On The Backroads By The Rivers of My Memory

John Hartford has been gone for 5 years this past June. He was probably one of the most creative and unique individuals I have ever known, from his music down to his beautiful, calligraphy handwriting.

I miss the New Year's parties at John and Marie's, that would last for 3 days. Marie would serve homemade vegetable soup, not in paper bowls, but, nice, china bowls.

Some of my favorite memories, ever, were the Cluster Pluckers pickin' in the hot tub..

Mark O'Connor sitting on the bed, changing his fiddle strings, (and me swiping the old ones that I still have) while people like Roy Acuff, Bill Monroe, Grandpa Jones and others wandered in and out of rooms...

Grilling Harlan Howard about songs he had written, reminding him of some he had forgotten about...

Meeting my future mother in law for the first time, nearly two years before I met her son. Great times.

This has always been one of my favorite John Hartford tunes. The quality is bad, but, the beauty is still there.

Playing with him are Mark Howard, looks like Cowboy Jack Clement, on guitar, Jonathan Yudkin, Holly O'Dell and Ruth McGinnis on fiddles and the late Roy Huskey, Jr. on bass.

Enjoy.