Talkin' Bluegrass Music

Saturday, March 22, 2014

Little Pickin' Session with Friends


Photo credit: Patrick Cupples

We are always looking for a little bluegrass music adventure! On one such adventure, our search took us to Jackson, TN, and then on to Franklin, TN, where we found and reunited with some wonderful friends. In the above photo by Patrick Cupples, you see Kevin Wright at left on guitar, Rick Hargis in the center on banjo, and Ronnie Owen at right on guitar. It took a little work to find former Tennessee Gentleman Rick Hargis, but he popped up in Franklin, TN, where he heads an insurance company. Ronnie Owen (an engineer for a local firm) is also a former Tennessee Gentleman, but we have kept up with him and his friend Kevin Wright (a banker in Jackson) through the years, so they were easier to find. They live in and around the Jackson-Madison County, TN, region.

These friends and a few others decided to meet on a recent Thursday evening at the Jackson International House of Pancakes (IHOP) for a little reunion and pickin'. They were joined by Kurt Stephenson (a banjo champ at Winfield, KS), Patrick Cupples, Curtis Mann, David Killingsworth, and a few family members, friends, and onlookers such as this writer. It took the group no time at all to fall back into the right key, tempo, and vocal harmonies. It just fell together perfectly, as it often does. Here are a few more photos from the evening of a little pickin' session with friends. It was a barn-burner, and we hope that they will get together again soon! Pick away!