I got my first guitar, an Oahu Hawaiian, at age 14 from my Grandpa, who also paid for some lessons for my cousin and me. We didn’t learn to read the music, so we dropped the lessons and learned to play some by ear. A neighborhood fiddle player had no one to accompany him, so he taught us when and where to change the chords, rhythm, timing, discipline, patience, and stamina.
About that time, another family moved into the neighborhood whose older brother played rhythm guitar. I then had the chance to play some back-up and lead to the Jimmy Rogers songs that he played and sang. He would sometimes take me along to his early morning radio program to play live over local radio station KASI in Ames, Iowa.
At age 18, I joined the U.S. Navy, where I salvaged parts from a broken electric guitar and made myself a lap steel. I played that for about a year until a friend brought me a double-neck steel guitar he bought in Yokuska, Japan. We would play with other musicians when at sea every weekend. This was during the 1950’s when country music was experiencing many new artists and music styles and we tried to learn some of all of it.
After completing my enlistment in the Navy, I played some in clubs, at dances and many weekend jam sessions. In the late 70’s, a friend, Bob Quillen, asked me and my wife to start a bluegrass band with him and a young banjo player named Martin Tieg. Knowing nothing about Bluegrass music myself, we had to practice, practice, and practice until eventually, Bob got us a few bookings at some Iowa festivals, soup suppers, and churches.
I played guitar early on and would switch back and forth with Bob on rhythm and lead. We did a lot of Gospel songs on our shows and a friend asked why I didn’t play steel guitar on those, not knowing electric instruments were never used in most Bluegrass bands. He offered to loan me his Grandfather’s old “Dobro†to use and to give another sound to our Gospel and slower tempo material. I gradually would use the Dobro on one or two songs, then three or four and finally full time.
We had our “Boone County Bluegrass Band†for about 15 years. During that time, Bob and some friends formed a Bluegrass Gospel Club and put on all Gospel music festivals in Colfax, Iowa. That project went on for 13 years and was something we were extremely thankful for.
After Boone County, I joined the Down Home Bluegrass Band led by Lonnie Dunn out of Monett, Missouri. I was part of Down Home for nearly 20 years until 2006. During that time, I also played with the Vern Young Band and got to record with both bands. I still play with Vern Young out of Lamar, Missouri. That’s about it from 1948 to 2006.
In 2006, my nephew, Randy Kohrs, invited me to come to his home in Nashville to record this CD of myself with him and some other professional musicians at his studio. I have yet to come back to Earth after this so special experience!!! Thank you, Randy!!