OAK HILL -- When was the last time you heard five mandolinists all running headlong at "Old Joe Clark."
Well, about 5 o'clock on Friday evening if you were at Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival.
One of the highlights of Friday's whopping day of activities and performances was a Masters Stage workshop dedicated to the mandolin, featuring David Grisman, Ronnie McCoury, Joe Walsh, Sarah Jarosz and Buddy Merriam, all of whom are stars in their own right.
They also put their 40 strings to use on "Wheel Hoss," "Golden Slippers" and -- because it's a bluegrass festival -- Bill Monroe's archetypal "Bluegrass Stomp."
McCoury talked about playing on a mandolin that Grisman had given him 20 years ago; and Merriam offered that he began playing bluegrass after hearing The Dawg's work with Old and in The Way in the 70s.
As tribute, McCoury suggested a combo rendition of Grisman's classic "EMD."
Grisman was also found later on the Main Stage, leading his DGBX band (the David Grisman Bluegrass Experience).
The latter group fuses many of the things Grisman does best -- playing mandolin, furthering the cause of acoustic music and keeping the history alive.
Grisman chatted about each tune before playing it, giving lessons on the Carter Family, Monroe, Flatt & Scruggs and The Stanley Brothers, with the entire set crossing the arc of bluegrass from its earliest days to the present.
He and and banjo man Keith Little especially shone on the Carter's "Gold Watch and Chain."
Later on the Main Stage McCoury would join his father Del and his long-standing family-anchored band for a set as well.
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