Episode 5: Astor Taylor - East Ky Tyme!

This week on Five String Holler, we pull up a chair on the front porch with Eastern Kentucky bluegrass legend Astor Taylor. For more than 40 years, Astor has been a fixture in the mountain music scene, carrying the traditions of bluegrass from local stages to festivals across the country.

A Vietnam veteran, retired coal miner, and longtime frontman of the legendary East Ky Tyme, Astor shares stories from a lifetime spent making music. From picking all over the region to spending time with icons like Ralph Stanley and Bill Monroe, his memories offer a firsthand look at a golden era of bluegrass music.

Join us as Astor reflects on his life, his music, the people he met along the way, and the traditions that helped shape the sound of Eastern Kentucky. It’s an honest conversation full of history, laughter, and stories that deserve to be preserved.

Pull up a chair and listen in—this is one you won’t want to miss.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:36

Hello, folks. Good evening. Welcome to another edition of Five String Holler Podcast with your host, David Banjo Barnett. I want to thank you folks so much for the support you've shown me so far. We've gotten a great response from this podcast. Thank you for sharing, liking our page, telling your friends and your grandma and your mom and your dad about us. We sure do appreciate it. And I thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the support. But uh today, episode five. Episode five of the podcast. And this is gonna be a dandy episode because I have with me one of the finest fellers in Eastern Kentucky. I'm excited about this episode. This guy here is a living legend around here in Bluegrass Music. He's played for over 40-something years. He is a veteran, he served our country in Vietnam, a retired coal miner, and this guy was the first person to get me on stage with my banjo when I was about 12 years old. And uh I swear I just love him to death, and I'm so excited to have him here. And would you please give a warm welcome to my good friend, Mr. Astor Taylor? Thank you, David. It's good to be with you today, buddy. Buddy, I'm so glad to have you on here. This is gonna be a good episode. Well, I certainly hope so. You are a living legend, my friend.

SPEAKER_01 1:52

Well, I I've been playing a long time, David. I played 42 years total. 42 years. 42 years total. Had two bands in 42 years.

SPEAKER_00 2:02

That's pretty good. That's keeping them together a long time.

SPEAKER_01 2:05

It is. Yep. I started out playing uh when I was 16 years old, playing a guitar. Did you so you did you grow up in Crafts Collie? Do I know? Did you grow up in Crafts Collie? No. Oh, middle school? Yeah. Like where'd you grow up at? Oh, right here where I'm at.

SPEAKER_00 2:23

Really?

SPEAKER_01 2:24

Right here where we're at. Okay. Yeah. But anyway, I started up playing when I was 16 years old, playing a guitar. And the first song I I learned was Ha ha ha ha. Little Brown Joe knows I love thee. Really? I learned it. I learned that myself. Then after that, it just came to me nasty and then I kept right on going, but you know. Little Brown Joe is first song. First song I ever sang, yep. Wow. Yep. That's the first thing I ever learned to play, too. Do you remember where you were at when you sang it? In the Daphus, Indiana. Where was that? My brother-in-law taught me three chords. He taught me G C and D, and he said, here's a song you learn it on. So I did. You remember what guitar you had? Lord, I don't remember. I believe it was uh Everest, I believe it was, David. I believe Everest back then.

SPEAKER_00 3:25

So growing up back then, was there anybody else around you that played music or? No.

SPEAKER_01 3:32

Well, my brother-in-law uh played, he played music, you know. And then uh I was playing along with him some, and then I moved back to Kentucky and then when I did I started playing country and rock and roll. First I played country. Didn't like that. So I went to bluegrass and stayed with bluegrass all them years. So I played uh I played just about in every state. Just about in every state, David. I played in and uh like I said we had two bands, East Kentucky Grass and East Kentucky Time. So when did East Kentucky Grass start? Oh Lord Mercy, I don't remember what it was, David. It's probably in the 70s. In the 70s. 70s, yeah. That was East Kentucky Time started. See, I never played with a band. And until I learned really good how to play. Then I started picking up, played some with Estel Collins down here. I remember Estel. Yeah, I played some with him and Jesse Collis, played with him. Remember Jesse. And uh of course there's several of them around here that we played with, you know. But anyway, uh we played all over the place during the Eastern Kentucky time days. I played Ralph Stanley's Festival seven years in a row. And we was on stage at Ralph Stanley's Festival one time. You know, they always get all the bands up at the last song, you know. They were doing uh Little Circle Beyond Broken. I was right up there, boy. I was top cat, I thought. Me up there, I was up there, Bill Monroe, Larry Sparks, Ralph Stanley, Melvin Gorens, uh Johnson Mountain Boys, uh, the uh gospel band uh oh my goodness. I was trying to think of what their names was. Uh the Lewis family? No, no, no, it wasn't Lewis family. Well, I played with them too before, but it wasn't Lewis family. It was uh Oh my goodness, I forgot what their names was. Marshall family. Marshall family, that's who it was. That's when the dad was still living, you know.

SPEAKER_00 5:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:54

And uh he was singing bass for them, you know. Anyway, uh back uh back I was we I was all on stage, you know, and God almighty, they was every one of the big time bands was on stage. So I was standing there and they asked me, said, do a verse I asked her. I just stepped right that mic like a big dog, son. I done that verse. Everything kept right on going, but boy, I thought I was I was in hog heaving then. Well, I'd say you was, I would be. Yep, then uh over the years I've played with Ralph Stanley, I've sang with Ralph Stanley. And uh I've been on about every one of them bus, every one of them. But now I'm gonna tell you something. Dave Evans, buddy, was one of the top notches. Oh yeah, I love Dave Evans. He was up there at that time too. He was on stage at that time. Uh, but anyway, he was a top-notch singer and bluegrass and entertainer. Oh yeah. He was an entertainer on stage. And that's what it takes, David, to make a make a uh bluegrass band. It takes an entertainer. You've got to entertain the people. You gotta have an audience in the palm of your hand. That's exactly what you have to do, buddy. Yes, sir. Anyway, uh over the years I played uh well, I played all over, like I said, I played several, several years. Uh I played, oh my goodness, I don't know how many states I played all over the country. Traveled a lot. I'd I I went to I went to work on Friday and I leave on Friday. And then uh I would uh come back home Sunday. I was on the road the whole weekend. Back then it didn't make no money though. Yeah. That's that's the thing about back then, you know, they didn't pay nothing. Back then, you know, you could uh you could hire Ralph Stanley for $450. I'd say you could. Yeah, you could back in them days, you know. And uh back then that was a lot of money, though, $450. It was a lot of money. I don't know where you ever heard tell about uh Lester Flat Neural Strugs. You know where they made their start at? I mean, it was with Bill, I know. Hyman, Kentucky. They was playing in Hyman, Kentucky, and they made uh $650. Lester called his wife, said, We're going on the road, so we've made $650. That's that's from Hymen, Kentucky, when they said that, yeah. Anyway, uh oh I I played and I've been playing out and he standing there with Bill Monday. It was great friends of mine, Bill, and every one of them. Uh somebody asked Bill, stepped up beside us, sir, and said, Bill, what do you think about that being up there? He said, Well, they just good enough to be bad. That's what he said. Yeah. I've written several songs and uh I uh at uh Wayne Taylor wanted to record my song, but he didn't want to use my words. He wanted to he wanted to put put his verses in it and I wouldn't let him. I said, no. You can't uh you can't record my song the way I wrote it, then I don't want you recording it. Yeah. So I I didn't want him to re-record my song. Mm-mm. So he'd have his name on it, it's what it was. So, you know, he didn't write the song I did. Right, right. But he won't record it bad. Is that to Wayne Taylor from Blue Highway? Yeah, from Blue Highway, yeah. Yep. Wayne Taylor from Blue Highway, yep. And uh, but Lord I love playing bluegrass music. And uh last year I did. I had uh artery right side my neck stopped up solid. Then it hit me off stage. And uh that's the last last I played, that last show I played. But anyway, I've uh I've really enjoyed playing bluegrass music all these years. And I met some fantastic people, bluegrass music. I played just about every festival they are around. All over this country. And I played some big festivals too, you know. I played Larry Spark's festival one time. Mm-hmm when he had his festival going years ago. I played his festival. And uh never did get to play bean bean blossom. I wanna always want to play that one, but I never did get to play it.

SPEAKER_00 10:52

I ain't never played bean neither. I've never been usually people well, I mean nowadays people just call me when they need me, but I ain't never made it that way yet. Well, I sure I wanted to play it bad.

SPEAKER_01 11:03

I played up in Dayton, Ohio. That's a big festival. We played Dayton up there and there was a thousand people sitting in front of us. Anyway, they uh I sold every C D we had up there and everything that day. Did you? Well, there was a country band on the lower end of us. You couldn't even hear that country band. They just four away in the same same area. Straight across from us there was an old timey band. Clawhammer, you know. Yeah. They were playing. Just a big music festival, I guess. Oh yes what it is. Yeah, a big music festival. It's Kentucky and Ohio and Indiana. What it's called. I had a really lot of fun up there too though. But now back back in the later part of my career, I made some good money. I made some real good money. Uh my banjo player the money he made off playing music with me. He uh he built that studio he's got up there. The money he made playing music with me. That's good. Boy Davis started playing with me. You know, he played rock and roll all the time. Yeah. So I I I got to talk to him and he came to playing bass for me, singing baritone. One of the best baritone men in the country. He's he's just natural. Yeah. Anyway, he uh he said, Can I tell you something, Bastard? I said, what's that? He said, Buddy, you have taught me more about talking to the people and everything and getting the people on your side than anybody I ever seen in my life. I said, Well, boy, that's what you do.

SPEAKER_00 12:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 12:55

You have to talk to the people, your crowd. You know, that that keeps your crowd on your side. That's what it does, you know.

SPEAKER_00 13:04

Well, now one thing I will say about you is you are a man that knows exactly how to get the people to come to your shows because I remember when I first started coming around to the bluegrass places, uh you'd always call Nanny's house and say, You coming to watch us play tonight? That's what it takes. I mean, you you know, you one thing about you worked, you people, and they they followed you everywhere you went.

SPEAKER_01 13:28

They sure did. I had a crowd that followed me everywhere. They would. Yeah, no matter where I went. Uh anyway, they uh when we uh board, me and board were talking, you know, and he said, he said, you you have taught me a lot. I said, now boy, I'm gonna tell you something. That is what you have to do. You have to talk to your crowd, get them on your side. Exactly what you have to do. And said, I said, once you get your crowd, you I don't care what you play on stage, they love it. I opened up for Dave Evans and uh and we're going to overtown grade school. Anyway, uh they said, Come here, minute, Nastra. I said, Oh, what is it? We stepped in another room there, you know. He said, You want me to tell you how you wrote write a good song? He said, once you write that song and you sit down and play it to yourself and you cry, that's a hit song for you. That's what he said. Well that makes sense. Huh? It makes sense. Well, that's exactly what he said. He said, then you've got a good song. I can see that.

SPEAKER_00 14:49

That makes that makes sense. It does. Yeah, it does. I wrote some songs for that, yeah, you know, you kind of tear up when you're writing them, and I'm thinking, well, that's that's hitting pretty good, you know.

SPEAKER_01 15:00

Yep. That's what that's what uh Dave said. So when you sing one to yourself and you start crying, you got a hit song. So and he had several.

SPEAKER_00 15:11

Oh, yeah, he was a cool cat. I loved hanging out with him. I did too. He uh he told us all kinds of stories. He wrote a lot of his stuff when he was, you know, spent a little time in the prison as a guest of the state. Yeah. In his uh uh prison suite, as he called it. Yeah. But he wrote a lot of good songs during that time, though.

SPEAKER_01 15:32

He sure did. Amen. Probably one of his big ones was one loaf of bread, wasn't it?

SPEAKER_00 15:39

Oh, yeah, definitely. Definitely. One of the best songs he ever wrote. Everybody, everywhere you go, people see you playing bluegrass nine out of ten times, that's one of the songs they holler out. They'll ask that for that. Yep. And you know, he wrote Highway 52 when he was young. I know it. And Don Reno and Red Smiley was, I think they recorded it. I know they played it on live shows. Yep, they did. But he, you know, he wrote that when he was, I think, 13 years old, is what he did. Yeah, he was real young. You know, something like that. He was real young.

SPEAKER_01 16:09

So he was. You know, he told me that uh Dave did uh you know everybody's signing petitions to get him out of prison. Yeah. He said, Esther, y'all didn't know, but said y'all was hurting me the worst in the world. By everybody doing that.

SPEAKER_00 16:23

Really?

SPEAKER_01 16:24

That's what he said. Wow. While I was in there, he said that's hurting me worse than it was anybody. About getting out early, you know.

SPEAKER_00 16:34

Right. So I know that man was well loved. He sure was. Oh yes. Yes, he was. I mean he's one of the figures in bluegrass. We uh we we always he always comes up conversations because man, the soul, just the raw emotion that guy could put into his thing, and I mean it's he had the soul in the heart. It was oozing out. Yes, sir. I I tell people all the time, if you if you uh if you listen to Dave Evans and you don't feel nothing, you ain't got a heart. That's right. You're right. You're right about that. So one day I was hunting through Facebook there and I saw this picture, and it was way back in the day when when you was you was younger, which of course uh one one thing people want to know, Astrid, is how do you keep that hair looking that good? Well, I mean your hair looks as good as it did 30 years ago.

SPEAKER_01 17:36

I always tell everybody now, I won't have gray hair as long as Walmart says black hair.

SPEAKER_00 17:45

But I was I was looking at this picture here, and you all was standing on an open bed trailer somewhere, and it was Jesse Collins playing the banjo, it was Esther playing the uh mandolin, you playing the guitar, and Chuck Johnson playing the guitar. And there's a guy playing the bass off to the side. What what was what band was that?

SPEAKER_01 18:06

Wendus Collins. Wendis that was Wendus Collins.

SPEAKER_00 18:09

He played the bass.

SPEAKER_01 18:10

Yeah, he played bass. Most time he sat on top of the bass. So what what band was that? East Kentucky Time. Or East Kentucky Grass. East Kentucky Grass rather. Yeah. Yep. Anyway, uh, I was gonna tell you we uh opened up for Bill Monroe and Dal Stanley over at J.J. Caley High School. They got us to come over and open up for them. So I went over and opened up for them. Well, we all back in the back stager and Ralph opened that at uh Banjo Case come out with about a half a pint of liquor. Have one of them old cork storks, you know, yeah. Corks down the top of it. Yeah. Anyway, he uh he he opened it up, took a big sweet, and he said, That clears my neck out. Say, sure, you want to drink as I said, no, I don't believe it do. Yes, Bill Monroe if he wanted something, he wouldn't take it. But I learned a lot from the older bluegrass, bluegrass, you know. They taught me a lot. They taught me a lot, buddy. Now Bill Monroe, well, I'd say a most consistent fella is Larry Sparks. Buddy, once that man goes on stage, he is all business. Now he he's not like that today. But now years ago in his younger days, son, your tire wasn't right, he would fix it for you. Now that's that's the kind of man he was on stage, buddy.

SPEAKER_00 19:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:59

When you hit that stage, you was fully dressed where you're supposed to look. Right. And that's the way, of course, we our latter, latter part of our years, we started all dressing alike, you know.

SPEAKER_00 20:10

Oh, I remember you all had the you all had good-looking suits back in the yeah. Yeah, oh yeah. Uh especially you played the country cab and you all always dressed up over there.

SPEAKER_01 20:19

Oh yeah, we always these certain places we would, you know. Here around local we never did, you know, but sometimes every once in a while.

SPEAKER_00 20:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 20:27

But any any other place we played, we always dressed alike, you know. And I think that well. Bill Monroe told me one time. He said, You don't go out there on stage looking like the audits. That's what he told me. That's right. And I I remembered it all them years. I can see that. Yep. That's what he said now. He said, you don't go out on stage looking like the audits. That makes sense. Yeah. Well, they respect you more, I think.

SPEAKER_00 21:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:02

Nowadays, you well, heads on to them what to come out there about. You know.

SPEAKER_00 21:07

I've only worked with a couple of bands where they wanted you like to dress up and you know, dress clothes. I mean, most of them they don't no more. No, that's what I'm talking about. Very seldom I've not I've had to wear a jacket maybe uh seven times in my whole career, I guess. How long have you been playing now, David? I started playing guitar and I was five years old, and I picked the banjo up and I was ten. I'm 33 now.

SPEAKER_01 21:36

Oh playing a long time. You're one of the best banjo players in this country. I don't know about that. I'm telling you, buddy. I just thumb around. I enjoy it though. Well, I I enjoyed it back in the day, you know, when I was able, you know. I'm just not able no more. I'm seventy nine years old, so You still look good for seventy nine. I mean, I've had uh I've had some great times, you know. Well, I mean I had some great time to play music. Oh we uh we recorded uh eight albums all total. We had uh had two gospel atoms and uh six bluegrass albums. Yep. I had Billy Baker playing with me on on one of them. I remember Billy. Yeah, Billy, great fiddle player, played with me a mono and played with uh God, I forget what I was like last. He played with uh I was trying to think of what that guy's name was. He's not well known, you know, but he played with him. He professional, but he he wasn't he's not well known, you know. Right. Now when he went on stage, son, he was in none of his business too. Really? Yes, sir. He was business when he got on that stage. He didn't uh he he didn't want to get up there and do a bad show or nothing, buddy.

SPEAKER_02 23:07

Mm-mm.

SPEAKER_00 23:08

I mean that's you know that's I I always try to do my best, so I can't necessarily blame him. Well I don't I don't blame him either, you know.

SPEAKER_01 23:16

That's that's what makes you good. Yeah. And people love to listen to good music. They do. They do. You know, I I've heard a lot of them on stage, Lord and mercy, they're pitiful. Yeah. I mean, I I I said if I couldn't play no better than that, I would quit. And I would have.

SPEAKER_00 23:45

I always I always like to do my best though when I get on stage. Well I do too, but if I'm in public, you know, I like to, you know, I don't expect to be like perfect, perfect.

SPEAKER_01 23:56

No, but you want to be perfect, it can be. Yeah, yeah. Yep. That's the way I was. Yep, all them years, you know. Back years ago, now uh Ralph and Curly Ray followed us everywhere we went. Where we playing a show, here come Curly Ray, that fiddle and Ralph that banjo. Come wherever we was playing that. Well yeah. I got a I got a recording of me and Ralph singing together at one of my shows. Ralph got his banjo and I uh Curly Ray's right on stage with us. Really?

SPEAKER_02 24:34

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_01 24:34

Yep. That's cool. Where was that at, you remember? Yes, Cowan, or Cowden Community Center. Yep. Had a house full of, of course it wasn't a real big place, but he had the full house full. Right. But most of time it was wherever we played at, you know. Now that's the biggest, uh that's probably the the biggest area that I ever played was up front of Dayton, Ohio.

SPEAKER_02 25:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 25:07

Because that is but you could you hear any one of them bands. That's just about cover my career, except uh East Kentucky Gro East Kentucky time. Uh we really worked hard on that band. We uh on a harmony to get a harmony right. We would take one guitar, throw them down, the key was gonna do it in, mm-hmm, and then sang. Just listen to our singing. So if something wasn't right, you could tell it. Yeah. You could tell if it wasn't right. So that's how we learn the harmony. You know, a a band ain't worth a quarter if it ain't got good harmony. You know, I've I've seen I've I've seen some fantastic bands, but I just couldn't the harmony. Harmony is way off. Yeah, harmony's way off. Anyway, I guess that's about covering my career.

SPEAKER_00 26:10

Then uh Well, you've done quite a bit more than that. Oh, well, I don't know what's about covered it. Well, like uh, you know, I know that you wasn't you part of like starting restarting the music up the Seaco store. Oh, yeah, I first that eventually turned into hempilles.

SPEAKER_01 26:27

I I I did. I started up at the Seaco store years ago. Now I think they turn it down. Are they turning it down? Yeah. I built that place up, buddy. Had a big crowd up there, buddy. Every Friday night. But uh anyway, we uh well now I was the only one who showed up there. We played for nothing, you know.

SPEAKER_00 27:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 27:02

He told me, he said, Esther, get up there. I said, I'm not getting up there by myself. He said, Yes, you are. I said, No, I'm not. He slammed that uh hand down on the table and said, Well, we just quit it. I said, that's fine with me. I went straight to him, started it back up again. So, yep.

SPEAKER_00 27:29

I know uh you also served our country in Vietnam. I did.

SPEAKER_01 27:34

I spent 13 months over there. Yeah, I don't invite us to think about that place. I'd say not. No. I'd say not.

SPEAKER_00 27:42

Well, thank you for your service there.

SPEAKER_01 27:43

Oh, thank you so much. I was over in 67, 68.

SPEAKER_00 27:49

I was over there during the worst part of the whole war. Yeah, them years seem to be the ones that people talk about being the worst.

SPEAKER_01 27:57

Ted offensive, that's what it's called. So they was coming out from everywhere. And gooks while I was Charlie. Amen. They was coming out from everywhere. You know, you worked uh a little bit in the mines too, didn't you? Yeah, I worked several years in the mines. Uh all total I worked uh twenty-six years in and around in the coal mines too, you know. Yep. I retired from the coal mines. With black gong. What mines did you work at? I worked on Scotia. Uh Blue Diamond Coal Company. And also I worked for uh Westmortin or in Virginia or uh uh what's the name of that? Holler over there. Uh forget Pine Branch or something like that, maybe.

SPEAKER_00 29:00

Well, David, I don't know uh I don't know where else to start at again. I just anything. I like just sitting there listening to people's stories. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 29:14

I like I said, I I told about every one of my stories that I know around bluegrass, you know. Right. Uh I certainly did love bluegrass music. Still do.

SPEAKER_00 29:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 29:27

Still do.

SPEAKER_00 29:29

You know, you rattled off a lot of names there, but I wanted it to really hear you talk about it. Jimmy Martin, did you run into him any?

SPEAKER_01 29:35

I played his festival, Jimmy Martin's Bluegrass Festival down in Tennessee.

SPEAKER_00 29:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 29:40

I played his festival down there, yeah. And uh I met him. Boy, he had an attitude. He came off stage at Rouse one time. He had a manlin' player he hard out of Ohio. Yeah. And uh he uh he come off stage, he cussed that manlin' player all to piece. He called him every name he could lay evil tongue to. Surely not. He did. And uh told him to find his way back home. I told that fella, I said, buddy, I don't care. If he'd told me like he told you, if he'd talk to me that way, I said I'd have mashed his nose and mouth fast, he'd make his head swim. Oh man, he was talking bad to him. Man. All right.

SPEAKER_00 30:41

Yeah, but Jimmy wasn't necessarily known for being uh nice PG.

SPEAKER_01 30:48

Amen. But I won't tell you something though, he was the entertainer on stage. Was he? Yes, sir. I'd say he was. He was, buddy. Son uh when he first came on stage, first song he would do was uh one freeborn man, uh oh dang, I forget what that song he came on with every time. Uh I'll think of it in a minute, Dave. I'm not sure. I forgot what it was.

SPEAKER_00 31:23

Oh what you got?

SPEAKER_01 31:24

No.

SPEAKER_00 31:25

It was uh Honey Know My Mind. Huh? You don't know my mind?

SPEAKER_01 31:32

No, that wasn't what it was either. It was a one he wrote. Uh Sunny South Mountain? Yep.

SPEAKER_00 31:39

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 31:39

That's the first one he'd come on, stay sang. I can see that. Yep. And buddy, when he did, the crowd went wild. I tell you it is. He sure did. I've been out there with him and seen it. Son, he was an entertainer though.

SPEAKER_00 31:55

Yeah, he's a little spit for, that's for sure. That's all it was, a spit bar. He'd get up there, that guitar and swing it around, and people loved him. Oh, they loved him to death. Yeah, they did. Which now I tell you though, to me, Jimmy Martin's rhythm playing. I mean, you can't beat it. Ain't no way. He had the best guitar rhythm in the out of all the old guys he had.

SPEAKER_01 32:15

Well, it's got to sang tender with him, his brother-in-law. Uh Paul Williams. Paul Williams? Yeah. Paul Williams sang tender for him for years and years. Mm-hmm. Yep. Then Paul Williams came out with his own band. He started uh playing it on his own then. Yeah. Playing all gospel, you know. Yeah. That last, you know. He retired here a while back, he did, from yeah, he got he got in bad shape. He's on a walker and everything. Yeah. Yep.

SPEAKER_00 32:46

I don't know how he's doing now. He must be doing okay. I saw there, he he he made an appearance with Doyle Lawson, I think, here somewhere. I saw that. Maybe it was at Bean Blossom that's going on. I think that's it. He came out of there with a walker, didn't he? Yeah. Yeah. And I sang a song or two. So I seen that. I like to hear Paul Williams sing Fraudline. Huh? I like to hear Paul Williams sing Frawline. Yeah, I do too. That's that's uh that's a good one.

SPEAKER_01 33:14

That guy played with me done it all the time, Donis. Donis, yeah. I remember Donis singing it. He always done that.

SPEAKER_00 33:20

Yeah. Yeah, I remember coming watching you all all the time. Some of my best memories is involves every one of you all. Yeah, I know.

SPEAKER_01 33:30

I never forget you wouldn't get in the back of the roll at first on your banjo. You know how you yeah. You wasn't getting that back of the roll coming back out of it. You know, I told Buddy, I said, Buddy, show him how to do that, tell him. He said, After he won't listen to me. I said, Yes, he will. Tell him. You show him. Son of the next weekend, or you had it right down fat. Had that back and roll come out out of this as pretty as you please. I tried.

SPEAKER_00 34:05

I tried.

SPEAKER_01 34:06

You did, buddy. You had it down fat. And I know you didn't have no teacher.

SPEAKER_00 34:10

No. Well, like when I learned how to play the banjo, people think I'm being funny, but when I when I was learning, you know, YouTube didn't exist. Yeah, I know it. You couldn't go look nothing up. Now, like today, these kids that learn how to play the banjo, they can get on YouTube or whatever and look up, you know, and they can find it easy. I couldn't. I know it. I had to actually hunt and peck and find it.

SPEAKER_01 34:31

Well, you uh are you sure Dora definitely made a great one? I'll tell you right now. Well, thank you. Well, you're a good musician singer all the way around. I try. Yeah, you're doing a good job, buddy. Amen.

SPEAKER_00 34:45

I try my best.

SPEAKER_01 34:49

I played that, I played that country cabin over at Norton for ten years. You was a fixture over there for a long time.

SPEAKER_00 34:56

Oh Lord, yeah. Yeah, man. I think and I I think that place misses you quite a bit. Oh, yeah. I think so.

SPEAKER_01 35:03

Anyway, uh, you went and did a show with me one time.

SPEAKER_00 35:07

Yeah, I played a couple that times with you.

SPEAKER_01 35:09

You remember hit the come up big storm?

SPEAKER_00 35:12

Oh, yeah, that was that outdoor festival. Yeah, outdoor festival. It was uh us and bluegrass circle and somebody else. I gave you $800 that day.

SPEAKER_01 35:22

We never we never struck the train, did we?

SPEAKER_00 35:24

No, we didn't. Oh, we didn't. I mean, I remember that. The 4th of July thing, actually.

SPEAKER_01 35:31

Uh might have been, I'm not sure. Yeah. They paid good money. Yeah. So they paid good money. Paid me good money. I run the sound and everything for them. I remember that.

SPEAKER_00 35:40

You had the sound system.

SPEAKER_01 35:42

Yep. Yeah, I did. Yeah, I sure do. That was a good festival right there. That over Lebanon was a good place to play too. Lebanon, Virginia. I don't think I ever played over Lebanon. Yeah, I played all over that country over in there. Played North Carolina. We played down to uh uh Boone one time. Boone, North Carolina. Played down in there one time. And then we played down uh never get never did get to play Rinfolk Valley. I wanted to. But they never would pay me. They said we don't pay nobody. I said, I ain't gonna come down there playing for you for nothing. You're gonna forget. I wouldn't go. I don't blame you. You gotta have a little something out of it, you know. Well they they uh they want us to come play, but they don't want to pay us nothing. Right. I said, I ain't driving all the way down here, just get up there and play one or two songs. Ain't no way. I don't blame you. Nope. Well, one fellow up in up in Indiana, he called me. He talked to me and I said, How'd you find out about us? He said, Well, I got one of your CDs. I said, Well, uh he wanted to come up and play on Saturday, you know. Saturday two times, you know. Earlier than later at night. Anyway, uh told me he said, Astra said, I'll give you. I give you two thousand dollars. I said, Ain't no way. I ain't driving all the way up there for no two thousand dollars. I said, uh that's only five hundred dollars a piece. It's four in my band. And uh I said, I'll tell you what I'll do. I said, I'll come up here and do it for you for $2,500 and you furnish the motels. Because I said, we got to come up here and stay all night Friday night, play Saturday and Saturday night, and we'd have to stay up our Saturday night, yeah, drive back home Sunday.

SPEAKER_00 37:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 37:49

So he said, no, I I can't do that. I said I can't play then.

SPEAKER_00 37:54

So it's called negotiation, folks.

SPEAKER_01 37:59

That's exactly well anyway. He uh his wife called me back. She's trying everywhere the world to give me a play for 2,000. I said, I can't do it. I said I can't come out unless you all pay the motel bill.

SPEAKER_00 38:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 38:15

You know. I wouldn't be making $300 going all the way up there and playing, being up there the whole weekend, play one day.

SPEAKER_00 38:23

Yeah. It costs a lot of money nowadays to travel, especially the gas prices are how they are right now.

SPEAKER_01 38:32

Oh Lord, yeah, they're higher now than they ever have been, you know.

SPEAKER_00 38:36

I know me. I'm one of them uh uh I guess you call me foolish. I'm one of them ones that drive a diesel truck. Yes, my son wants one. Yeah, my I think it it's almost six dollars a gallon. Costs about 130 bucks to fill my old brood up. It's uh it's coming down though now, ain't it? It's starting to. It seems like it. I hope so. Yeah, it's coming down so yep. I know I I couldn't imagine having a bus. Oh man. Having to fill it up right now. I'd say it's eating three money. You know how much how many miles I get on them a mile a gallon?

SPEAKER_01 39:17

Probably nothing. Eight. Eight eight miles a gallon. Yes, sir.

unknown 39:22

Oh God.

SPEAKER_00 39:23

Eight miles a gallon. That'd be about that'd be about six dollars for eight miles. Jesus.

SPEAKER_01 39:30

Yep. A lot of them, you know, they still got them big buses though. They do, some of them do, yeah. Ralph, too, now he drives his to them big festival, but around here close, he drives, you know, he drives a a van. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 39:47

That's what he does. I don't blame people from going to that. I mean, good lord, you'd just uh just to come out and not be uh ate up with a fuel bill. I mean, I don't blame him a bit.

SPEAKER_01 39:57

Well see, he uh he got Ralph Ralph's bus, you know. Yeah. That'd be bus Ralph at. And uh But if when one of them breaks down those, I'd say they're out of arm and leg. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 40:12

Fix it. Yeah, I I'd say parts are outrageous from things. Yep. And it seems to me like most of the guys, I got friends, you know, that work the road. Seems like them things break down at least once a week. Yes, sir. Something goes wrong with it. Yep.

SPEAKER_01 40:29

But you've got to have a good driver and a good mechanic.

SPEAKER_00 40:33

A lot of them learn how to work on their own buses.

SPEAKER_01 40:35

That's what I'm talking about.

SPEAKER_00 40:36

They can they can self-diagnose and fix it.

SPEAKER_01 40:39

That's right. That's what they do with it most of the time. The driver knows how to do all that. Yeah. Their driver, you know. That's true. Yep. Well, David, buddy, that's about all I know.

SPEAKER_00 40:56

Well, Astor, brother, I sure appreciate you for doing this. Thank you so much. I've enjoyed it. I have enjoyed it too, David. Uh I pretty much told you about every bit of things I've done. Oh man, you got some good stuff on there. It's gonna be a good episode to listen to. Uh, people enjoy this when they will. Uh absolutely. Well, folks, that wraps up episode five of the Five String Holler Podcast. Thank you all so much for listening. And be sure to like our Facebook page, Five String Holler Podcast. And remember, our podcast also airs on all streaming platforms, Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon, Hi Heart, and all your other streaming platforms. Till next time, this is Banjo Barnett saying thank you, and we'll see you later on the Five String Holler.