LOARFEST 2006 :
What a blast it was hanging out with so many legendary musicians, instrument makers, and collectors at Supergrass. Some folks like Gibson's Charlie Derrington and the F-5 Journal's Darryl Wolfe I had known through e-mails and phone calls but had never met...So what a treat to meet Charlie right at the airport terminal and have him throw a couple Loars in my lap before I could even grab my luggage. And how cool it was to hang out in Darryl's hotel room for hours pouring over his 30+ years of collected research and info on Lloyd Loar instruments.

Other folks like Tony Williamson, Mike Marshall and Mike Compton I met for the first time. I had the pleasure of spending an afternoon with Tony Williamson and Dan Beimborn talking, playing and recording some comparisons my F-5 and his Loar. Fellow builders Hans Brentrup, Michael Lewis and Tom Ellis I had only known by reputation and it was indeed a pleasure to meet and spend some time with them talking shop.

Tom Rozum came by the room for a visit and taught me how to blow into an F-hole and play mandolin as a woodwind ...Nahh! Actually it's a quick technique for determining the resonant frequency of the mandolin's soundbox and is gauranteed to make you look and feel rediculous. Anyway I did learn something, and it was fun to get to hang out a bit with Tom, and a treat to hear him play my latest F-5.

The performances at Supergrass were top notch and I'm a new fan of a bunch of them. Lost & Found, The Brothers Barton and The Cherryholmes Family were new discoveries for me. Nashville Bluegrass Band I'd only known from recordings and never seen live before. Blue Highway and Doyle Lawson were familiar favorites I'd go see again anyday. The impromptu "Lloyd Loar Quintet" featuring Reischman, Rozum, Marshall, Williamson and Compton all playing Feb.18 '24 Loars was a mind blower for mando fans.

Overall it was just an amazing festival. I'd like to convey a special thanks to Hal Johnson, Craig Wilson and the California Blugrass Association for making this whole thing happen.


After the festival I flew to Vancouver for a couple days and had the great pleasure of a visit and private lesson with John Reischman. John's music was partly responsible for me getting into bluegrass and F-5 mandolins in the first place, so it was cool to hang out with him for an afternoon. He opened my eyes to many aspects of his playing , showed me some of his tunes, and also fed me a pretty decent espresso....What a great end to my trip. Thanks John!

-JW