Nebraskan Jan Schiferl is a woman of many talents. A South Dakota native, she and her husband Greg operate the WJ Ranch & Riding Arena in Fordyce, NE, where they train horses, raise cattle, and host music and riding events for their community. Jan is also a bluegrass and country singer and songwriter, and an author of several books.
Her latest is Bluegrass Voices – My Conversations With Legendary Icons, a compilation of interviews she conducted as a college student with a number of well-known bluegrass artists, most of whom have now passed on. While studying at Yankton College in South Dakota as a young woman, Jan took a music minor, and traveled to Tennessee on a break to conduct these interviews, now nicely presented in a small, 80-page hardcover book.
Included are her discussions with Vassar Clements, Mac Wiseman, Wilma Lee Cooper, Jesse McReynolds, Rollin “Oscar” Sullivan, J.T. Gray, Charlie Cushman, and Hubert Davis. All are now lost to history save Charlie, who still plays and sets up banjos in Nashville.
Schiferl’s book starts with some biographical information about herself, and why she waited so long to publish these interviews she conducted in 1980. But once we get to the meat and potatoes, it’s no nonsense. Jan transcribes each discussion just as it occurred, giving you the feeling that you had been siting in on the interviews. They are quite detailed and intimate, and any fan of these early pioneers will want to read them.
Bluegrass Voices is an easy read, and should be considered an important piece of our music’s history. She has audio recordings of all the interviews, which one hopes she has carefully preserved.
This is a self-published book, offered directly from the author and on Amazon for only $20. Quite a bargain in this day and age.
Highly recommended.
