I went to my first bluegrass concert last night, May 1st. Playing at the Bing Crosby Theater here in Spokane was the Steep Canyon Rangers. Known as the band that Steve Martin plays with occasionally, they were without the comedian last night and on this particular tour and no offense to Steve Martin fans, I'm glad he wasn't there. This group has mind-blowing talent and it was a pleasure to watch and listen to awesome music. Every song had me smiling, foot-tapping, or shaking my head in amazement wondering "how can they do that?"

Each of the six musicians were showcased many time throughout the concert. This was an unusual concert in that there was no intermission. They played for nearly two hours straight. I asked Nicky Sanders after the concert how they could do that. Lots of practice building up stamina was basically what he told me. These are genuinely nice guys that can play - boy can they play! Nicky had me watching wondering how he can play so fast and without flaw. It was really something to watch a virtuoso play. Equally amazing was Mike Guggino, who when they first walked out reminded me a little of Jimmy Fallon. I kept expecting his mandolin strings to break he was playing so fast. Again, no flaws that I could hear. Nicky and Mike join their voices with Graham Sharp and Woody Platt to create some really nice four-part harmony here and there. Mostly it was Woody, Graham, and Mike. Graham has this smooth baritone while Woody and Mike are a couple of tenors, but the three joined often during the night.

You can tell these guys enjoy playing together as they slowly wandered around the small stage grinning at each other. Even Charles Humphrey with that big bass manages to move it around while he plays. Not sure how he does that. Humphrey and Michael Ashworth are the only two non-singing members but the band would not be who they are without those two. Funny and cool moments when they were playing a little side number and Michael came up with two tiny sticks and played on the strings while Charles set the notes. Michael later picked up Woody's guitar and accompanied the group on "Hunger" which is a great four-part song.

I could go on longer about the evening, but there really wasn't one bad song, moment, or note last night. I will be heading to Telluride, Colorado for the bluegrass festival down there next month. SCR won't be there (I asked Nicky) but I can't wait for more of this type of musical experience. It just makes you smile.