Children Love Bluegrass Music

Children seem to love bluegrass music. Whenever I am at a festival or other place where they are playing live bluegrass music I always notice how the children love it. You often see them wanting to get up and dance long before the adults do.

My own daughter enjoys bluegrass music and depending upon when you ask her she will tell you that her favorite instrument is either the banjo or the mandolin. It really does my heart good to see her smiling and dancing and talking about "that banjo music". Naturally, I try to take her with me to hear live bluegrass music whenever I can. In the photo on the left my daughter is enjoying live bluegrass at Mandolin Farm near Flemingsburg, Kentucky.

The last time I went to a bluegrass show was at Rattlesnake Ridge. I took my middle daughter and my oldest grandson with me that evening. My grandson likes bluegrass music too but he tends to get a little impatient after awhile and says, "papaw, when are we leaving?" I think he gets a little 'stir crazy' and just doesn't like to sit still too long.

There are a lot of young people playing bluegrass music and I think that is really awesome. I mean it! It gives me more hope for the future of music when I see people like Chaston Carroll, only 16 years old at the time of this writing, playing so well. Chaston plays mandolin for David Carroll and New River Line and he does an excellent job at it. Chaston's father, David Carroll, told me that Chaston has been fascinated with bluegrass and the mandolin since he was very small and he put in a great deal of time with his practicing. That's what it takes; desire and dedication.

This past summer there were children as young as 8 years old competing in youth contests on fiddle, banjo, mandolin, etc. To me it is an amazing sight to see such young folk with so much talent and drive.

If you have a child who gets into music do everything you can to encourage them, you never know you could be the parent of the next "Bill Monroe"!