today i started blogging again

Me & Grandad playing music at Christmas 2006

One of my fondest memories of Christmas past is playing music with my grandfather. He learned to play bass when he was 60 years old and played in a country/bluegrass jam every Thursday night. I was fortunate enough to play with him at his Thursday night sessions a few times; however, sitting in his living room on Christmas playing gospel and Christmas tunes was as good as it got. He passed away in 2007 and, for me, Christmas will never be the same.

Over the past few months, I've been invited to play at a place called the Tula Opry. The "pickin' shack", as they call it, was built entirely by my good friend and bandmate's dad, Rusty Pinion. Rusty and his wife, Jean, host a monthly bluegrass show and have been kind enough to include me in the line up. Last night was the gospel/Christmas show; I sat in with Rusty's house band and played a few Christmas tunes...it brought back memories of sitting around with my Grandad playing music.

Jesse & I playing at the Tula Opry

Jesse plays guitar in my band, Machine Gun Kelley & the G-men, and aside from being an amazing musician, he's an excellent artist and photographer. He recently started his own blog. He drew this picture of his dad's "pickin' shack", the home of the Tula Opry. Be sure to check out his blog.