February passed quickly but March may seem forever in ourhometown, looking forward to the start of spring on the 20th, Passover at theend, and an early Easter in April.

Before moving along to the heart of this week'swanderings, I must mention the most interesting Cocke County Partnershiplegislative breakfast on Friday morning at The Mountain Crest Inn. I sat withReid Bailey, Raymond Sutton, Vaughn Moore, Randy Winters, and Rick Hooper. Itwas informative and good to see so many friends we share interested in ourcommunity. One big fellow I got to chat with briefly was Joe Malone, who runsNewport Paving. I heard he had been ill and Joe explained he had an irregularheartbeat problem. He spent seven hours in Jan. at a heart specialist to"burn" the inside of his heart and now seems to be doing well. Yousaw in the Plain Talk last week that Claire Crouch gained a seat with thenational Republican Women and I congratulated her. She is the"Claire" I mentioned in passing last week when she brought her banjo intothe music store for lessons. She already has calluses on her fingertips.

When visiting Strings 'n' Things the name of our1993-1995 employee John David Ford came up so I gave him a call to find out howhe has been doing and to share his music interest. You recall that his fatherwas Haskell Ford, of Del Rio. He owned Ford Jewelry in Newport for years andwas married to Annie Ford of Sumter, SC. The local Grandparents were JohnGarfield Ford and Anner Davis Ford (Mom Ford) of Hartford and later Del Rio community.How did Haskell meet his future wife? He was stationed at Shaw Field in Sumterand met Annie Coulter through mutual friends. John David also has children:Dwayne Haskell Ford of Gulfport, Mississippi and Amy Lynn Ford (Fore) ofGulfport. She only had to change one letter in her married name. Dwayne is amulti-instrumentalist and songwriter and Amy Lynn is SE Regional ResourceManager for American Medical Response.

What's the Mississippi connection I wondered? Dad wasstationed at Kessler in Biloxi during that time and John David was there laterin the 1970's during his Air Force duty. It is interesting that neither Haskellnor his father played music and only Dr. Nathan Ford survives of the Fordbrothers.

John David did broaden his education at Ringling Schoolof Art and Harris School of Advertising Art. He put some years in at the PlainTalk as a graphic artist. He helped me with historic photos of Newport book,too. Now he work for "the best grocery store in town,"K-VA-T (FoodCity) in advertising for 14 years, at the Abingdon corporate office. He isresponsible for corporate brand packaging/design. "I have designedwell-known brands such as Terry's Classic Snacks and Kay's Classic IceCream." So you can see creativity comes natural to him and he playedguitar before picking up banjo. He learned banjo from an art school friend, oneof Uncle Dave Macon's (the original Opry Star's)great grandsons. Banjo pickers were on both sides of hisfamily. "An uncle on my mom's side flailed the fire out of 'Old JoeClark.' Momma says it's the only song he knew. I am also a direct descendent ofthe famous 'Yellow Cat' Ford from Hartford, who skinned a neighbor's yellow catto make a banjo hide. So I guess you can say it's in the blood."

John David's music career covers at least 28 years. Heplayed venues with acts like Grandpa & Ramona Jones, John Hartford, theLantana Drifters, Starday recording artist Bill Napier, and, most recently,Shady Grove, from Strawberry Plains. He has appeared on the Heartland Series manytimes and Smoky Mountain Hymns videos. But his claim to fame is the song hewrote in 1998, "They Called Us Tennessee Trailer Trash," and recordedthe same with Shady Grove. You may have heard this song as it got a lot of playstatewide on most stations. "It's the Volunteer Nation ya know! I gotcalls from radio stations as far off as Memphis wanting me to send them a CD.Recently I played the Blue Plate Special Live at WDVX Radio downtown Knoxville.It's like the old Mid Day Merry go Round."

The Grand Ole Opry probably isn't going to call DavidFord anytime soon, if at all. Too bad, they are missing a talented fellow. Hehasn't made much money with his music skills but as he said, "Honestly, Idon't think I could have made it through hard times without my banjo to keep mycheese from sliding off the cracker."

"It has meant so much to me personally and opened alot of doors to meet and become friends with people I otherwise would not haveknown, like John Hartford, who became my friend over the years at the TennesseeHomecoming in Norris. I remember taking one of my buddies there one year andgoing back stage to jam when John walked out and said, 'Hey, David, good to seeyou. My buddy.' As you can imagine, my friend looked at me with big eyes andsaid, 'He knows you?'" And there are the things he will never forget, likemeeting Grandpa Jones for the first time at Norris and getting a compliment andhug from him after his performance made the day. "But of all the stars Imet I am proudest to know how much my Dad Haskell was proud of my ability. Hewas always approached by people he knew in town with compliments like, 'ThatFord boy plays Cripple Creek so clear you can see the minnows swimming.' I knewhe was proud of me and that meant everything." For those who recallHaskell, he has the most pleasant temperament, much as seen in Dr. Ford, who Iam proud to count as my friend for almost 40 years at the Plain Talk.

John David said that musicians are "a good lot ofkind souls and when they connect playing from their heart, It's a bond forlife, just like a brother or sister." John David read Just Plain Talk andwas glad to see names of his friends and photos too. He praised Jimmy Gilliamand his brother O'Dean Gilliam. "These guys are great musicians and overthe years in Newport they helped me develop as a banjo player more than anyone.We would literally play until 4:00 in the morning two or three nights a week.The Gilliam brothers are two kind fellows that really helped me and believed inme. Any aspiring player should seek out musicians of this caliber to improvethemselves. It's rare to find folks that will pick at the drop of a hat, allday and night. It's the only way you get better."

Plain Talk readers may have seen the adv. announcing thatthe Hillbilly Music Barn will be moving to Newport making it more accessible.John David used to be a regular at the Music Barn in Del Rio but has not beenback for years. "But I sure miss playing with Jeff Webb, Ty Cooper, andCharles Crowder and all the other fine musicians in the area." Here aresome other connections he made for us:

Favorite Banjo player and most influence on my style:

The late great Don Reno.

Favorite fiddler:

No one beats Mike Grove, Newport.

Favorite mandolin:

Charlie Crowder, Newport.

Favorite Guitar:

Jim and O'Dean Gilliam, Tim Coggins, Newport.

Favorite bass:

Jim Gilliam and Jack Pack, Newport.

Future projects:

Would like to make a CD of our music with some of myfriends for posterity.