This post is a contribution from Casey Henry. Casey is the daughter of banjo player and bluegrass entrepreneur, Murphy Henry, and an accomplished banjo player in her own right, as well as an experienced instructor. Currently Casey and her brother Chris are fronting a band called The Two-Stringers. She first posted this on The B, earlier this morning.

Yesterday at Madison Funeral Home a packed crowd gathered to say goodbye to Uncle Josh Graves, to honor his life, his music, and the tremendous impact he had on the lives of others. Many beautiful arrangements of flowers surrounded the casket, including white and yellow roses from Alison Krauss. Red roses adorned the coffin. I know a couple of Josh’s sons, so I said hello to them and conveyed my condolances. Brian mentioned he needs to come back to the dentist office where I work, and Josh Jr. said he still intends to get me to play some gigs with him, which he initially called me about at least a year ago–unfailingly good natured and polite even in their hour of grief.

Eddie Stubbs delivered the eulogy, giving a run-down of Josh’s life and career. His first job was with Esco Hankins. He married his wife Evelyn when he was 17 and she was 15. 61 years of marriage. We gave her a round of applause for that. There were so many stories about Josh. He wrote some songs for Flatt and Scruggs, some of which had the good fortune to be on the B side of hits. Josh commented “My side sold just as many as the A side.” Eddie asked him how he was doing after he lost his legs. Eddie “cleaned up” Josh’s answer: “I ain’t kickin’ no posteriors.”

Jerry Douglas, who is on tour on the west coast, flew in for the visitation on Monday. He had to fly back to play in San Diego Tuesday but left a letter which Eddie read. He talked about when he was learning, when all he thought about was how to make the sounds he heard coming out of the Dobro on records, that Josh was his “invisible friend,” always with him, always in his head throughout the day, in school or wherever. One of the most important events in his life occurred when he met Josh for the first time at the festival campsite of some friends. Josh gave him something more important than a handshake or a pick or a string clipping. He asked young Jerry to sit down and play a tune with him. He handed Jerry his Dobro and he played Jerry’s. He made time for this skinny kid who wanted to learn to play. And that has stayed with him every since. (more…)

Over the weekend Boing Boing reported that John and Rudy Dopyera’s collection of instruments is for sale in its entirety. The Dopyera brothers are best known as the inventors of the Dobro, which is how the instrument got it’s name. The collection is for sale directly through Elderly Instruments. It will be sold only as a collection in it’s entirety which includes 12 instruments and 2 workbenches.

Rudy Dopyera passed away in 1978 and left his instruments and workshop to brother John, at that time 85 years old. When John passed on in 1988 the combined instruments and contents of the two workshops were packed up and put in storage by the family. Family members have now decided to sell the existing collection, plus the historic workbenches on which the brothers did much of their early work.

Elderly is asking that only those with serious interest in purchasing the collection contact them about it. Contact info is available on the page linked above.

Jerry Douglas’ new CD The Best Kept Secret is a secret no longer. Today is the official release date for the latest CD from dobro master Jerry Douglas. I’ve posted about this previously, but just wanted to remind everyone that they can get a copy today.

Jerry Douglas: Fogerty’s Buddha?

Jerry Douglas and John Fogerty have built a musical bond based on good pickin’ — with a little bit of Texas Swing thrown in for good measure. The swing in question is the Bob Wills classic “Swing Blues No. 1″ that appears on Jerry’s new album ‘The Best Kept Secret’ (KOCH/Sept. 20), with Fogerty contributing vocals.

As for the picking, that’s been going on for years, as the two get together regularly to play some songs and share a few lessons. Says Fogerty: “A few years ago, I realized I hadn’t become the guitar player I wanted to be when I was starting out, so I got really busy and that’s when I found Jerry Douglas. He’s the Buddha that I pray to every day. He has long been the mentor that I’m living up to.”
In addition to Fogerty, ‘The Best Kept Secret’ features a stellar cast of performers ranging from Jerry’s touring bandmates to Bill Frisell, Derek Trucks, Alison Krauss, and Bela Fleck.

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Jerry Douglas – The Best Kept Secret