I have been thinking about fiddle master David Blackmon while he recovers from recent surgery. I was fortunate enough to travel with him in 2005/2006 as a member of Blueground Undergrass. I cannot begin to express his level of both relentless humor and masterful musicianship. He was always a guiding light to me on stage if the band morphed into some bluegrass form I wasn’t familiar with. He often would use the Nashville number system to guide me from the 1 chord to whatever came next, or maybe just yell it in my general direction since I was often stationed behind him.
Here are some clips from a very memorable show at Camp Creek in New York 2006. We were joined by festival curator Scott Murawski and chased off the stage by an incredible Thunderstorm right in the middle of the grimly titled Oh Death. Only to return with the second half of Oh Death about 45 minutes later.
The band at the time consisted of myself on bass, David Blackmon on fiddle, Seth Hendershot on drums and vocals, Jeff Mosier on banjo and vocals, and Matthew Williams on guitar and vocals.
Head over to archive.org for more details.
Blueground Undergrass Live at Camp Creek on 2006-07-29 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
Here is a message from guitarist Matthew Williams on how to best help David.
Many people are reaching out to ask how they can help. With the pandemic still in full force, Venmo and digital gift cards are probably best. Once he gets out, he will need food, snacks, and Diet Dr. Pepper (anyone who knows David knows he can down some DDP like it’s nobody’s business.) He is checking Facebook so drop him some words of encouragement and love.
Venmo: @David-Blackmon-8
