As annual events go, the River of Music Party stands out as a testament to the fellowship created by gathering world-class talent in a setting that more than befits the occasion. And typically, when covering such an event, the temptation is powerful to base the article on the who, the what, the when and the where; to put it simply, to give the reader a fairly straightforward account of what they can expect. But every great once and a while, an unexpected turn of events puts a halt to such well-laid plans. Such was the case when I talked to a true bluegrass pioneer; hearing his story changed the arc of this story, so much so that I wanted to share the byline with him (with his permission, of course).

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The Ozaki Brothers


Seventy eight year-old Al Hawkes’ life is bluegrass music. From an early age – beginning in the 1940s – he absorbed the sounds of the fiddles, guitars, mandolins and earnest voices from faraway AM radio stations. As his knowledge of the music grew, so did his ability to play; while still a youth in Westbrook, Maine, Al learned mandolin, guitar, 12-string guitar, plectrum banjo and stand up bass. Hawkes’ love of country and bluegrass was so strong that he even built his own (illegal) radio station and played music from his extensive and ever-growing record collection.

            His homemade station didn’t last very long, but the foundation for a lifetime devoted to music was laid firm. Hawkes formed his own record company, and over the years he’s played with a veritable who’s who of luminaries in the bluegrass and country music world. Al’s earned more than twenty-five awards that have recognized his enormous contributions to the music he loves.

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J.D. Crowe


            But until last year’s ROMP, Hawkes had never been to the home of bluegrass music. He was so impressed with the people of Owensboro, the audiences of bluegrass fans, and the home site and grave of Bill Monroe to the point that he thought of his experiences in Kentucky during quiet moments by himself. He even wanted to write his own account of what it was like to be with so many lovers of bluegrass, so many people who, like him, have the honest and organic music embedded in their DNA.

            And so, in a departure from the usual form, here is Al Hawkes in his own words; if you love bluegrass music and are looking forward to ROMP 2009, I think his words are worth reading:

 

“I was just overwhelmed last year; it was my first time in Kentucky. When I was invited down there by Gabrielle Gray, the director of the International Bluegrass Music Museum, I said, ‘wow, I’d love to come down.’ So we drove down in a new Toyota Tundra truck, pulling an RV trailer. We met so many great people and I can’t wait to get back this year. I think the whole thing is such a fabulous thing that they’re doing – recognizing the pioneers – I’m not saying that because they’re recognizing me. The fact that the father of bluegrass [Bill Monroe] is not far away… we went down to his home and spent three hours sitting on the porch and talking to the people who do the tours there.

            “It’s so connected to Bill Monroe’s home and his grave site… it is Kentucky. It is bluegrass. And I can’t think of any other place where it should be; that’s where the home of bluegrass really is.

            “I swear that there’s something in our musical genes…. in our system, I swear that some of us have a bluegrass gene. Even if we weren’t born in Kentucky. Somehow it got into my system; when I got down there I said, ‘this is probably where I should have been born.’ All my life, that’s been my music. I listened to the old radio stations up here in Maine that beamed up this way – WWVA in Wheeling, West Virginia, WCKY in Cincinnati – at night, that skip factor. I grew up with a headphone under my pillow; my mother thought I was sleeping. I was listening to this music until one o’clock in the morning. This would have been in 1941 or so.

            “We were listening to music from down south, and I had my own radio station at one time, a small station… until the government found out about it. That was fun. I just wanted to spread the word of what I was hearing to the people who couldn’t hear it up here. That music’s just been my life, and I love it, and I feel like I’m still thirty-nine.

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Steep Canyon Rangers


            “I taught students for about ten years; I had students of various ages; one was sixty-five. I told ‘em up front: in music you can practice, you can take lessons, and you can become a mechanical player – just put the notes in front of you and start playing. But in bluegrass, 99% of the people maybe took some lessons, but most of ‘em were able to pick up an instrument and play it just like they did in the early days when people took the fiddle and the banjo and sat on the porch and played; most of the people did not have lessons; it just came to ‘em. I think that’s the gene factor.

            “Bluegrass music is a passionate music, a soulful music, and we can come together without even knowing some of the people, and just get into the jam and play the music even if you’ve never heard the song before. It’s almost like mentally, you’re in a family, and the family’s accepted you, and everybody’s happy.”

 

A complete listing of events for this year’s River of Music Party can be found on the inside back cover of the magazine as well as in the Nightlife section on page 19. For more information about the bluegrass event of the year, you can also visit www.bluegrass-museum.org/riverofmusic and/or call 1-888-MY BANJO.

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ROMP Lineup:


Wednesday, June 24

 

11:00 AM

Woodward’s: At the Museum – Blackberry Jam

 

12:00 PM

Woodward’s: At the Museum – Mountain Harmony

 

1:00 PM

Woodward’s: At the Museum – Grandview Junction

 

2:00 PM

Woodward’s: At the Museum – County Line Bluegrass

 

3:00 PM

Woodward’s: At the Museum – Up-N-Gone

 

4:00 PM

Woodward’s: At the Museum – King’s Highway

 

7:00 PM

Riverpark Center: Cannon Hall – Waxworks’ 60th Anniversary Celebration/ROMP All-Star Kick-Off w/Mike Snider/Marty Stuart/Del McCoury Band

 

Thursday, June 25

 

11:00 AM

Riverpark Center: Cannon Hall – Pioneers of Bluegrass: Gloria Belle & Tennessee Sunshine/Roger Sprung & Friends/Eddie & Martha Adcock w/Tom Gray/Jim Smoak & the LA Honeydrippers/Jesse McReynolds & The Virginia Boys/Bill Clifton

 

5:00 PM

Riverpark Center: Cannon Hall – The Legends Supper w/Hall of Fame Unveiling Ceremony/Bill Clifton and Charles Wolfe

 

7:00 PM

Riverpark Center: Cannon Hall – The Legends Concert & Pioneers Recognition Ceremonoy w/Paul Williams & Victory Trio/Melvin Goins & Windy Mountain/Larry Sparks & The Lonesome Ramblers

 

Friday, June 26

All Events in Yellow Creek Park

 

10:00 AM

Pioneers of Bluegrass Performance

 

12:00 PM

The Bluegrass Authority

 

12:40 PM

All4Hym

 

1:30 PM

The Reunion Band

 

2:20 PM

The Ozaki Brothers

 

3:10 PM

Williams & Clark Expedition

 

4:00 PM

Pioneers Jam

 

5:00 PM

Supper Break

 

6:00 PM

J.D. Crowe & The New South

 

7:00 PM

Bobby Osborne & Rocky Top X-Press

 

8:00 PM

Steep Canyon Rangers

 

9:00 PM

Josh Williams

 

Saturday, June 27

All Events in Yellow Creek Park

 

10:30 AM

The Harringtons

 

11:10 AM

Cats & the Fiddler

 

12:00 PM

KY BlueGrass AllStars

 

12:30 PM

Bill Evans & Megan Lynch

 

1:20 PM

Ronnie Reno & the Reno Tradition

 

2:10 PM

Valerie Smith & Liberty Pike

 

3:00 PM

Bluegrass Parkway

 

3:50 PM

The Dixie Bee-Liners

 

4:40 PM

The Special Consensus

 

5:30 PM

Supper Break

 

6:30 PM

Grasstowne

 

7:30 PM

Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver

 

9:00 PM

The Dan Tyminski Band