— Begin quote from "Oldhat"
tell me this place does not scream “bluegrass music”…we will officially move here on the next few weeks.
— End quote
Sweet! So does that mean we are all invited??? 
Netgrass Original & Exclusive Song?
Sure Mike, it has a small 800sqft guest house so I’ve got plenty of room + 12 acres to pull in an RV or pitch a tent on…come on over! If ya get here quick enough you can help me move all my stuff. 
The garage door is too small for a car… yep, screams bluegrass
Haha, definitely won’t get a car through there…garage was converted into a “man cave” with a bedroom above it.
I re-sized the pic so the entire house could be seen.
— Begin quote from "Oldhat"
here is the most recent labor of my love…tell me this place does not scream “bluegrass music”…
— End quote
After seeing the picture of your new house, this is what came to mind:
It’s an early Friday morning in late October. Your wife already went to work and the kids are at school. It’s a drab, kinda cold day with a steady, calm drizzle. You had the day off and there’s no reason to be outside. You take in a long, deep breath as you look around at the long hours of sweat that were labored into the place. You take in the smell of fresh, new lumber. You smile as you see your old Lab lying on the rug by the open fire. (She’s twelve now and doesn’t get up a whole lot). You go to the kitchen and put on a pot of coffee. Still smiling inside, you walk toward the great room. On the way you see your guitar case. You smile outwardly now as you open the case to your Martin. It’s just you and your guitar (and the dog and God of course). You pick up your D-18 and as you’re walking to the rocker next to the hearth, you notice it’s raining slightly harder now giving you even more reason to not feel the least bit guilty about how you’re going to spend the day. You strum a G chord and it seems as though your guitar sounds better than it ever has. It could be the openess of the room, could be the acoustics are simply better in this house or maybe you’ve taken the time to really listen like you never have before. (or maybe it’s the new TR Monel strings you put on the night before)
I could go on, but you or someone else can finish this rainy day story.
It seems like days like that only come once or twice a year. Thanks for posting the picture, great job on the house Jesse.
I’ll get a recording up as soon as I’m not so busy.
J.W.
Jesse, don’t be surprised if you wake up some rainy morning and find JW sitting next to the fireplace with your D18
Anybody have anything cooking on some additional verses?
Haha,
JW that sounds like a pretty good morning…however you’ve only missed one small detail:
I was fortunate enough to retire at age 40 (3 years ago)…so outside of working around the house and “homesteading” I don’t have to answer to anyone besides for the wife and 3 kids, so I am hoping for a lot of playing time come those dreary fall days!
Mike:
Yep, I can see JW in there now playing the Martin and the dog he talked about laying at his feet all content and didn’t even bark to let me know he let himself in…I just hope he looks at me and says “Made a pot of coffee, help yourself” verses saying “Any way I can get a cup of coffee”…I’m not to picky about much, however house rules are that “The Early Bird Makes the Coffee”.
Cool Story that happened to me yesterday:
Wife wanted for us to drive down to Lynchburg and tour the Jack Daniels Distillery. It is within an hour, so just a short drive. We get our tickets for a “sampling tour” and have about 2 hours to kill. So we decided to walk to the quaint little town of Lynchburg and grab some Barbecue for lunch.
I walk into the barbecue joint and it’s packed to the gills, maybe 80 folks or so in there. I am waiting in line by the stage and there is a guy there who I think is a musician and we start chatting about music. Well it turns out that this cat plays music and is the owner. I tell him I “flat pick” some and he says “I tell you what, over the past 15 years that I have owned this place I have told every person that says they can play that I will treat them to some food if they get up on stage and sing and play a song and in 15 years no one has had the nerve to do it”. I first say “no” and then he keeps nagging me to do it, so I finally say “OK”. So I jump up on stage, grab the D28 he has sitting there and he grabs the bass and off we go. We started with “Ryder”, went to “I am a Pilgrim” and then I done “Fireball Mail” and “Blue Railroad Train”. Crowd actually was diggin’ it and i had a hoot of a time all by myself singing and pickin’.
After I got off stage my wife and I went outside and sat at the tables on the sidewalk and about the time we are done with the chow he comes out with the check for me and I say “what the heck you were supposed to treat” and he says “Hear me out, I told you I would treat you to some food and I didn’t mean here at the store”…so I give him a joking ration of crap over it. He then says “The food will be at my house later, we are having a big get together and playing music and I’d like for you and your wife to come on over”. He told me that his son plays fiddle and played the grand ol’ Opry at age 9 and had played some with Ricky Scaggs in the past…so he got my attention. He said that another guy played some with Kenny Rogers and had written 5 songs for Kenny Rogers and that he’d be there also.
The wife and I showed up at 6:15 or so and there were at least 50 people there and around 10 pickers…had a blast.
You never know where bluegrass music will take ya…heck i just rolled out to tour the Jack Daniels facility and low and behold I played music at 2 different places before it was over and met some really good folks! Gotta love Bluegrass music and the folks that either play or associate themselves with it! It’s a lifestyle.
Oh, we walked around Lynchburg going in and out of the small shops and I literally had 2 people come up to me and say “Oh you are the guy that took the stage and played while ago, that was “cool” you done such a great job”…felt like a rock star baby!
Looks like quite a change in lifestyle from where you’ve been living, oldhat. You might experience some culture shock what with wildlife being your nearest neighbors, now.
That’s great that you could retire at such a young age Oldhat!
— Begin quote from "Oldhat"
“Made a pot of coffee, help yourself” verses saying “Any way I can get a cup of coffee”…I’m not to picky about much, however house rules are that “The Early Bird Makes the Coffee”.
— End quote
That’s a good rule and I may just suprise you with that someday. I’m usually the guy that always makes the coffee anytime we have a good together of some sort so that won’t be a problem. As long as the water’s good. That’s the key to good coffee.
I don’t know if I would have had the courage to get up on stage like that. It seems like when you do something that’s entirely unplanned, you really don’t have time to be scared or nervous, you just get up there and do it. That will be a lifelong memory and you’ll always be glad you did it.
I don’t want to take away from your story because yours is much better, but a few weeks ago I was working in Hillsboro, Ohio and one of the drivers remembered me mentioning last year when I was there that I played guitar and some mandolin. Turns out his whole family makes up a bluegrass band called “Back To The Cross”. Well he asked if I happened to have a guitar with me. I said sure, and a mandolin, right there in my sleeper! The next morning before they started work, he and I were picking (him on banjo and me on guitar) and both of us having a great time. To make a long story short, I was “adopted” into the family band for one night to open a revival somewhere deep in southern Ohio at a nice little country church somewhere off of Rt 135 I think. I got a couple nods and did a few guitar breaks and they even backed me up on one of my own songs. I just I hope I didn’t wreck their family sound, but it was a wonderful experience. I’m not sure though if I could have done what you did and got up there alone. That takes alot of courage. You also made some new friends in doing so. And you got a free meal. Great job!
BTW, how’s the Jack Daniel’s distillery?
J.W.
Jack Daniels facility is a “must” go see. I was pretty impressed with the entire place. It’s a factory which consists of all kinds of old buildings that they still used today and the setting is up in a hollow with the buildings all spread out over a mile or so. They’ve done a fine job in making it a tourist attraction, the entire place is like a park. I’d suggest everyone go, lots of real American history there. Between walking down town and visiting the shops and the tour, a person can spend about 5 hours or so…is well worth it and I’d suggest that anyone that is traveling close to there and has 5 hours or so to burn to stop in and see it.
Hillsboro hunh? Great story also. If you are ever Chillicothe way on a Thursday then all my old “picking buddies” play downtown Chillicothe at a stained glass company. I used to make the drive from Enon/Dayton area to play with them every Thursday night.
Larry,
Yep momma and I are moving “back to the country”. We were both raised in the “sticks” of southern Ohio (Ironton area on the river right on the southern tip of Ohio). Since I am retired I am gonna put in an Orchard, put in maybe 2 acres of grapes (wine and jelly) and maybe have a few goats, chickens, rabbits, etc.
Back on Jack Daniels:
This pic is of momma at the cave up in the hollow. Is a nice stream running out of the cave here and they still use the water to this day to make the Whiskey. This is the place that Jack learned to make Whiskey at age 7 from a local preacher. He later purchased the land at around age 15 and had a bunch of employees by age 16. Guess it was the “Ghost” of Jack that made my camera white wash out?
http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh54/Oldhat1234/LethaampJack_zpsd514ee2b.jpg
— Begin quote from "Oldhat"
Fellas I have been absent as of late. As mentioned in another thread I purchased some property and a place to head off to and “homestead”. been doing a lot of work and here is the most recent labor of my love…tell me this place does not scream “bluegrass music”…we will officially move here over the next few weeks.
http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh54/Oldhat1234/17169696-cdb6-4f9a-8965-e92863e9a84b_zpsbcdf7792.jpg
— End quote
/quote
That looks like a great place to sleep and to relax, is it a retirement home or are you just movng on up ./ Nice home enjoy it to the fullest . Yes it screams bluegrass and country.
Welder:
We are actually downsizing a bit (House size) and moving to our new place as I am gonna “homestead” (for lack of better terms) and get back to my roots. I think I mentioned it before, but I currently live in one of the wealthiest Nashville suburbs of which was the wealthiest town in the U.S in 2010 based on cost of living (Brentwood Tn) we have 30k residents in my town and the average family income is around $180K a year. The wife and I looked at ourselves and said “This is not who we are” a year or so back and decided that a move to the country was needed, especially for our kids. I refuse to keep up with the neighbors such as Dolly, Faith Hill, Dave Ramsey, Most of the Tn Titan Football players, and a lot of other music stars that are neighbors, heck even Oprah has a 20K sq ft house down the road.
Call me a “prepper”, a “homesteader”, “anti-debt” guy or whatever, or one could just say “Oldhat is checking out from society and has no plans in returning”.
And yes, momma and I are gonna call this our “retirement home” even though she is still working (She is a Regional Director over 31 hospitals now, so she still faces the daily churn/rat race)…me, ah I may just never leave the place once I get settled in…just play my guitar, keep up with a few goats, chickens, plant a vineyard and make my own wine, grow a big garden and “piddle”…but most of all watch my 3 young kids (9,10, and 14) enjoy the freedom of owning property and spending most of their time outside (Momma and I have decided that we will make them stay outside like our mothers did when we were young). Yesterday we went and purchased 2 dirt bikes and a 4 wheeler for our kids, now all I need is a mini-tractor with all the attachments and we will be set!
Jesse, if I may suggest another addition, I think you could also a miniature goat. Carolyn and I used to visit a pair of them (stubby and chubby). They are fun critters.
Lets’s bump this thread up again…
As I was doing some chores around the house, I was thinking about this song and what John had suggested back near the start (what will we hear and what will we feel). The following verse is a bit humorous, so I don’t think it necessarily fits, but I thought I’d throw it out there for your perusing nonetheless:
What will we hear when we get to heaven,
a place with no crying, no sobs?
Will Bill Monroe be a-picking with me,
and the preachers, they won’t have a job?
I like it! Sing it with sincerity and it will fit right in.
The story behind:
“The preachers, they won’t have a job” line
I’ll put quotes to make it easy to read, although I don’t claim to be able to quote the conversation verbatim…
I lead the worship posse at my church. A visiting pastor came up to me and said, “Well I guess you are glad to know your position in heaven is secure.” I thought it was a bit forward, so I gave him a slightly puzzled look and said, “Yeah.” He laughed and said, “What I mean is that we read all through the Bible how in heaven, angels and people get to worship with music in the presence of the Lord. So… your job will be in demand up there. I hate to say it, but I don’t think there be much demand for me to give sermons.”
I thought it humorous (and insightful to boot… what will pastors do up there?.. talk about preaching to the choir), so it stuck with me.
I’ve got a little story to share about Jesse’s song:
Two weeks ago (Tuesday), there was an open mic and my wife decided she wanted to go and wanted me to sing something. Kind of odd, in that was the first time she had “requested” such a thing. We went and sang and had a good time. Most performers did it for a living, so the quality was great. Most sang originals, where I did a cover. The next morning, that inspired me to remember this song, so I pulled it out and “finished it up a bit.” I was pretty happy with it.
What I did not realize was that while we were at the open mic, a friend and neighbor had fallen and hit his head. As I was working on the song, he got checked into the hospital. By the time we found out about the accident (late that Thursday), it looked pretty bleak. We went and visited some with the family and friends assembled there. My friend passed away that following Sunday. On hearing the news, I sat back down to the song and re-wrote the second verse in a way more fitting of my departed friend. His memorial was last Saturday and I was asked to cover music for the service. My friend Pam, my wife and I sang Jesse’s song. The ladies did beautiful harmony for the choruses and it was very touching. I just wanted to give a shout out to Jesse, JW and everyone who has helped build this song to let them know that their efforts meant very much to some people they haven’t even met.
Perhaps we need a title for the song so we don’t keep calling it “Jesse’s song.”
Here are the lyrics as they were performed Saturday:
What will we see when we go on to Heaven,
what will be waiting inside?
Will there be mountains and trees
and stars to gaze on at night?
(refrain)
And what will I be, a new version of me
with a heart that has finally found home?
This much I know I will see my Lord
and the loved ones who’ve gone on before.
What will we feel when we go on to heaven
will our tired bodies get a fresh start?
There will be no more pain, crying or shame
As joy and love fill our hearts.
As I walk through the gates, into glory forever,
as I stand at the foot of His throne
will my Savior be smiling with me,
just happy to welcome me home?
Mike,
I’m real sorry to hear about you friend and neighbor. I will pray about this and his family.
This is remarkable, I was just thinking about that song and I’ve even been working on a mandolin break I came up with when Jesse first introduced it. It’s great that you were able to use this and I’m sure people were touched and comforted by it.
Maybe we could incorporate your friend’s name into the title of the song somehow. That may need to be Jesse’s call but I’d sure be for that.
Thanks for sharing your story. That alone is a blessing without even hearing the song. If you have a recording, I’m sure there’s many who would like to hear it.
— Begin quote from "jwpropane"
This is remarkable, I was just thinking about that song and I’ve even been working on a mandolin break I came up with when Jesse first introduced it.
— End quote
Interesting… very interesting. I didn’t come out and say it, but my reason for including the backstory about the timing was that it was pretty amazing to witness. Why would I all the sudden (without knowledge of my friend’s accident) start working on this three years later only to have it ready to go just when it was needed? There is more to this world than we can perceive. I’ve got my own thoughts about how that worked and to whom one should give credit (the basis of my thoughts can be found, in part, in John 14:15-17).
There was some recording going on, but I don’t know how they came out. It was a beautiful old church that had a large, high ceiling sanctuary and the live sound was very nice. I look forward to hearing the recordings to see if it translated well to that medium. Regardless, I’ll probably make a home recording with Carolyn and Pam for my friend’s family and I’ll post it if I do.
I look forward to hearing the mandolin break.
Jesse doesn’t currently have access to the forum, but he sent me an email and said I could post from it. From here on, it’s Jesse:
Things are growing great for me, thanks for asking.
Well for starters I’ll say that I am sorry to hear about your friend. Always tough losing loved ones, but as you probably know, they really never ever leave and are always with us.
I appreciate the recognition on “the song”, however it’s not really “my song”. It’s “our song”, with “our” being you and the folks here at Ben’s site. I simply just came up with a melody and the first verse, you and others chipped in and we ended up with what you have now.
Music is never to be owned in my mind, it’s something that we all should share, enjoy, express our emotions within, and relish…kind of like friends who have passed on.
I’d love to hear you guys performing it. Any chance to get recording?