A Circle be Unbroken Moment with The Tar River Boys at the Kinston Neuse Regional Library

        This weekend was my first book signing/bluegrass picking gig since I got sick. I don’t see how it could have been a more appropriate venue. It was an “old home week/Circle Be Unbroken moment” as I got to visit with my daughter then be on the stage with Dr. Peter Temple and the Tar River Boys for the gig. Peter was my first community medicine mentor and the man who showed me how to combine medicine and music and not compromise the quality of my work as a doctor. He always said I was his only student who made an “A” in both medicine and bluegrass. Back then he had a front porch jam session with guys like Greek, Junior, and George every Wednesday night. As you can imagine, I was never late for class!

        Neuse Regional Library in Kinston is a library with a plan. Young David Miller has regular programs and gets the word out. It was well attended and the crowd was enthusiastic; just the kind of book signing any author hopes they will have. We had a retired English teacher and the long-time promoter of the Kinston Winter Bluegrass festival. (She saw the review of the book in N.C. Our State magazine and recommended the library get in touch with me) There were several musicians, friends of the library, and a number of docs. Several of the doctors were my classmates. There was a neurosurgeon, a pediatrician, and OB/Gyn, an interventional radiologist and  two Family docs.  

        The gig was just the kind I like, very informal and interactive. I’d read a passage from the book, then we’d do a few tunes and I’d explain how the music was connected to the story. Who knows, maybe “The Cherokee Shuffle” will wind up on a movie soundtrack before it is all over.

        So, special thanks to David Miller at the library, and also to the Tar River Boys. Dr. Temple was a life changing mentor for me way back when. As far as I know, Dr. Temple and I are the only two doctor/bluegrass pickers ever featured in N.C. “Our State” magazine.He invited two of the Tar River Boys, witty song-writer/mando picker Roger Sauerborne and precision banjo man Buddy Zincone, who also picks with Greenville Grass to join us. It was a fine session. Most of all I send thanks to my wife who makes all these gigs work these days. I could not manage it alone.

       We tied this show in with a library card drive. If your hometown library wants to get new people interested in the library in a public awareness campaign, esp if you’d like to join me for an impromptu jam session, let me know. I am limited to about one show every other month for now, and need to stay within a hundred fifty miles or so of central N.C. but I’d love to do  more gigs like this one. As Dr. Temple would say it was a large time.

Dr. B

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The Music Loft, Carrboro, N.C. 2:00 today

        Today at 2:00 I’ll be at the Music Loft in Carrboro, N.C. for a book signing. You never know how these things are gonna go. In the early days I did a book store gig and only three people walked in the whole time. We had a fun visit, and I’m proud to say they all bought a copy of “The Mandolin Case.” It was the only gig where I sold a book to every single person in the crowd.

        My poor agent often gets exasperated with me, ’cause I never have a set agenda. I get there, see what folks want to hear about and try to deliver. It’s part music, part country doctoring, and part physician bluegrass fiction, and of course I try to stay focused and tell people about the book. He went with me to one gig, and I got all engrossed in a hot jam session. After a while he came up to the stage and began waving his arms.

        “What’s the matter. boss?” I asked.

        “The book. The book. You haven’t told ’em about the book.”

        “The book? Oh yeah, the book.” I reached down, picked up the copy I had leaned up against the mic stand, and held it up for the crowd to see. “Hey y’all, I forgot to tell ya, I’m the guy who wrote the book.”

       It’s hard to turn a country boy into some kinda lit guru. All I can be is what I am. I don’t know how to be anything else, and I’m too old to change now.

       Y’all come visit if you get a chance. If you ever wanted to sit on the front porch and talk to a doc who ain’t in a hurry, today’d be a good’un.

Dr. B

An Upcoming Physician Bluegrass Fiction Tour Stop

        This week I have a Chapel Hill medical conference followed by a book signing at the Music Loft in Carrboro on Saturday March 19, 2:00 PM. In addition, I may have a radio slot to tell you about; more to follow on that.  

        I guess no one can say my gig is not unique. My life roles of Doc and bluegrasser are so intertwined deep in my soul they are inseparable. In chemistry I would be called a compound, “a substance formed by the combination of elements in fixed proportions,” and one which can not be separated.

        You are welcome to sign up for the Medical Conference if there are any more spaces available. It is at the Friday Center at U.N.C. this Wed-Friday, and promises to be a dandy. Then again, while it all fascinates me, I have found my friend’s eyes glaze over if I go on too long about new advances in angiotension receptor blocker hypertensive therapy for patients with concomitant chronic renal disease. 

        In truth my doctor brain can sometimes grow weary, and needs a periodic re-charge. That’s why I play and write. So, after the Doc conference I’ll be over at The Music Loft with “The Mandolin Case” at 2:00.

        If you live near Chapel Hill, I hope you’ll come visit. While you’re there if you need some new strings support your local music store and buy ’em at The Music Loft. If you buy anything in the store over fifteen bucks while I’m there, I’ll give you a three dollar discount on my book if you ask for ‘The Carolina Coupon.’ 

       So see ya there. Catch me on break at the Friday Center (Wed-Friday) for a cup of coffee and an animated discussion of state of the art treatment of thrombosed hemorrhoids, or come to The Music Loft Saturday and jam with me on “Jerusalem Ridge.” I’m at home in either venue.

        By day it’ll be the Doc gig, but by night keep a look out for Tommy Edwards, who played with “The Bluegrass Experience,” the 1972 Union Grove World Champion Bluegrass Band. I might jam a couple of tunes with him, and I’ve meant to have him autograph his “Collection” LP from back then for several decades now.

        I know that might be hard for the non-bluegrass world to understand, but as Lester Flatt said, “in this music you are in it for life.”  

Dr. B