A STUMP FIDDLE AND A WASHTUB BASS—

You’ve never heard “Look at Us” by Vince Gill arranged quite like this. 

Their music is Country, Gospel, Blue Grass, Polkas and a little bit of whatever, tickling the ears of an always delighted audience, every Friday night in Vero Beach—south by God, Florida.

It’s an old time jam session those nights.  We’ve enjoyed as many as 24 musicians thumping and strumming and gently encouraging their instruments like fiddles and juice harps and dobros and dulcimers,

…and a host of guitars and banjos and a keyboard and an accordion and a harmonica or two.

That’s Ken Wichiowski, from Wisconsin and his home-made stump fiddle, right.  His creation sports a ring of cymbals on top with an ooga horn and a couple of percussion gadgets flanking the stringed portion of his instrument composed of a beer serving tray with strings made of screen door springs.

He launches his tunes with gentle thumps from what looks like a short piece of wooden dowel pin.

The semi-official director/conductor of this orchestra is an affable West Virginian; Carl Parsons who was more or less stumped when I asked what the name of the group was.

Turns out someone at one of their performance venues once asked the same thing—and got the same curious look.  “Make up something,” Carl smiled to that inquisitor and he came up with Smokey Mountain Gospel Tunes.

So, that’s what they go by when someone needs to know something as silly as their name.

The group grew out of a tri-state dulcimer organization in Kentucky, Ohio and West Virginia.  They’ve been playing regularly in the clubhouse at our winter digs in Vero Beach for the past 12 years.

In the top photo 24 musicians sit in an elongated oval and this particular evening played to a full house of more than 50 enthusiasts.  Sometimes there are 12 or 9 or whatever number of musicians and a bit smaller audience.  Who knows!

In the lower photo Ken Anderson from Connecticut coaxes pleasing-to-the-ear tunes from his washboard which fits somewhere on their seating chart between the lead guitar and the percussion section.  Both Al and Ken are now full-time Florida residents.

Carl will launch the show by gently strumming his guitar and announcing this tune will be in the key of “old”.  They don’t worry much about technical stuff.  In fact, most of this orchestra does not even bother to read music.

Then, each player, in turn, will lead into the next song and those tunes will grow smoothly in depth and sweetness to the ear as each instrument comes alive.

Their music flows naturally, from countless years of musical experience…and love for sharing their always-impromptu show.