Check out the "Photo" page and see some of my favorite pickers.  What an honor to spend a few hours with Vince, Earl, Carl !! Just does not get any better than to have the opportunity  to pick Pike County Breakdown with the legend who wrote it.

Will rejoin my old friend Frank Ray and Cedar Hill for 2009. Looking forward to playing in the U.S., as well as Canada. Proud and excited to announce the new line up for Cedar Hill. 1.Frank Ray: mandolin and vocals. 2.Bradford Lee Folk: vocals, guitar, bass. Brit McGarity: Vocals, guitar, bass. Mark Vaccaro: fiddle. Jimmie Bunch: banjo, vocals. Ferrell Stowe: Harlow Resonator Guitar.

My debt to Josh Graves is immeasurable. As a shy, introverted teenager, I would get up by 5:45 in the morning just to listen to Martha White Show over WSM. Joshs' music so captivated me, I named my only son Josh in his honor. I would work hours on end to try and do the same licks he was doin' and get that famous tone he had goin' on. That music gave me purpose and a sense of accomplishment and confidence that I had been lacking. There are only two dates in history that I can tell you where I was when the events happened. One was 9/11 and the other was hearing over the radio that Flatt and Scruggs had broken up. I realize that breakup pales in comparison to that tragic day in New York, but it sure did stick in my memory. Though I try to do my own style, I can never get away from the influence that Josh had upon me. It's still there and it's something I'm very proud of. No one will ever duplicate the soul and tone Josh had, but his influence on me hopefully shows up in the bluesy, close to the melody," less is more" approach to the resonator that I try to convey.

To me,seeing how many musical notes per measure you can slam in, is akin to an auctioneer preaching a sermon. You hear all the words, yet they have no emotion or meaning. I have enough years on me to remember when the banjo went through the melodic stage and runnin' scales on the mandolin was the "in" thing to do. I have also watched the banjo return to Scruggs being cool and Monroe style mandolin being hip again. Not to say that they weren't always cool and hip, just that the emphasis seemed to have shifted away from their styles, then shift back. I only hope that I am around when the resonator guitar makes that inevitable full circle.

"We are most productive when we focus on a very small number of projects to which we can devote a large amount of attention." Albert Einstien

To bring the same thought over into the musical realm: " We are most productive when we focus on a very small number of notes to which we can devote a large amount of attention" R. Eddie Davidson

I endorse Black Diamond Strings, Bradley Bars and Capos and Harlow Resonator Guitars, of which I now have my own signature model, The Stobro. These folks contribution to any success I have or will have is so appreciated.

Interested in buying MP3 s of Stobro's Blues? Click on the link below.

FERRELL STOWE: Stobro's Blues
http://cdbaby.com/cd/ferrellstowe

Email Ferrell at stobro44@hotmail.com

Be sure and check out and sign the guestbook and have a look at the photo section.