Editors Letter... by Caroline Wright

No female Tony Rices?

Teenage flatpicker Paige Anderson would probably disagree. Paige is the subject of Stephanie Dilling’s “Teen Scene” column this month, and I’m guessing this isn’t the last you’ve heard of her in these, um, pages. She’s a remarkable talent, a versatile musician who plays a little clawhammer, a little bass, a little mando, and a very competent lead guitar.

She also has a lonesome, powerful, confident, slightly edgy lead vocal that I really like. It’s honest and free of ornamentation, and there’s an effortless catch in her phrasing that evokes gray skies, empty pockets, and hard livin’. Paige Anderson is just thirteen. Remember the name, and check her out at myspace.com/paigeandersonbluegrass. Her flatpicking and clawhammer are great, but her vocal work on “Sounds of Loneliness” really caught my attention. With a sibling providing a nice baritone harmony, Paige maneuvers through a complex arrangement and adds her own subtle surprises throughout.

I believe The Anderson Family will be at IBMA ’08. Paige says her dad recently obtained ProTools, the digital audio workstation software used for music production, so there’s a good chance they’ll be introducing a new recording at the event. Stay tuned!

In 2002, I interviewed nine very special people for this magazine: Carolyn Vincent, John Cleveland, Amy O’Brien, Vicki Shankman, Karen Watkins, Louise Rice, Kathy Thile, Louise Krauss, and Lisa Holladay.

Although you’ve probably not heard of most of ‘em, you know them through their remarkable children. These are the folks who raised Rhonda & Darrin Vincent; Michael Cleveland; and Tim and Mollie O’Brien; Lauren, Dana, & Michael Alden Shankman; Sean and Sara Watkins; Tony, Wyatt, Larry and Ronnie Rice; Chris Thile; Alison and Viktor Krauss; and Ryan Holladay.

In each interview, I asked the parents how their children had come by such talent. Was it nurture, or nature, or a combination of the two?

One of the most interesting perspectives came from Louise Krauss. She and her husband, Fred, felt that musical aptitude was an important life skill.

“I didn’t know what direction it would go, but we wanted Alison and Viktor to both have five years of lessons,” she told me. “That was our plan, long before we had children. I wish I had been the originator of this idea, but we knew someone else whose father insisted on that, and she couldn’t thank him enough. I said, ‘Aha! This is some good advice.’”

Mrs. Krauss felt five years was enough time to get into something. “The five-year commitment was for Fred and me. If we stayed interested and enthusiastic, we hoped they would, too. And if they’d really hated it, I wouldn’t have made them keep doing it. But that’s what we talked about: ‘We’ve got to keep them excited for five years!’ That certainly worked.”

But that wasn’t all the Krausses expected of their incredible children. “They also had to pass their swimming test at the Y. Those were two things we felt they needed for survival.”

To the parents of young musicians everywhere, this issue is dedicated to you, with respect and gratitude. Thank you.

And for those of you who want to encourage music in your children? Simply providing the tools and letting fate take its course might be the only thing you need to do. Put an inexpensive guitar or banjo on an instrument stand in the family room and see if your kid notices. Get some beginners’ instructional materials and make them available. Put some 21st century bluegrass on the stereo to get their attention—Nickel Creek, or Uncle Earl, or Infamous Stringdusters—and a little Stanley Brothers once you get ‘em hooked. Then step aside and let it happen!

And for every picker who ever showed a kid how to change a string or play a G-run or use a capo? The music, someday, will be its own reward.