visit here with us tonite!"

THE FISHING PAGE...

I like fishing...either with my bass-playing buddy locally, or out on the deep blue. Here is a picture of me and my buddy Captain Kenny with our catch of the day from a trip off the Florida Keys, a good-sized (40lbs)Mahi-Mahi.

While he is not out chasing large fish, Kenny is a K9 trainer. For a look at serious dog training, go to Kennel 101, a site where the dogs are all well-behaved and understand when you say 'Sit!'.

coming soon...Compost King; Perfect-Tune; My garden..... ; Wire-World....

to be continued....