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| Absolutely phenomenal. The Big Bison captured this moment with his camera. Wish we could have bottled the whole evening! |
Alison Krauss and Union Station featuring Jerry Douglas performed at Bluegrass Fan Fest on Saturday, October 1st.
I just happened to be there. And here’s how THAT happened.
We got a call from a dear friend at church on Friday afternoon. When I say “at church”, I mean she was quite literally calling from the church building, where she had been working answering the phone. It seems she had received a call from a lady who was calling from the Kansas City area. The lady had tickets to attend the International Bluegrass Music Association Fan Fest in that was being held in Nashville this weekend, but was going to be prevented from attending due to her husband’s health problems. And the tickets were non-refundable. So she had called her pastor and asked him for the name of a church in Nashville that she could call, so that she could bless someone else with these tickets. And her pastor thought of our church.
Now, it so happens that the girl answering the phone for our church happens to be our dear daughter’s Sunday school teacher. And, you know how kids are always telling stuff on your family behind your back to their teachers? Well, our daughter had mentioned to her Sunday school teacher that every Saturday morning when her Daddy makes her pancakes, he listens to bluegrass. And when he tried doing yoga on the Wii for a while, he would listen to bluegrass at the same time. (Talk about your culture clash!!!)
So, our friend at church called us on Friday afternoon to offer us tickets to this Fan Fest. We were thrilled! We heard a bunch of great music. Here’s a tidbit for anyone else who likes Bluegrass: if you aren’t familiar with a group called 18 South, be on the lookout for them. They were really great! And unfortunately, our favorite little known band Balsam Range had already performed when we found out about the concert, so we missed out on seeing them. (And Steve Martin, daggone it!!!)
But what we DID have the pleasure of enjoying was one hour of musical bliss with Alison Krauss and Union Station featuring Jerry Douglas. I honestly believe that was one of the most amazing hours I have ever spent, musically. When every musician on stage is a complete virtuoso, what can you say? Wow. Just wow!
Well, anyway, we’re thankful.
Nobody jump off a bridge after you listen to this next song, OK? But lyrically and melodically, it’s a masterpiece. Hugh Prestwood wrote it. And as I listened to it last night, I wept with the awful beauty of it. Lately, in my bloggy life, I’ve run into blog friends who are grieving marriages that didn’t work out/aren’t working out, and so this very sad song made me think of you, last night, my friends. Sending out special hugs, and hoping that you will soon be overtaken by joy. But sometimes, the grieving has to come first.
If this song won’t set you to grieving, I don’t know what will.
Try not to be too bummed, though. Enjoy the haunting beauty of the song and her voice.
Try not to be too bummed, though. Enjoy the haunting beauty of the song and her voice.
P.S. Are you an Alison Krauss fan? Ever gotten to hear her in concert?