Receieved an extremely nice letter from Ann Marie Dopyera West, daughter of John Dopyera. Very informative letter, lot's of information about her parents, where John was born, etc. Very special to me, to say the least. Such an honor for me! I had the extreme honor and pleasure of getting to meet Ann personally at a house concert in Chehalis, Washington. Ann, along with my friends Danny Allison and Trapper Wyatt paid me a vist that evening. It was such a pleasure to sit down with Ann and visit with her about her family, the Dopyera's and some of the history of the Dobro.

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.

I endorse Black Diamond Strings, Bradley Bars and Capos, MartinG Custom Straps and Harlow Resonator Guitars, of which I now have my own signature model, The Stobro. Their 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

To purchase any of my 4 available cd's,(JOSH, Stobro's Blues, Trnava, Journey (all gospel) e-mail me at stobro44@hotmail.com

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