The Osborne Brothers performing at Sangamon Park in Mahomet IL, June 9, 1968. Photo by Dan Tackett.

In a phone conversation over the weekend I was privileged to talk to Sonny Osborne for the second time in my life. I wanted to check on some details of any Monkees’ recollections he had. Sonny was gracious enough to oblige me.

But I got more than I bargained for and was extremely thrilled.

Sonny continued to tell me how the Monkees’ sessions were the most idiotic he ever experienced. He mentioned that Mike Nesmith’s mom invented Liquid Paper. It was quite evident Nesmith came from money, with many of the stories Sonny heard him tell.

To me, this was the first tones of how down-to-earth Sonny Osborne is as a performer and a man. Here is a gentleman who has very little patience for any kind of pretension.

Sonny mentioned that while he was in the studio with Nesmith, he never saw him play a note. Most of the time was spent in the control room, occasionally disappearing from there to vanish to who knows where. This was the beginning of a serious loathing that Sonny gained for session work.

He worked doing sessions for about a 6-month period. During this time, he would do 2 or 3 sessions a day. His final session work was during a Jerry Reed recording. The powers that be asked Sonny to play a chromatic riff on his banjo and he insisted that he didn’t play that way. The assembly ended with Sonny packing up and saying so long to session work.

He recalled a recording with Wade Ray and Floyd Cramer, where Cramer ended up beating on the piano several times, frustrated with the music industry and what a hard life it was.

Several times during my conversation with Sonny, he insisted it was incredibly difficult to put up with the various entertainers’ egos. He stated the trouble began when they would read their glowing press clippings and started to believe the accolades that were being heaped upon them. He felt many of these entertainers would have preferred if you would have bowed before them, much as you would with royalty.

At one point, I told Sonny I grew up in the rock-and-roll era but had a Dad who loved country. Ironically, one of our joint favorites was the Osborne Brothers. When I mentioned this to Sonny, he seemed to very much appreciate it. Sonny said, “We were 25 years ahead of our time. We laid the groundwork for many of the new bluegrass bands who are out there now.”

Our talk came around to Sonny’s health. He has not picked up a banjo since 2003. Last year, he suffered a stroke and when asked how he was feeling, he mentioned he was doing OK. I told him how much I missed seeing him out there on the road and he said, “I sure don’t miss it.”

“Nobody is a legend, we all put our pants on one leg at a time.” - Sonny Osborne

During our phone conversation, he told me a great story that had just happened. During a breakfast conversation with his wife that morning, they discussed something which had happened the night before. Sonny ventured out to see Chris Hillman and Herb Pedersen play at the Station Inn in Nashville.

After the show they all sat around and talked, Sonny told his wife they made me feel like a legend. It is evident, Sonny is thoroughly uncomfortable with this term. He mused that perhaps he shouldn’t have gone to the event. Sonny acknowledged, “Nobody is a legend, we all put our pants on one leg at a time.” He said he just did his job as well as he could. This was a thought he affirmed several times throughout our conversation.

Sonny Osborne let me know that he didn’t do interviews anymore. When I told him I felt privileged with the time he had taken with me, he stated this very well could be the last interview he’ll ever do.

This is a man who appears to not have a pretentious bone in his own body and along with that, abhors anyone who acts as though they are more important or special than warranted. He feels many in the music business are phony. His attitude is, if you want to get along with these super-egos, you have to play the games with those particular individuals.

“These people read the accolades heaped upon themselves and they start believing them as well. We all put our pants on the same,” he said. He grew increasingly tired of playing the games.

Sonny took great pride in the Osborne Brothers being just “down-home boys.” Returning back to the story about Hillman and Pedersen treating him as a legend he says, “I don’t look like a legend.”

I asked him to tell me some of the talent he personally has looked up to in the business. Sonny first mentioned Bill Anderson and was quick to point out that Anderson had made a great deal of money in his life, but was still a down-home boy. He also liked Jim Ed Brown, Ricky Skaggs, the Whites, Faron Young, Merle Haggard, and believe it or not, Jerry Lee Lewis.

Sonny stated Lewis had a little wild side but was still a pretty good guy.

The Osborne Brothers “Live in Germany” (Pinecastle)

The talk also came around to a discussion of the new CD and DVD set of “The Osborne Brothers: Live in Germany.” Sonny told the story about how that video was illegally recorded and was to be sold to whoever wanted it for distribution.

Sonny decided he wanted it done right, so the Pinecastle label bought the video and they worked for a year on piecing it together.

I admire Sonny Osborne. The two times I’ve talked to him and the moments I have been lucky enough to see him perform are incredibly special to me. This is a man who speaks his mind. Sonny is honest and has a problem with phoniness in people and in the music industry. He grew tired of it and who can blame him for that?

After I got off the phone with Sonny, I thought what if this is the last interview he’ll ever do. God forbid if that is true. Then I thought about how much I miss seeing him perform.

Sonny Osborne was and is a unique, one-of-a-kind banjo picker, who in my mind will always be a legend. It is his destiny that this legend status will forever be affixed to him. And finally I miss seeing that wonderful smile of Sonny’s. This is a smile that like the man is bigger than life.

Gosh Sonny, we miss your kind out there.

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The Grascals “Keep on Walkin’” (Rounder) will be released July 15, 2008.

Nashville, Tenn. — The Grascals, one of the most critically-acclaimed and dynamic groups in bluegrass music today, and the reigning IBMA (International Bluegrass Music Association) Entertainers of the Year for the last two years, will release their third studio album for Rounder Records, Keep On Walkin’, on July 15. The 12-song, self-produced album is the group’s first release in two years. It crystallizes the sound introduced and developed on the band’s first two Grammy®-nominated releases—traditional bluegrass and country music, both original and classic songs, all delivered with vocal and instrumental intensity and virtuosity. Timely and timeless, The Grascals’ music is entirely relevant to the here and now, yet based on a deeply-seeded knowledge of and admiration for the music’s founding fathers.

“After five years of singing together, and especially the last three years of extensive touring, we think we’ve really been able to define our sound on this record. The whole process of doing this album, from finding songs, to arranging them, recording and mixing—was relaxed and fun. We took our time so we could do things the way we wanted and treat each song with the care it deserved.” Jamie Johnson, Grascals vocalist and guitarist .

The album kicks into high gear with the lead track, “Feeling Blue,” written by well-known bluegrass tunesmith Aubrey Holt, who first met Jamie Johnson when they were in the Boys From Indiana. Holt has become one of the band’s favorite writers, contributing three songs to this album. In addition to “Feeling Blue,” which is an original song with the feel of an old Jimmy Martin tune, Holt wrote “Sad Wind Sighs.” A classic lament disguised in an uptempo tune, the song features the incomparable voice of special guest Vince Gill. Holt also explores the lighter side of life in “Happy Go Lucky,” the song that The Grascals performed to open the 2007 IBMA Awards and have included in their live shows ever since.

Jamie Johnson also displays his songwriting skills on two songs—the moving title track about life’s journeys, which he co-wrote with veteran songwriter Charley Stefl; and “Indiana,” which he co-wrote with another of the band’s favorite writers, Harley Allen. The song perfectly captures the bittersweet yearning for the home of one’s youth. Allen, who has written songs on all three of The Grascals’ albums, including the 2005 IBMA Song of the Year, “Me and John and Paul,” continues to strike an emotional chord with “Remembering,” about the lingering effects of war.

Sprinkled throughout the album and shining like the gems they are, some country and bluegrass classics each get a refreshing and respectful turn from The Grascals. First, they put a new twist on Waylon Jennings’ “Only Daddy That’ll Walk the Line,” before Terry Eldredge sings a heart-rending lead on “Choices,” a hit for his musical hero, George Jones. The Grascals’ version of the song was #1 in March and April on XM Bluegrass Junction Top 30 Tracks, and it has spent multiple weeks on the Count Down Yonder Weekly Top 17 Songs of SIRIUS Bluegrass. Also included are some of the songs that the band regularly performs during their live shows—“Today I Started Loving You Again,” “Can’t You Hear That Whistle Blow” (featuring lead vocals and slap-bass playing by Terry Smith) and “Rollin’ in My Sweet Baby’s Arms.” As with their previous albums, the band took this one to play for Earl Scruggs, and they were delighted to see the smile on his face as “Rollin’” began. Following their tradition, The Grascals include a gospel number on this album, selecting “Farther Along” as the final track. It features Danny Roberts’ vocal debut singing bass in the four-part harmony.

In addition to Jamie Johnson on guitar and vocals, Terry Eldredge on guitar and vocals, Terry Smith on bass and vocals, and Danny Roberts on mandolin, Keep on Walkin’ features Aaron McDaris playing banjo on his first album with The Grascals, and Jimmy Mattingly on fiddle. Guest musicians on selected tracks include Nashville session ace Hargus “Pig” Robbins on piano and Andy Hall (of the Infamous Stringdusters) on dobro.

Jamie Johnson is featured in the May edition of Bluegrass Now, which can be viewed at http://www.bluegrassnow.com.

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This weekends Grand Ole Opry lineup will feature some great Bluegrass music on all 3 shows. The Del McCoury Band will play on all shows Friday and Saturday. Also among the artists currently scheduled to perform are Jesse McReynolds, Marty Stuart, Bobby Osborne, Vince Gill and The Whites. Should be a pretty good weekend for Bluegrass on the Opry. Times are listed below.

Friday, May 9

Del McCoury Band — 8:00 - 8:30
Jesse McReynolds and the Virginia Boys — 8:30 - 9:00
The Whites — 9:00 - 9:30
Bobby Osborne & The Rocky Top X-Press — 9:30 - 10:00

Saturday, May 10

The Whites — 6:30 - 7:00
Del McCoury Band — 6:30 - 7:00 & 10:30 - 11:00
Marty Stuart — 8:00 - 8:30 & 10:00 - 10:30
Vince Gill — 8:30 - 9:00 & 10:30 - 11:00

The Grand Ole Opry is broadcast live on WSM 650 AM radio, online at www.WSMonline.com and on XM Satellite Radio (XM 11). All listed times are central time.

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Russ Barenberg will be a part of the week-long National Guitar Workshop in Nashville, Tenn. July 5-10, 2008.

Nashville, Tenn. –  The National Guitar Workshop is proud to announce a Hot Flatpicking Guitar Seminar with special guest Russ Barenberg at the Nashville Campus. Barenberg will help build your repertoire of flatpicking fiddle tunes and teach how to develop songs with variation and improvisation. Students will have the opportunity to use a number of different tunes to learn important left and right hand techniques, as well as discuss music theory, as it relates to flatpicking guitar.

The week long event takes place on the Vanderbilt Campus in Nashville, Tenn. July 5 - 10, 2008.

The National Guitar Workshop is excited to announce the curriculum and guest artists for the 2008 season. This year’s program will feature Paul Gilbert, Lisa Loeb, The John Scofield Trio featuring Bill Stewart and Steve Swallow, Kenny Burrell, Michael Angelo Batio, Jennifer Batten, Eric Krasno, Laurence Juber, Sonny Landreth, and more. Courses will be offered in rock, blues, jazz, country, classical, music technology, songwriting, and guitar exploration. Check out www.guitarworkshop.com for more information.

NGW features 8 locations nation-wide with campuses in Connecticut, Nashville, Austin, Washington DC, Chicago, Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Each location offers a wide variety of courses, all taught by world renowned musicians.

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