Comments on: Wayne Yates passes http://www.thebluegrassblog.com/wayne-yates-passes/ News at the speed of Bluegrass! Sun, 22 Nov 2009 23:15:13 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 hourly 1 By: Buster Sexton http://www.thebluegrassblog.com/wayne-yates-passes/comment-page-1/#comment-55254 Buster Sexton Mon, 15 Dec 2008 14:55:53 +0000 http://www.thebluegrassblog.com/wayne-yates-passes/#comment-55254 My son, Chris Sexton, fiddler for Nothin' Fancy said it well about our old friend and colleague, Wayne Yates. His passing particularly hit me hard, as I always looked at Wayne as one of the two greatest influences on my life and my music...one being Mr. Bill Emerson, who taught me the banjo, and Wayne who shaped a raw young banjo picker into a musician. We had the best time touring on the road, playing festivals and clubs...he was absolutely the funniest man I have ever personally known. A joke a minute! Working withhim, Wayne Lanham on mandolin, Ed Wilson on bass, and the late, legendary Jimmy Arnold on fiddle was some of my life's most memorable times. The stories I could tell would fill a book. My point of this note is to give a fitting tribute to a man I enjoyed picking with, his humor, friendship, and his mentoring of this old banjo picker. Above all, Wayne, if you have the Blog up there, I love you. Buster Sexton (formerly of Wayne Yates and Company) My son, Chris Sexton, fiddler for Nothin’ Fancy said it well about our old friend and colleague, Wayne Yates. His passing particularly hit me hard, as I always looked at Wayne as one of the two greatest influences on my life and my music…one being Mr. Bill Emerson, who taught me the banjo, and Wayne who shaped a raw young banjo picker into a musician.

We had the best time touring on the road, playing festivals and clubs…he was absolutely the funniest man I have ever personally known. A joke a minute! Working withhim, Wayne Lanham on mandolin, Ed Wilson on bass, and the late, legendary Jimmy Arnold on fiddle was some of my life’s most memorable times. The stories I could tell would fill a book.

My point of this note is to give a fitting tribute to a man I enjoyed picking with, his humor, friendship, and his mentoring of this old banjo picker. Above all, Wayne, if you have the Blog up there, I love you.

Buster Sexton (formerly of Wayne Yates and Company)

]]> By: nothinfancyfiddler http://www.thebluegrassblog.com/wayne-yates-passes/comment-page-1/#comment-55243 nothinfancyfiddler Sat, 13 Dec 2008 17:14:38 +0000 http://www.thebluegrassblog.com/wayne-yates-passes/#comment-55243 I have known Wayne Yates for literally my entire life. My father, "Buster" Sexton, was the banjo player for Wayne Yates and Company. This band was the only band that Wayne had led personally, and my father was an integral part in a band that would be part of the amazingly active DC bluegrass scene in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Along with Wayne Lanham (currently playing with Bill Emerson), Ed Wilson, my father, and the late Jimmy Arnold, they played actively in the hot bluegrass club circuit and showed a boldness in song selection and arrangements that was also a hallmark of their fellow contemporary artists like the Country Gentlemen and the Seldom Scene. I was born in the "bluegrass capital" in 1975, with my father taking me to festivals and bluegrass concerts at an early age. Wayne was a funny man to be around with an irrepressible wit. It wasn't so much about the joke he was telling; it was all in his delivery that made it hilarious to those who heard it. He did love to sing and did so with relish. My father credits him for being a great teacher of the music, and asserts that Wayne was responsible for giving my dad the opportunity to play for the first time in a professional band. He may not have made prolific contributions, but it does not diminish his legacy. Wayne Yates and Company released one album, "Relivin' Old Habits," in 1981. Its rarity makes it all the more precious, but the album certainly speaks of the DC bluegrass sound in a unique way. Notable tracks include an arrangement of "Greensleeves," "Old Habits Are Hard to Break," an original instrumental by my father, "New River Rag," "Good Time Charlie," "Everchanging Woman," and "Jordan's Stormy Banks." He will be remembered and missed. Chris Sexton Nothin' Fancy I have known Wayne Yates for literally my entire life. My father, “Buster” Sexton, was the banjo player for Wayne Yates and Company. This band was the only band that Wayne had led personally, and my father was an integral part in a band that would be part of the amazingly active DC bluegrass scene in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Along with Wayne Lanham (currently playing with Bill Emerson), Ed Wilson, my father, and the late Jimmy Arnold, they played actively in the hot bluegrass club circuit and showed a boldness in song selection and arrangements that was also a hallmark of their fellow contemporary artists like the Country Gentlemen and the Seldom Scene.

I was born in the “bluegrass capital” in 1975, with my father taking me to festivals and bluegrass concerts at an early age. Wayne was a funny man to be around with an irrepressible wit. It wasn’t so much about the joke he was telling; it was all in his delivery that made it hilarious to those who heard it. He did love to sing and did so with relish. My father credits him for being a great teacher of the music, and asserts that Wayne was responsible for giving my dad the opportunity to play for the first time in a professional band. He may not have made prolific contributions, but it does not diminish his legacy.

Wayne Yates and Company released one album, “Relivin’ Old Habits,” in 1981. Its rarity makes it all the more precious, but the album certainly speaks of the DC bluegrass sound in a unique way. Notable tracks include an arrangement of “Greensleeves,” “Old Habits Are Hard to Break,” an original instrumental by my father, “New River Rag,” “Good Time Charlie,” “Everchanging Woman,” and “Jordan’s Stormy Banks.”

He will be remembered and missed.

Chris Sexton
Nothin’ Fancy

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