Welcome to Bluegrass on the Rim 2026.

We'll kick it off with Foggy Hollow Review.

Are you all ready for a little picking?

Thank you, Lord, for that cloud.

Here we go, boys.

Well, there's a well-beaten path on this old mountainside, where I wandered when I was a lad.

Where I wandered alone in a place I call home, in the Blue Ridge hills far away.

Oh, I love those hills above Virginia.

In those Blue Ridge hills, I did roam.

When I die, won't you bury me on the mountain, far away in my Blue Ridge Mountain home.

Now, my thoughts wander back in that ramshackle shack, in the Blue Ridge hills far away.

Where my mother and dad are laying to rest, and sleeping in peace together there.

Oh, I love those hills above Virginia.

In those Blue Ridge hills, I did roam.

When I die, won't you bury me on the mountain, far away in my Blue Ridge Mountain home.

I'll return to that old cabin home with a sigh, and I'll be longing for days gone by.

When I die, won't you bury me on this old mountainside, in a resting place upon a hill so high.

Oh, I love those hills above Virginia.

In those Blue Ridge hills, I did roam.

When I die, won't you bury me on the mountain, far away in my Blue Ridge Mountain home.

Thank you, boy.

Oh, I love those hills above Virginia.

In those Blue Ridge hills, I did roam.

When I die, won't you bury me on the mountain, far away in my Blue Ridge Mountain home.

Far away in my Blue Ridge Mountain home.

Here we go.

Take this hammer, carry it to the captain.

Take this hammer, carry it to the captain.

Take this hammer, Lord, carry it to the captain.

Tell him I'm gone.

Yeah, tell him I'm gone.

And if he asks you, was I running?

If he asks you, was I running?

Yeah, if he asks you, was I running?

Tell him I was flying.

Yeah, tell him I was flying.

Well, take this hammer, carry it to the captain.

Take this hammer, carry it to the captain.

Take this hammer, carry it to the captain.

Tell him I'm gone.

Yeah, tell him I'm gone.

I don't want your cold iron shackles.

I don't want your cold iron shackles.

Yeah, I don't want your cold iron shackles.

Because they hurt my legs.

Yeah, they hurt my legs.

Well, take this hammer, carry it to the captain.

Take this hammer, carry it to the captain.

Take this hammer, Lord, carry it to the captain.

Tell him I'm gone.

Yeah, tell him I'm gone.

I don't want your greenback dollar.

No, I don't want your greenback dollar.

No, I don't want your It hurts my pride.

It hurts my pride.

Well, take this hammer, carry it to the captain.

Take this hammer, carry it to the captain.

Yeah, take this hammer, carry it to the captain.

Tell him I'm gone.

Yeah, tell him I'm gone.

Take this hammer, carry it to the captain.

Take this hammer, carry it to the captain.

Yeah, take this hammer, Lord, carry it to the captain.

Tell him I'm gone.

Tell him I'm gone.

Yeah, tell him I'm gone.

Yeah, tell him I'm gone.

Tell him I'm gone.

Tell him I'm gone.

All right.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

I'm just so happy to see all of you out here on this beautiful day.

My goodness.

We appreciate you folks that came in early and sat in the sun.

I'd like to be happy we got that cloud.

Maybe it'll hang around until the trees catch up with it.

So everybody go- Are y'all doing good today?

Yeah.

All right.

I just wanted to make sure you're alive out there.

Wake your partner up if they're asleep, okay?

All right.

We like to do hammer songs.

We like to do train songs, cabin songs, whiskey songs, prison songs, bluegrass songs.

So since we're driving them stakes in, here's one called "The Big Spike Hammer."

Well, can't you hear the rhythm of my big spike hammer?

Lord, it's busting my side.

I've done all I can do to keep that woman.

Still, she's not satisfied.

Hey, hey, Della Mae.

Why do you treat me this way?

Hey, hey, Della Mae.

I'll get even someday.

Well, I'm the best hammer swinger on this big Texas gang.

Big Buck Johnson is my name.

This big hammer that I swing for a dollar and a half a day.

It's all for my Della Mae.

Hey, hey, Della Mae.

Why do you treat me this way?

Hey, hey, Della Mae.

I'll get even someday.

Well, I've been lots of places.

Ain't much I ain't seen.

Still a lot of things I'd like to see.

But this hammer that I swing for the woman that I love, gonna be the death of me.

Hey, hey, Della Mae.

Why do you treat me this way?

Hey, hey, Della Mae.

I'll get even someday.

Big spike hammer.

Big spike hammer.

I don't know about y'all, but it wore me out.

It's the first time we've wiped this year and, and got the sweat going.

You know?

I'm glad you clarified that.

But that's okay.

It's common.

I laughed.

Jerry Douglas is a dobro player with Alison Krauss, and way back in the day when they were making the movie O Brother, Where Art Thou?, they were doing an interview with him.

How many of y'all ever seen O Brother, Where Art Thou?

Yeah.

Greatest movie ever made to laugh at.

Anyway, they asked him, they said, "So what was the worst part of the movie?"

He said, "Well, I'll tell you what it was."

He said, "It was August.

They put us in a theater down in Southern Mississippi, built in the 1800s.

We didn't even have a fan, and they made us wear wool suits."

And the guy said, "Well, what was that like?"

He said, "Oh, a lot like playing a bluegrass festival in the summertime."

Which is so true.

We're gonna do a gospel tune or two for you right now.

We like to do that everywhere we go, and talk about the good things in life.

And as a matter of fact I'm going to go ahead and mention this.

We have a good Lord.

If you don't know him, you need to know him.

Open heart surgery in January.

Major surgery in March.

And last Saturday, we played together for the first time in seven months.

We're healed and we're happy.

Thank you.

We got the defibrillator back in the back here.

Yeah.

Just in case.

Here we go, boys.

Well, three men on a mountain up on Calvary.

And the man in the middle was Jesus, he died for you and me.

Well, the man on the left was a sinner man.

Upon the cross he bled.

He could've been forgiven, but he mocked the Lord and said "Well, you say you are the Son of God" "Oh, but they nailed you to that tree.

Come down, come down and save us, if God your Father be" Well, three men on a mountain up on Calvary.

And the man in the middle was Jesus, he died for you and me.

Well, the man on the right was a sinner too.

Oh, but he was sorry for his sins.

He begged the Lord's forgiveness and Jesus said to him "Fear not, fear not this earthly death.

For before this day is o'er, you'll be with me in paradise on heaven's golden shore" Well, three men on a mountain up on Calvary.

And the man in the middle was Jesus, he died for you and me.

Three men on a mountain up on Calvary.

And the man in the middle was Jesus, he died for you and me.

Well, three men on a mountain up on Calvary.

And the man in the middle was Jesus, he died for you and me.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

We appreciate that.

Shifting gears here.

We always love to get to play a little bluegrass.

It's always fun.

Been playing a long, long time.

It's how I met most of these guys.

Well, that's how I met all these guys.

Kevin and I met, well, let's see, somewhere in the '90s because he was coming to Foggy Hollow with Glen Talbert quite often.

And been around and come with a whole lot of people.

As a matter of fact, he's played in a lot of bands.

We've been picking together now for a long, long time.

I tell it, first time he come to pick with us, he played the bass and he didn't have a ponytail and now he does, so that'll tell you how long that's been.

But he also is the leader of the Cottonmouth Creek Band down around the Birmingham area, and they play a lot down in that area if you're down there.

Actually, these other two guys might be hanging out with him down there at the same time.

But they're a dynamite band.

If you're down in that area, be sure and keep your ears out for the Cottonmouth Creek.

And he does a lot of solo acts, several things around.

If you get to be his Facebook friend, Kevin Adkins, he'll keep you posted on what he's doing.

So, he's my great friend, my business partner.

Make him welcome.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Here we go.

Well, I am a pilgrim and a stranger.

I'm traveling through this worrisome land.

Now I got a home in that yonder city, good Lord.

And it's not Good Lord, and it's not Nothing in my hand.

Now I've got a mother I've got a mother Oh, sister and a brother Oh, sister and brother Who have gone on to that bright shore.

And now I'm determined, oh, to go and see them, good Lord, over on Yes, Lordy, over on On the other shore.

'Cause I am a pilgrim and a stranger.

Traveling through this worrisome land.

I got a home in that yonder city And it's not Good Lord, and it's not Not made by hand Thank you, Kevin.

A little fast strum, Mike.

Well, I'm going down to I'm going down Oh, the river of Jordan Oh, the river of Jordan Oh, just to cleanse my weary soul And if I can touch but The hem of His garment Oh Lord, I do believe I do believe It's gonna make me whole Because I am a pilgrim and a stranger Traveling through this worrisome land And I've got a home in that yonder city, good Lord And it's not Good Lord, and it's not Not made by hand I am a pilgrim and a stranger Traveling through this worrisome land And I've got a home in that yonder city, good Lord It's not Good Lord, and it's not Not made by hand No, no, it's not Good Lord, and it's not Not made by hand Oh, thank y'all.

Y'all are kind, very kind.

We appreciate that.

It's really hard to believe that this is the 13th year of the Bluegrass on the Rim.

And, I was thinking about it, Kevin, and unfortunately, I was thinking we're 13 years older, and mind, in your case, we're about 20 years older.

But I am so happy to say that 13 years we've been coming here and playing this show, and got all started back with my good buddy, Pete.

Pete, where are you?

I know you're here somewhere.

Yeah, there you are, Pete.

Hey, buddy.

Pete has been instrumental in putting this thing together way, way back, and then Anna hung out with us for about 14, 15 years.

And it's just been a pleasure working with them.

Jacksonville State University's been so good to us.

This is one magnificent little facility right here.

And I'm going to say this, there was a bump in the road this year and Pete got it straightened out.

I think then we get everything straightened for a while, so I'm happy about that, and I'm telling you, it's good news.

So, we'll get Kevin to come around here and do another tune for you right now.

This is one that was popular on the radio station a few years back, I guess in the '70s?

Yeah.

So.

About.

That was a few years ago.

I know it was, I had a 50-year reunion.

But he does a great job on this one right here.

This is written by Mr... Oh, the hat guy.

Tell me.

John Hartford.

John Hartford, that's what I said.

And recorded by Glen Campbell and made very famous.

Hope you enjoy.

It's knowing that your door is always open And your path is free to walk That makes me tend to leave my sleeping bag Rolled up and stashed behind your couch And it's knowing I'm not shackled by forgotten words and bonds And the ink stains that have dried upon some line That keeps you on the back roads by the rivers of my memory.

Ever smilin', ever gentle on my mind.

It's not clingin' to the rocks that I've implanted on some columns now that binds me.

Or something that somebody said because they thought we fit together walkin'.

It's just knowin' that the world would not be cursin' or forgiven.

When I walk along some railroad tracks and find.

That you are wavin' from the back roads by the rivers of my memory.

And for hours you lay gentle on my mind.

Oh, the wheat fields and the clotheslines and the junkyards and the highways come between us.

And some other woman's cryin' to her mother 'cause she turned and I was gone.

Well, I still might run in silence, tears of joy might stain my face.

And the summer sun might burn me till I'm blind.

Oh, but not to where I cannot see you walkin' on the back roads.

By the rivers flowin' gentle on my mind.

Well, I'll dip my cup of soup back from the gurglin', cracklin' cauldron in some train yard.

My beard a-rough, me coal pile, and a dirty hat pulled low across my face.

Through cupped hands round a tin can, I pretend to hold you to my breast and find.

That you are wavin' from the back roads by the rivers of my memory.

Ever smilin', ever gentle on my mind.

That's what keeps you on the back roads by the rivers of my memory.

And keeps you ever gentle on my mind.

There you go.

A little Bluegrass combo music for you.

It's kind of about living in the woods.

A lot of Bluegrass people live in the country, in the backwoods, and things of that nature, mountains.

This all got started back in the '20s when First Baptist Church, maybe the '30s.

First Baptist Church of Nashville, Tennessee, bought a radio station.

I'm sorry, the First Baptist Church sold a radio station, and there was an insurance company that bought it, and the insurance company's motto was, "We shield millions."

And the son, fresh out of college, he was the one with the big idea, talked his daddy into it.

And he went to Chicago, and he saw a thing called the barn dance.

And he came back to Nashville, and he said, "Dad, we're going to take that radio station.

We're going to put live music on it."

And next thing you know, some people named Roy Acuff, and then it wasn't long till the Monroe Brothers and people of this nature came.

Somewhere down the line, the Carter family and Bluegrass music hit the world in a hard way, and it was great, and it's still around.

And I will say, I'm happy to say that in the last few years, there's been the third rejuvenation of Bluegrass.

It happened back in the '70s.

Yes, sir.

Thank you.

And it's back again, and it's kind of crazy.

People like Alison Krauss, who are making a whole lot of money cooking the same recipe as my wife does with her ham.

She's happy with that.

But people like Billy Strings have brought rock and roll Bluegrass to the forefront, and it's just sweeping the nation.

So we're proud to be a part of that.

We'll do one for you right now, and it's a good one.

But going back to the old cabin one more time.

This one's called "The Lonesome Pine."

Well, there's a path up in the mountain to a one-room house where I was born.

Even now, memories linger.

Mama's smile so sweet and warm.

Lonesome Pine, I hear you callin'.

Callin' me To my home.

Where the fox and the hounds in the hills are roaming.

Lonesome pine's calling me home.

It's been so long since I left the cabin.

In search of wealth, fortune, and fame.

Late at night, alone and lonely.

Hear my daddy call my name.

Lonesome pine, I hear you calling.

Calling me back to my home.

Where the fox and the hounds in the hills are roaming.

Lonesome pine's calling me home.

Now someday soon, I'm gonna travel.

To the land that I love best.

In the stillness of the mountain.

I will find sweet peace and rest.

Lonesome pine, I hear you calling.

Calling me back to my home.

Where the fox and the hounds in the hills are roaming.

Lonesome pine's calling me home.

Lonesome pine, I hear you calling.

Calling me back to my home.

Where the fox and the hounds in the hills are roaming.

Lonesome pine's calling me home.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Kevin, I'm going to get you to tell them about this song a little bit here while I wet my whistler.

Well, this is an old song by Billy Joe Shaver, recently passed away.

He was one of the original country outlaws.

But I learned this song from listening to a fellow named Big Sam Frazier, who used to sing it every morning on the Country Boy Eddie Show out of WBR6 TV in Birmingham, Alabama.

Every day, Big Sam sang this song, and I got pretty tired of the song, to tell you the truth.

But after I didn't hear it for 15 years, then I got to thinking, "You know, that's a pretty good song."

And now I sing it every time I play somewhere.

So I guess I'm carrying on Big Sam's tradition here.

But it has a good message to it.

I think you'll like it.

It's called "I'm Just an Old Chunk of Coal."

Well, I'm just an old chunk of coal.

Oh, but I'm gonna be a diamond someday.

Well, I'm gonna grow and glow till I'm so blue, pure, perfect.

I'm gonna put a smile on everybody's face.

Yeah, I'm gonna kneel and pray every day.

Unless I should become vain along the way.

Well, I'm just an old chunk of coal now, Lord.

But I'm gonna be a diamond someday.

Well, I'm gonna learn the best way to walk.

I'm gonna search and find me a better way to talk.

Well, I'm gonna spit and polish my old rough-edged self.

Till I get rid of every single flaw.

Yeah, I'm gonna be the world's best friend.

I'm gonna go around shaking everybody's hand.

Well, I'm gonna be the cotton-picking rage of the age.

And I'm gonna be a diamond someday.

Yeah, I'm just an old chunk of coal.

Oh, but I'm gonna be a diamond someday.

Well, I'm gonna grow and glow till I'm so blue, pure, perfect.

I'm gonna put a smile on everybody's face Yeah, I'm gonna kneel and pray every day.

Lest I should become vain along the way.

Well, I'm just an old chunk of coal now, Lord.

But I'm gonna be a diamond someday.

Yeah, I'm just an old chunk of coal now, Lord.

But I'm gonna be a diamond someday.

Way to go, buddy.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Oh, we're going to A?

All right.

Tell you a little bit about the fella on my left over here picking the five-string banjo.

He lives down in the neighborhood of Tusc- He's a foreigner.

He's from Tuscaloosa.

We got two more foreigners sitting right here.

Drove all the way from Tuscaloosa to see us.

I'm happy about that.

I grew up with this guy, or I tried to grow up.

I don't know either one of us ever did.

But we lived about that far apart, and the first thing I remember about him was I'd ride by on the bicycle, and he'd be out there with manual hedge trimmers, man, trimming them hedges.

Frank would have him in working gear.

Well, he's a great guy.

We're happy to have y'all up here with us.

This fella here has been playing the banjo a long time, and I think he's just outstanding.

His name is Mike Caldwell.

Y'all make him welcome.

Like to hear him pick a little bit, so.

We're gonna do one right now for you that should be very well-knowing in the bluegrass world.

It's been done by a lot of people.

But I do believe the bluegr- Was it the Cardinals or the Gentlemen?

The Gentlemen.

Country Gentlemen made this song very famous.

It was recorded and written by a group called Manfred Mann in the '60s, and I'm not sure how it turned into bluegrass, but thank God they saved it.

What is that little saying you got, Kevin?

Do what?

About saving every song and making it the bluegrass- Oh, yeah.

Just that I think that every song was meant to be a bluegrass song.

But some of them just fell by the wayside, fell into the sin and iniquity of rock and roll and such as that.

And I feel like it's our mission to lift these songs up and put them back on the straight and righteous bluegrass path.

Can I get an amen?

Amen.

Oh.

Here's a good one for you called "The Fox on the Run."

She walks through the corn leadin' down to the river.

Her hair shone like gold in the hot mornin' sun.

She took all the love that a poor boy could give her.

And left me to die like a fox on the run.

Like a fox.

Like a fox.

Like a fox on the run.

Now everybody knows the reason for the fall.

When a woman tempted man down in Paradise's hall.

That woman tempted me, took me for a ride.

Like a lonely fox, Lord, I need a place to hide.

She walks through the corn leadin' down to the river.

Her hair shone like gold in the hot mornin' sun.

She took all the love that a poor boy could give her.

And left me to die like a fox on the run.

Like a fox.

Like a fox.

Like a fox on the run.

Well, take a glass of wine, fortify your soul.

Talk about the world and the friends I used to know.

I'll tell you about a woman that put me on the floor.

Race is nearly over, and the hounds are at my door.

She walks through the corn leadin' down to the river.

Her hair shone like gold in the hot mornin' sun.

She took all the love that a poor boy could give her.

And left me to die like a fox on the run.

Like a fox.

Like a fox.

Like a fox.

Like a fox.

Like a fox on the run.

Yes, this is my Lester tune.

This song was recorded by Flatt and Scruggs in the late 1950s, and it was popular when they played live.

But they couldn't get it on country radio because the subject matter of the song was somewhat questionable.

It talked about marital infidelity, cheating.

And you couldn't talk about cheating on country radio in the 1950s.

It just was not done, so it didn't get on there.

But we're gonna talk about it today because nowadays, you can talk about darn near anything you want to, it seems, and nobody cares.

So we'll do this one now for you, and it's called "I'll Go Stepping Too."

Well, don't think that I'll be hanging around while you're out having fun.

Well, I won't sit here crying over you.

Yeah, from now on when you step out, I'll tell you what I'll do.

I'll lock the door, put out the cat, and I'll go stepping too.

Yeah, I'll go stepping too, my honey.

I'll go stepping too.

I'll lock the door, put out the cat, and I'll go stepping too.

Yeah, every time you come in late, we begin to fight.

And you tell me there are more fish in the sea.

Oh, but the bait ain't what it used to be and I got news for you.

Yeah, from now on when you step out, I'll go stepping too.

Yeah, I'll go stepping too, my honey.

I'll go stepping too.

I'll lock the door, put out the cat, and I'll go stepping too.

Yeah, every time you come in, and you won't tell where you've been.

Always your hair messed up and your clothes don't fit you right.

Well, don't start to yell if you find lipstick on me too.

Then you would know that I have been out stepping just like you.

Yeah, I'll go stepping too, my honey.

I'll go stepping too.

I'll lock the door, put out the cat, and I'll go stepping too.

Yeah, I'll go stepping too, my honey.

I'll go stepping too.

I'll lock the door, put out the cat, and I'll go stepping too.

That's an old one right there.

Speaking of old ones, the only member I haven't introduced today, standing down there on the end, looking debonair, or deboner, whatever it is.

This guy has come a long way in life, from somewhere up north.

Not just in life, but some come down here to get in the South, and he's adapted very, very well.

He's adapted.

He's a great guy.

He used to be a Yankee, but we de-yanked him.

It can be done.

And he has adjusted.

I mean, he's accepted.

But he's a good guy, and he plays the bass, and he does a lot of other things.

And, let's see now.

Cliff, I think you're helping out a bunch of women do something.

Tell us a little bit about that.

Well, I just recently joined a band called Cowgirl Up.

It used to be an all-girl band, but now I'm the latest cowgirl.

Can you tell which one's not a girl?

I'm sure.

We call him the bearded lady.

He still lives up in North Alabama, and a great guy.

His name is Cliff Abbott, and we're tickled to death to have him playing the big bass fiddle with us today.

Here's one that JD Crow did a million times.

One of the best bluegrass songs out there.

A lot of people have done it, the Bluegrass Album Band, which is an honor for us to get to do.

This is one called The Old Home Place.

Well, it's been 10 long years since I left my home, in the holler where I was born.

Where the cool fall nights make the gray smoke rise, fox hunter blows his horn.

I fell in love with a girl from the town, I thought that she would be true.

And I ran away to Charlottesville, and I worked in a sawmill or two.

Oh, what have they done to the old home place?

Why did they tear it down?

And why did I leave my plow in the field and look for a job in the town?

Well, the girl ran off with somebody else.

The tariffs took all my pay.

Now here I stand by the old family mill before they haul it away.

When the geese fly south, the cold winds blow, and I'll stand here and hang my head.

I've lost my love and lost my home, and now I wish that I were dead.

What have they done to the old home place?

Why did they tear it down?

Why did I leave this plow in the field and look for a job in the town?

Well, what have they done to the old home place?

Why did they tear it down?

And why did I leave my plow in the field and look for a job in the town?

And why did I leave my plow in the field and look for a job in the town?

There you go.

We always have a great time coming up.

I want to thank everybody involved in this show and all the people.

Y'all try to say hello to TC and the group.

Thank the folks inside working, doing a great job to keep everything going up here.

It's okay to come by and visit during the week.

They're closed on Monday, but there's a lot of good things up here to learn about.

There's great hiking.

We have a beautiful waterfall.

It's a good time.

It's a great place.

You can come find you a little Airbnb cabin somewhere and spend the weekend.

Get a good taste of what it's all about to be out in nature.

We're happy to be here with you.

We got some great music coming up.

The guys are a little offbeat sometimes.

They beat all I've ever seen, but I love them.

I've been listening to them for many years and working with them.

Kevin's going to take this one out of here right now.

This is one that's been done by several people.

It was a big hit on the country station, but you won't recognize it because we're going to do the New Grass Revival version of it.

That dancing moon is on the water.

Do you feel inclined romantically?

Well, if you do, and I think you ought to, oh, love someone like me.

There ain't no place you should be going.

Ain't no need for you to leave.

It's a lover's night and the stars are showing.

You could love someone like me.

Well, someone else might try and find you, but my love will set you free.

And if your heart has got a mind to, you could love someone like me.

You don't need luck to find good loving, and it don't happen magically.

And tonight, oh Lord, you don't need nothing to love someone like me.

Well, you may think good love won't find you, but honey wait right here and see.

And if your heart has got a mind to, you could love someone like me.

Yeah, you could love someone like me.

Thank you so much for having us.

We are the Foggy Hollow Review.

We got some good things coming up.

Y'all hang around.

We'll take just a minute to get these guys set up.

Thank you.