As someone who came to bluegrass in mid-life, I see lots of other gray hair around me when I am at jams and camps. It’s inspiring to know that one can keep learning at this stage of the game, and I’m energized by all the others in my age bracket. That being said, I am pleased when I see younger folks embracing bluegrass. I had that experience tonight. Susan and I co-lead the Wolfpack Pickers jam, which is held at NC State University. It’s open to anyone, and we hold the jam right in one of the busiest spots of the Talley Student Union. There were 8 people at the jam tonight, three of them undergraduate students. It was great watching those students connect after the jam, exchange contact information, and make plans to pick together later on.
It’s good to be reminded that kids, teenagers, and young adults are all out there enjoying bluegrass. The jams I attend mostly tend to be folks my age, so it’s easy to forget that. But then I see the young jammers all over at the IBMA World of bluegrass, or listen to Cane Mill Road, and get a kick out of what this next generation is going to bring — strike that — already bringing to our bluegrass community. The photo attached to this post shows Liam Purcell (Cane Mill Road) and Presley Barker (ShadowGrass) getting ready to perform with the rest of the Wernick campers at MerleFest in 2014.
OK, let’s get this out of the way: Yes, one can be a fan of both bluegrass and Star Trek; they are not mutually exclusive! (If you didn’t get that reference, time to move on.)