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By Art Howard
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Photos by Bryan Gay
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"I...I
LOVE GOD,"
the lad in front of me was saying. Here I was standing in
the autograph line, eager to grab my first Big Star
interview with Vassar Clements, the man who had fiddled
with everyone from Bill Monroe to the Cluster Pluckers to
Jerry Garcia. It was an interview that almost never
happened.
When I had heard that Clements would be appearing with
Blueground Undergrass at the Roxy in Atlanta I quickly
sent off an e-mail to the promoter, Thomas
"T-Dawg" Helland, to see if I could grab a few
words with "Vassar the Master." T-Dawg replied
that he would check with Vassar. Unfortunately after that
communications broke down and I arrived at the show
without a tape recorder, assuming the prospects for an
interview were nil.
Duh.
The first half of the Vassar/Blueground Undergrass first
set, done all-acoustic, was fantastic, like sitting in
the front row of the Grand Ole Opry back when it was really
good. Then Vassar and the Blueground boys plugged in and
delivered the most intense set of electrified Americana
these ears have ever received. When Vassar, BGUG fiddler
Edward Hunter, Jr. and washboardist Wild Man Steve broke
it down, my head left the auditorium and floated off
somewhere on Cloud Nine.
During the break I went backstage expecting to see the
Mosier brothers and band, but definitely not expecting to
see Vassar Clements. Vassar would be locked away in a
temperature controlled Wells-Fargo truck, surrounded by a
legion of Judo experts, safe from any pesky would-be
interviewers.
Oops, there was Vassar hanging out and chatting with
everyone else. Uh...where’s a tape recorder?
The second set continued the flight pattern initiated by
the first, with Colonel Bruce and the new
Codetalker’s sitting in a for a song or two.
Outstanding. Let it be said that Johnny Mosier is the
unsung hero of Blueground Undergrass; whether you want
some high-speed acoustic flatpicking, Wes
Montgomery-style jazz flavors, or straight out
electrified rock n’ roll fretboard burning, Johnny
Mo has you covered.
The night came to an end around two in the morning and
the Roxy crew started waving everyone out to the parking
lot. What a great show, but so much for my chance to
interview Vassar Clements.
Wait -- there goes Vassar to the lobby, signing
autographs and talking to anyone who says,
"Hi!" Uh...tape recorder?
Well, shit! This was certainly a learning experience.
ALWAYS CARRY A TAPE RECORDER! I ran to where the tapers
were breaking down their equipment, desperate to find
anyone who would sell me a DAT cheap and would be willing
to re-set up their equipment in the lobby. No luck. My
God, I might have to go back to old-fashioned pen and
paper! Could it be? I found a member of the Roxy clean-up
crew who asked a security guard if they had a pad and pen
I could use. Hallelujah! Now I jumped in line with my
borrowed notepad and ballpoint pen, ready to write down
the words of a living legend.
"I...I love God," the lad in front of me was
saying (this is where we started, remember?). I’m
not sure if the guy was drunk, mentally challenged or
both, and I’m not making fun of him. "I love
God...I read the Bible," he was intent on telling
Vassar. "Good, because if you ain’t got Him on
your side you ain’t got nothin’!" the
sportjacketed fiddler assured the youth as he signed a
CD. Before the woman with the young man could pull him
away he made sure he gave Vassar a hug. Clements seemed a
little surprised but didn’t resist.
Now it was my turn! I quickly pulled up a chair and sat
down and said rapid-fire, "Hi my name’s Art
Howard and I put out a music magazine here in Atlanta and
I wrote the article on Blueground Undergrass in Relix
this month and I would like to do an interview with you
if you have a moment just three or four questions you
know it won’t take long okay so can I do an
interview with you now?" Here, at last, is the
discussion with Vassar Clements.
VOYAGER: So what
was it like playing with Blueground Undergrass for the
first time tonight?
VASSAR CLEMENTS:
It was really great tonight. It was a real thrill.
"REVEREND" JEFF MOSIER
(Banjo/vocals for BGUG): About half way through the
second set tonight I told Vassar, "We’re almost
through," and he says, "Oh, good! I like
that!"
VASSAR: Halfway
through that second set, yeah, I did like that (this show
was almost five hours long counting intermission)!
VOYAGER: How did
you first meet these guys?
VASSAR: (Looks
to Mosier) Jeff, where did I first
meet you? Was it out in Athens?
REVEREND: It was
1954...
VOYAGER: Was
that on the old Steve Allen Show?
REVEREND: No,
back in the ‘80’s I was promoting concerts and
I brought them to the Moonshadow Saloon. They opened for
New Grass Revival. The first time he and I played
together was when I sat in with Stir Fried at the Georgia
Theatre in Athens. We played "Midnite
Moonlight" as a duo.
VOYAGER: You
started your career with Bill Monroe when you were 14,
right?
VASSAR: When I
was 14 I didn’t really "play with him"
play with him, I did what you would call "jam"
with him. Someone knew Chubby (Wise, Monroe’s first
fiddle player) and Chubby had him come by the house. Then
a few years later a girl I knew in Jacksonville who was a
long distance operator knew he was looking for a fiddle
player and she gave him my name. He remembered me and
asked me to come up to Nashville to audition. I figured I
would get a round-trip ticket to Nashville out of it, you
know, crazy like kids are. So I went and auditioned and,
amazingly, he hired me.
I remember I had just one thing to remember to get out of
school and that was "osmosis," the definition
of osmosis.
VOYAGER: So you
were playing with Bill Monroe (and later Jim & Jesse
and the Earl Scruggs Revue) and this was the cowboy hat
and string-tie set. Then you start getting calls from the
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and Jerry Garcia, and now
you’re playing with the long hair and T-shirt set.
What was that transition like?
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