I play guitar, mandolin, and some bull fiddle. A little fiddle, not enough to qualify as a fiddler. Primarily a singer.

I like both bluegrass and old time country so as far as influences...i'd say, Bill Monroe, The Cox family, the Whites, the Carters, Ralph Stanley, Gillian Welch, Steve Earle, Del McCoury, the Whitsteins....oh, and The Flying Burrito Brothers.

This July 3 weekend I'm playing and singing with some new friends I met about two months ago at the first bluegrass event I attended. Don't really know how to play bluegrass, but I can play the violin (and therefore pluck away on a borrowed mandolin) and some guitar and of course I have a marvelous singing voice and a great ear. Have always loved country, so I guess you can say I'm sort of a natural. At least, that was the consensus of the people I played with two months ago.

So I'm bringing my old violin with the thumbprint and my beautiful Larrivee guitar with me when I drive south tomorrow morning and expect to spend most of my time either singing or taking pictures, just like last time. When I play the part of the fiddler, basically I just listen to what everybody else is playing and try to throw in my musical two cents; when we do the rounds, and it's my turn, if I'm not laughing abruptly at the realization that all eyes are on me, I usually try to pick out a variation of the melody or play off of another fiddler's melody.

All in all, a lot of fun.

But I have to admit that about 9 p.m. on the first night I was there, all the songs started to sound just like "Tennessee Waltz."