No one reading this is likely to need reminding of the kindness of bluegrass artists towards their audience. No other musical format experiences the sort of closeness and availability that bluegrass fans come to expect, with most of our top performers spending as much time greeting people and signing autographs as they do on stage at shows and festivals.
Young players who go on to become professionals often share stories about how interactions with their favorite artists had a strong and powerful impact on their development, and in some cases spurred them on to pursue music as a career.
Here’s a brief story about one such interaction just recently, between Little Roy Lewis and Jeremiah Penny, a 16 year old banjo player who tours with his family’s gospel group. Diligent readers may recall a profile we published about Jeremiah earlier this year, and how a combination of studying bluegrass and divine intervention have helped in his struggle with autism.
This past weekend the Penny family drove from their home in Beulaville, NC to just south of Raleigh so that Jeremiah could get to see his hero, Little Roy Lewis, on stage, and hopefully have a chance to meet and speak to him.
Brent Penny, Jeremiah’s dad, shared this story of how it went…
“Saturday night I took my family to Lorraine’s Coffee House in Garner, NC to see The Little Roy and Lizzy Show. It has been a life long dream of Jeremiah’s to meet Little Roy in person, and maybe get an autograph and take a picture with him.
Much to my surprise, Little Roy treated us like family, like he had known us for all of our life. We talked for a good while and I brought Jeremiah’s banjo to see if little Roy would take a quick picture with my son holding his banjo. Little Roy took several pictures with Jeremiah and my family, and also autographed a piece of paper for all my kids. My son’s dream had finally came true, to meet Little Roy in person, get his autograph and a picture with him.
Jeremiah and I could never had imagined what was going to happen next. Little Roy called Jeremiah up on stage to play a song with him and the band. Words could never express how much this has meant to my son. He has told everyone about it and is still on cloud nine.
After the show, Little Roy came back over to us and gave my son a few tips about banjo, then he played guitar while Jeremiah played banjo on Hallelujah Turnpike (one of Jeremiah’s favorite Lewis Family songs). I couldn’t believe after a two Hour show that Little Roy came back over to my son and spent more time with him.
Words could never express the gratitude that I have for every musician that has taken time out to make a kid’s dream come true. So many do not understand, but something so small as taking five minutes out to spend with a kid who looks up to you as their hero, just what kind of impact it can have.”
Lorraine’s posted some video of Jeremiah Penny jamming with Little Roy after the show while his dad and sister sang Hallelujah Turnpike.
A lovely story. Nicely done, Mr. Lewis!
