Friday, May 16! 8pm! The Rosine Barn Jamboree! Be there or be square!
Obviously, Kevin and I go way back, but it was so long ago that I can’t remember the very first time we sang together.
As far back as the 80’s, I can recall us singing “Yesterday” by the Beatles. Just for family. And acapella! That was our earliest duet, but I’m not certain that we harmonized. I believe our voices just blended well, even singing in unison.
By the early 90’s, we could play a little guitar for accompaniment. Papaw Tom died in ‘93, so we would visit Mamaw Eva and play and sing for her gathered around the kitchen table.
In 1992, a barn in Rosine, right beside her house, was transformed into a bluegrass music venue called The Old Barn Jamboree. Imagine that! A few years later that barn would officially become known as The Rosine Barn Jamboree.
She pushed us to walk next door and play and sing. We did—for her. She loved hearing us do “Will the Circle Be Unbroken.”
Another song she loved was “Yard Sale” by Sammy Kershaw because her son Ronnie (our uncle) sang it all the time.
You might not believe it, but Kevin and I were frowned upon when we sang that song and other country songs at the barn.
Back then the bluegrassers were fiercely protective of that barn; they wanted it to be a strictly-bluegrass venue.
Nevertheless, as long as Mamaw Eva wanted to hear us sing, we did, even when she grew so frail all she could manage was sitting on her porch and listening from there. We just sang even louder!
She passed in 1996, and Kevin and I didn’t go back there to sing for many years to come. We kept singing, just not there.
The same year she passed, I remember singing with Kevin when I was gigging with High Water. He was living and working in Jasper, Indiana, (and gigging with his own band)but would often come home on the weekends. We would do a few songs together between High Water sets.
Sometimes, on those same nights, Kevin would do a few songs solo; “Please Come to Boston” was a crowd favorite. Mine, too! Maybe I can talk him into doing it again?
At that time we were doing almost exclusively country music songs. One bluegrass song we did, though, was the Reno and Smiley classic “I Know You’re Married, But I Love You Still.” We learned it from Uncle Ronnie and family friend Raymond Barton.
(on the hill in the 80’s…Uncle Ronnie on the far left, at the mic…Raymond Barton, far right, with the high tenor )
Undoubtedly, Ronnie’s and Raymond’s harmonies drew us to “I Know You’re Married…” Their voices will always be with me. In fact, when I was compiling poetry for my 2005 book Monroe Country, I included one poem about their influence.
After Uncle Ronnie unexpectedly passed in 1994 from a heart attack, Kevin and I sang with Raymond Barton some. However, our voices never blended as well with his—as his and Ronnie’s did.
Boy, do I miss their singing!
Now, remember that in the 90’s, specifically ‘93 to ‘98, I was working on my playThe Old Home. I suspect writing about Bill Monroe was slowly drawing me closer to his music.
Having lived in the Monroe homestead as a boy, I was always aware of his story and legend. I remember at a tavern in Virginia in 1989—when I was 22 and homesick—asking the house band to play “Uncle Pen.”
I proudly told them I was from Rosine, Ky, home of Bill Monroe and Bluegrass music. They obliged, and I was able to feel a little closer to home.
I loved the song and still do, but at that time I could not play “Uncle Pen”—or sing it. I can’t remember the year I learned it, but I do remember Campbell Mercer coming to town in 2000 and initiating the Rosine Project!
I had finished The Old Home in 1998, so in 2001 I introduced myself to Mr. Mercer and told him about my play.
As I became heavily involved in the Rosine Project, I couldn’t help but go deeper into the music.
As did Kevin! And we began playing together more and more in public.
(at The Rosine Barn Jamboree in 2005)
In 2005 my first Monroe Country book came out. Kevin and I started doing shows around the state using the book to bring attention to Jerusalem Ridge and the Bill Monroe Foundation’s mission.
We had a huge supporting cast that graciously gave their time to make those shows a success. Two standout bands that travelled from far away to contribute were Mountain Rhythm (Georgia) and The Joe and Melanie Johnson Band (Alabama).
(at a Monroe Country show, ‘06-‘09)
By the time 2008 came around, I could play “Uncle Pen” and quite a few other Monroe songs and tunes. In addition, I had written and arranged a number of original bluegrass songs.
Kevin himself had become quite the guitar picker and singer and songwriter. Taken together, my brother and I had made enough music we were ready to try a recording project.
(recording at Kevin and Jennifer’s house)
We recorded all twelve tracks in different rooms throughout Kevin and Jennifer’s house in one-and-a-half days.
Mike Aiken engineered, mixed, and mastered our cd. He came up from Georgia with three-fourths of Mountain Rhythm: Kenneth Newell, Kevin Pace, and Robert Montgomery.
Those three put down the guitar, banjo, mandolin, and bass tracks. Bluegrass Boy Mike Feagan drove up from Nashville to fiddle for us.
Other contributors were Campbell and Julie Mercer (mandolin and vocals) and Sarah Elizabeth (vocals).
(album cover from ‘08 project, photo taken near the peak of Jerusalem Ridge by David Baerg, Kevin’s brother-in-law)
When it was all said and done, we had an album debut concert in the Community Center in Hartford, Ky. And we also played at a couple festivals in Georgia and Indiana.
We’ve been the Autry Brothers ever since. We still have cd’s, so we give some to The Rosine Barn Jamboree to sell and raise funds. We play there a couple times every year.
(at The Rosine Barn Jamboree, August, 2022, notice the Monroe prints )
I’m going to guess that when we take the stage at The Rosine Barn Jamboree next Friday, May 16, at 8 pm, we will have been singing together for close to forty years now.
Out of all the shows I’ve done and still do, I look forward to performing as one-half of the Autry Brothers most of all.
I pray we continue to make music for years to come, right on into our oldest age.