For years, I pondered the spectacular talent of some of the great bluegrass and acoustic musicians out there-Alison Krauss, Tony Rice, Rhonda Vincent, Chris Thile, to name a few--and I wondered what roles their parents played in their early musical educations. What did they do to stimulate such talent in their children? Were there any common denominators?

The whole thing intrigued me so much that I decided to interview those parents (I'm a writer), and several more besides. It turned into a huge project, and a four-part article in Bluegrass Now magazine. Each installment contains the thoughts and insights of Amy O'Brien (mom of Tim and Mollie), Kathy Thile (mom of Chris), Vicki Shankman (mom of Dana, Lauren and Michael), Lisa Holladay (mom of Ryan), John Cleveland (dad of Michael), Karen Watkins (mom of Sean and Sara), Louise Krauss (mom of Alison and Viktor), Carolyn Vincent (mom of Rhonda and Darrin, and Louise Rice (mom of Tony, Wyatt, Larry, and Ronnie). Each installment also contains really great early photos, generously provided by the parents I interviewed. Best of all, I was able to satisfy my own curiosity about how to raise a great bluegrass musician.

Here are some of the 'common denominators' I noticed when I wrote the articles:

1. Each kid had tremendous early exposure to really, really good live music--not necessarily just bluegrass, either--and they were able to see that music didn't only come from a radio. The Watkins kids and Chris Thile were all regulars, with their parents, at a California pizza parlor where John Moore and Dennis Caplinger played every Saturday night. The Shankman Twins were exposed to good music by their mom Vicki, who was a Julliard-trained classical pianist. The Rice Brothers--Tony, Wyatt, Larry, and Ronnie--had a dad and uncles who were enthusiastic musicians, and instruments were accessible and always around. Mike Cleveland's grandparents were active members of the local bluegrass scene in their town, and they always took Mike to shows and jam sessions. Louise and Fred Krauss, who lived in a university town, regularly took young Alison and Viktor to see concerts and performances--"everything from rock to kabuki," as Mrs. Krauss said. Amy O'Brien often took her kids to symphony performances, and the whole family went to see the Beatles when the Fab Four first came to the U.S.!

2. Most of the children had formal lessons and instruction. Mike Cleveland started Suzuki violin training when he was four, at the Kentucky School for the Blind, whose music program now has sadly been decimated by budget cuts. After Dana Shankman discovered an old banjo in a corner of the family garage, her mom started her on lessons at the nearby Blue Ridge Pickin' Parlor, and Lauren, who had already started taking piano lessons, soon became interested in the fiddle. Chris Thile and the Watkins kids got lessons and support from John Moore and Dennis Caplinger, and I can't think of better role models; they're both great guys and wonderful musicians. The Krausses had perhaps the most formal approach of any of the parents: even before they had children, they decided that their kids would each have five years of formal music instruction. They believed strongly that being able to play a musical instrument was an important life skill that would always be useful to their kids. (Boy, did they turn out to be right!)

3. For the most part, the parents were mellow about letting their children's talent develop naturally. They didn't force, they ENCOURAGED. This seemed to be a critical point for most of them. Vicki Shankman, who'd survived a grueling childhood as a piano student, probably loved the contrast between the note-for-note discipline of classical music and the improvisational qualities of bluegrass; she told me that she never had to ask her kids to practice, because it's what they loved to do better than anything else. Ryan Holladay's mom says that Ryan's recently become a Nintendo fan, but she isn't worried: “When school first started, he went for a month without picking up an instrument. But during that time, he still listened to music. And when he picked [his banjo] back up, he was as good or better than he was when he laid it down. I think he needs to take that break!” Kathy Thile would play Chris' favorite records in the morning, before he got up, and by the time he came downstairs, he'd be ready to reach for his mandolin. “When he was a little older,” she told me, “he set himself up with a little star chart with his songs on it, and he'd do the song, then grade himself. I still have one where he wrote, 'Pritty Good!'”

4. Often, and particularly in the cases of the younger musicians, the musical development of the children was the most important thing for each family. They invested so much in it: financially, physically, emotionally… driving thousands of miles to lessons and festivals, spending thousands of dollars on instrument upgrades, lessons, and traveling. The level of commitment and support was tremendous. Mike Cleveland's grandparents and dad would take him to festivals so that he could jam with other musicians (interestingly, Mike is the only musician in my survey who didn't play professionally till he was older; his dad didn't want him to lose joy in his music, to think of it as just a job). When I spoke with Ryan Holladay's mom, she and her husband were getting ready to drive 950 miles to take Ryan to a festival where he was scheduled to perform; this is a regular thing for the Holladay family. These parents get behind their children's musical educations and careers with such enthusiasm! “We even bought an old, beat-up motor home so we could go to festivals,” Kathy Thile told me, “and we eventually put together a recording studio in this little building that we had on our property.”

5. A traditional formal education wasn't as important to most of these families as it seems to be to us mere mortals. There was one notable exception: the Shankman Twins just graduated from UCLA, and their brother Michael Alden will start there this year. Vicki and her husband, who is a doctor, felt that this was important. Lauren and Dana managed to play music professionally all through school, by scheduling classes only on Monday-Thursday so they could travel to weekend gigs on Fridays. But I don't think that any of the other musicians whose parents I interviewed actually finished their degrees. Most of them had at least a year or two of college, but not all of 'em. The Watkins and Thile kids were all home-schooled; this seems to be a very popular trend with children raised in a bluegrass environment. They each had a bit of college, and they all did very well, but stopped when they became busy with their music careers. Ricky and Sharon White Skaggs are home-schooling their kids; they were encouraged to do so by Paul and Theresa Brewster, who are also home-schooling parents. The kids in my survey who attended public school had (or, as in Ryan Holladay's case, STILL have) very understanding and supportive teachers and principals, who recognize that the experience these kids got as working musicians was invaluable. Lisa Holladay told me, “I was worried when he started kindergarten, but I talked to the principal and the superintendent of schools, and they said, 'What he's doing is going to be a great part of his education.'”

By the way, my cousin, who is in Louisville this week for the annual IBMA gathering, was delighted to tell me that she's seen SO MANY young musicians there this year--really tight and incredible bands made up of young pickers who are ready to take over where Mike and Chris and Tony and Alison and Rhonda leave off! This music will never die; it will continue to thrive and evolve through the musical journeys of all those who love it, play it, eat, sleep, and breathe it.

I hope some of this is helpful to you, and I wish you the best of luck with your little pickers!