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Some bands seem to change personnel as often as they change strings, but Lynn Morris and Marshall Wilborn have managed to play together for over twenty years. What some fans may not know is that Lynn and Marshall aren't just band mates; they're soul mates!

“We met in a little open-mic jam session in Austin, TX, in 1982,” remembers Lynn. “I was just passing through, on my way to Pennsylvania to join a group called Whetstone Run. I stopped by this club to sing a couple songs, and there was Marshall. I didn't even notice him until he started to sing!”

Within a few months, Marshall had joined Whetstone Run as bassist. He and Lynn played music for eight years before they made the big leap to the altar in 1990. “Music is a crazy life,” Lynn chuckles. “I think we just wanted to make sure that the marriage could take the music, and the music could take the marriage!”

The couple now plays in The Lynn Morris Band, an award-winning, full-time professional ensemble. Working closely together has its challenges, but Lynn says that she and Marshall each have pastimes that are diverse enough to keep things interesting. “I've become an animal activist!” she says. “I've been on the Board of Directors for the local ASPCA for years.” She also works on behalf of PetSmart Charities and SPAY/USA, a nationwide network and referral service for affordable spay/neuter services for house pets. Her band even recorded a song and a series of radio endorsements for the organization. The CD was sent to hundreds of U.S. radio stations, and some as far away as Australia and Canada.

Though enthusiastically supportive of Lynn's work for pet welfare, Marshall stays out of the trenches. “I guess I'm kind of a domestic guy around the house!” he says merrily in a slow Texas drawl. “Now, Lynn would laugh if she heard me say that, but when we're at home, I enjoy working in the yard. I dearly love to cook stuff on the grill out back. And I love listening to all kinds of different music. I'd call that one of my favorite pastimes.” His music collection consists of bluegrass, older country music from the 50s and 60s, old swing and early jazz. “When I go out in the backyard to cook, I take my little boombox and two or three CDs, and just have a little backyard cookin' music party!” Marshall also handles part-time deliveries for a local florist and walks whenever he can. Lynn maintains that this has helped him maintain his slender build.

Both hailing from Texas, the couple now lives in the historic district of Winchester, Virginia, in a neighborhood they compare with TV's Mayberry. “Everybody knows everybody on a first-name basis,” Lynn says. “My next-door neighbor is Bob Amos with Front Range! Red and Murphy Henry live several miles away.”

The couple resides in a two-story stone home, built in 1912. “A wonderful old house, basically in sound shape,” comments Marshall. “It needs some cosmetic attention here and there… it never ends!”

“It's tough keeping things together at home when you're gone half the week almost every week!” his wife agrees. “Your entire time at home is spent getting ready to go again.”

Lynn and Marshall spend as much time as possible with their nine furry companions: Peach, Batface, Mr. Stubbs, Baby-O, Tadpole, Molly, Rosa, Milton, Hormona, and Belle. “They're all rescue cases, every one of them!” Lynn says of the cats. The cat named Belle came from Animal Land, a shelter run by Dixie Hall. Mr. Stubbs came from the local SPCA shelter - when Lynn saw his name, she thought of Marshall's former band mate Eddie Stubbs, and couldn't resist! Peach, a big boy who now weighs in at a whopping 17 lb., was rescued at a 1990 festival by Alison Krauss when he was a tiny kitten. “She held on to him till we could get there the next day. We took him back to Winchester just squealing all the way!” A precocious cat, Peach has his own banjo, and regularly joins Marshall in impromptu living room jam sessions.

Then there's Hormona. “I should give her another name for publication!” Lynn chuckles sheepishly. “She was a rescue from our neighborhood. I took her in and put her in isolation. She was really hateful… and then she went into season and loved evvverybody. It was ridiculous. She wanted to get acquainted with everybody. Marshall started calling her Hormona, and the name stuck!”

One of the most compelling rescue stories Lynn tells is about Milton. “We're now being sponsored by SPAY/USA; we have their logos on our bus, and Milton's gonna be the poster boy on the side of our van. He has a crumpled ear and a lot of personality. I went to New Orleans for a big fundraiser, and the day before I got there, they found a house where somebody had abandoned 40 cats and six dogs---just locked the door and left. A neighbor discovered the house a month later. You can't imagine how awful it was. 35 cats were still alive when they found them. We helped feed them and give them fluids. Milton was Number 33.”

Though Milton couldn't leave New Orleans with Lynn right away---he was just too fragile---he'd won a loyal and loving new friend. As soon as he could travel, Lynn used her Frequent Flyer miles and went back down to get him.

As this issue of bluegrass now goes to press, The Lynn Morris Band is preparing for a big concert at the Birchmere in Washington, D.C. Pet-loving musicians scheduled to perform at the show include Missy Raines, Jim Hurst, Hazel Dickens, Dudley Connell, Dede Wyland, David McLaughlin, Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer. The concert, which Lynn vows won't be the last of its kind, will benefit SPAY/USA and PetSmart Charities. “We're looking forward to doing more fund-raising concerts, to help keep them in a position to continue their wonderful work!”

Look for a new CD from The Lynn Morris Band on Rounder Records this fall! For more information, visit www.LynnMorrisBand.com

Travel Tips from Lynn & Marshall

Lynn: We always leave the day before the show, even if it only means driving two hours and getting a hotel. We love hotel rooms. People say, “Don't you get tired of them?” No! When we're stressed out from getting all the chores done before we leave home, we spend the night in a hotel, get a decent night's sleep, and arrive at the venue the next day thinking about nothing but music!

When you make your reservations, don't call the 800 number; call the inn itself. Always call if you're gonna be late; always make sure that they know what time you're coming in; and if you're gonna be later than that, make sure you call. You may spend a few extra nickels making these calls, but it sure beats not having a room when you get there!

Marshall: We went to a very unusual restaurant recently: Lambert's Café in Sikeston, Missouri. It's a long-time family-owned restaurant there. People go up and down the aisles between the tables with dishes of refills, to offer you more potatoes or vegetables or whatever. Then they have these guys that come to the kitchen door with a big dish of hot rolls. They hollered “Hot rolls!” and I stood up and waved my hand. From about 30 feet away, this guy fired a roll at me just like he was throwing a baseball. Note: Lambert's also has locations in Ozark, Missouri, and Foley, Alabama!