Tom Gray with Eddie and Martha Adcock

After finding himself without a musical outlet when Legends of the Potomac was disbanded, bass legend Tom Gray has announced that he has joined up with Eddie & Martha Adcock.

Or perhaps “rejoined” would be the more appropriate term, as he has a long history with Eddie going back almost 50 years, and had been doing shows with Eddie and Martha before settling in with Darren Beachley’s group in 2009.

Tom tells us that their new venture will bill as Eddie & Martha Adcock with Tom Gray.

“I’m happy to get back together with Eddie and Martha, two of my favorite people, and fun to play music with. By coincidence, the Adcocks are nearing completion of a new CD, which by request, will include lots of old Country Gentlemen material. Since Eddie and I are the two surviving members of the 1960s ‘Classic’ Country Gentlemen, he wants me to add some bass lines and vocal parts on the new CD.

The recording already has bass tracks, played by none other than Missy Raines. So, the plan is, the new CD will have us both on it, sharing the bass duties.

This new recording, with the three of us on it, plus Gene Johnson, will be good to have for fans as we tour this year and next. There are live dates for this year in various stages of confirmation in the states of VA, MD, PA, AZ, CA, NH, MA, MO, TN & KY. A memorable one will be on the fourth of July at Luray VA, site of the first big one-day bluegrass festival. This year marks the 50th anniversary of that historic event.

We plan some story-telling as well as performances.”

Martha said that she and Eddie were excited about working with Tom again, and about the new CD, but she admitted that her mind was focused on something else this week. After his groundbreaking surgery in 2008 to correct a neurological problem that prevented him from playing banjo, Eddie’s hand tremors had returned. When I caught up with her yesterday, Martha was preparing to get her husband ready for surgery this morning, and expressed much admiration for how he is facing these medical issues.

“I call Eddie a real hero – he’s been absolutely valiant and unwavering in his pursuit of his music. He came through the original DBS-implant brain surgery well and, despite the odds, resumed playing and touring. Then when the apparatus wasn’t working as well and the right-hand tremor returned, he kept playing (for hours and hours a day) when most others would have simply called it quits. But not Eddie! He bugged his docs for tweak after tweak on his settings, until an electronics glitch was finally discovered to be the culprit. The ‘best’ electrode was found to be disconnected –  Eddie had shorted out!

So, surgery is scheduled for early a.m., Wednesday, January 5. They’ll change the battery in his chest and check the connections and impedances. Hopefully that’ll do the trick. If not, they’ll have to search further, with brain surgery in the picture again. Eddie’s middle name should be ‘Courage’ instead of ‘Windsor!’

We can hardly give enough praise to the surgeons and all the staff at Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville for their talent and concern; and prayers and good vibes sent into the cosmos for Eddie from friends and fans will be most welcome, I assure you.”

Eddie, Martha and Tom have scheduled a live shoot for Song Of The Mountains on March 5, followed by an east coast US tour in April. She promised that she would send along more information about the new CD once Eddie is home from the hospital.

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About the Author

John Lawless

John had served as primary author and editor for The Bluegrass Blog from its launch in 2006 until being folded into Bluegrass Today in September of 2011. He continues in that capacity here, managing a strong team of columnists and correspondents.