Having two friends with the same name always leads to confusion, especially with today’s email, social media, and text communication habits. It’s true even when they spell their names a bit differently.
Such is the case with a pair of popular bluegrass personalities, Jeromie Stephens, ace photographer, and Jeremey Stephens, noted traditional bluegrass artist. The two look nothing alike, their ages differ widely, as do their personalities. But I still get confused when answering email or texts from either of them, and have responded to one thinking it was the other to great bewilderment all around.
Speaking with these unrelated Stephens boys, it’s clear that many other folks in bluegrass make the same mistake, and whenever they see each other it’s time to trade stories about mistaken identifications.
So when the two hooked up at the Pickin’ in Parsons festival, they decided to have some fun with it. Jeromie picked up the banjo and Jeremy snagged the camera, and the gallery below is the result, with some help from Jeremy’s wife and musical partner, Corrina Rose Logston Stephens.
Or as Jeromie put it…
“After 40 years of photographing bluegrass musicians, I was feeling pretty burnt out, creatively speaking. In the back of my mind there’d always been a dream of mastering the banjo. I mean, how hard could it be?”
Way to go guys!
