20+ years ago I was playing guitar in a lounge band in Vegas and working a day job too. I struck up a conversation with the guy who used to come into my office building to fill up the pop machines…his name was Butch and he was a mandolin player, and we got along famously as soon as he found out I was a Grisman fan. He came out and saw my band play a couple times in a casino, and told me he was moving to Nashville. In 2000 I ended up in Nashville too, and we crossed paths a few times, and he was always the coolest guy – genuine and seemingly sincerely happy to be living his dream of doing nothing but playing the mandolin, much more interested in the music than he was in Music Row. In his own way he inspired my own playing and songwriting, as he showed me that you can love music and even make a living at it without desiring all the other crap that comes with it. Today my day job is at Vanderbilt, where people in my department who know nothing about playing music still know who Butch was and that he passed away. Thanks, Butch, for your music and your example.
