I admit it... I love Bluegrass music and it's Clint Eastwood's fault!

That's right, banjo pickin, fiddle strings, Mandolin strummin.... good ol' bluegrass music. It's toe tapping, jig inspiring, and I can barely keep my butt in the chair when I listen to it.

I like it the same way I like Jazz - improvisational, each musician building on each other's performance. I like how Bluegrass has multiple vocalists... melody, harmony and other complementary tones, working together as a team... each bringing their own special sauce to the party.

I like how it makes me feel - happy and optimistic.... while some have said it's an off shoot of country music (and I'm not talkin' bout Shania Twain type of country)... I find it much more upbeat and inspiring than the old country standbys. And it removes me from our current drag of a relaity - the work, the economy, the weather. It's always a warm summer evening when I hear bluegrass.

I also like cowboy music - yodeling and all.... I've even thought of taking yodeling lessons. I admire the agility of these vocalist's chords. I have little ability to carry a real tune, maybe yodeling provides some margin for error on the tone?

I blame my hippie parents for both of these attractions. After all, My mother did ride around on horseback in Northern California with Clint Eastwood as a college student. Playing cowboy tunes on her old Patrician guitar, singing by the campfire.

Clearly, she passed something along in the DNA she provided for me..... and I still think it's Cousin Clint's fault!