Terry Brewer / DJ, Social Media, Public Relations

Life is music… Share The Grass!!

About Terry Brewer

I grew up in a home where the family often played music on the radio, record players, or TV. Mama taught me to enjoy music at a very young age.

My mother grew up in Oklahoma, where she and her family lived in a home in the country. Without TV, the family would gather and listen to the radio for entertainment. On Saturdays, her family (mother and dad, grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins, brothers, and sisters) would sing and play music on the front porch. Her family moved to Corcoran, California, where she met my dad. Uncle Bert would visit us once or twice a year, and he would play the guitar and sing songs by Jimmy Rodgers, Roy Acuff, and Willie Nelson’s “Blue Eyes Crying in The Rain.” Uncle Bert showed me how to play the guitar when I was around 8. Not long after that, Mama purchased my first guitar.

At age 15, my family relocated to Bakersfield, CA. After High School, I worked with a friend at a local motorcycle shop. He was a DJ for Buck Owens’ Rock station, KKXX. I would hang out at the radio station when Don was on the air, and I can remember thinking what a fantastic job he had, sharing and playing music for people. From the KKXX studio, through the window, I could see the KUZZ studio, Buck’s Country station, in the same building.

By age 21, still listening to rock music, I found myself visiting a Country music bar, “The Funny Farm,” where I saw my sister’s friend from high school and asked her to dance. Sheila taught me how to Two-Step, and a month later, we were married. I changed my music collection in my Jeep from Fleetwood Mac, Clapton, Bad Company, and Seger to Haggard, Jones, Waylon, Willie, and George Strait. With rock and country music changing, something seemed to be missing until one Sunday night at church when Miss Ollie and Travis played music on stage before the evening service. The way they were playing and singing got my attention. After church, I followed them into the parking lot and asked what style of music they had been playing and if they could teach me to play that way. Bluegrass, they replied, and yes, we got together and jammed every other Sunday 2 hours before church. Bluegrass? So, a few weeks later, I showed up nervous on my first day at school.

The room had several pickers in a circle, and it didn’t take long to find out I had developed some bad habits with my guitar playing over the years. I had forgotten what Uncle Bert had taught me years ago. Miss Olie was on me like white on rice. Don’t strum like that; this is how you should do it. So I went home, practiced, and returned. You’re out of time and playing too slow, and it’s your turn to sing. More practice, SING? I returned more nervous than when Sheila walked down the aisle on our wedding night. A few months later, I joined them on stage in church, shaking in my shoes!

I told my mom how much I enjoyed bluegrass music, so she went out and bought me a few CDs and tickets to a three-day festival five hours north of Bakersfield for my birthday. The weekend showed me what goes on at a bluegrass festival: the jamming in the campgrounds and the bands on the main stage. I decided to get more involved and headed home with a stack of new CDs.

Since that first Bluegrass Festival, I became a member of the International Bluegrass Music Association and the Southwest Bluegrass Association, where I have served on the SWBA Board of Directors for the last three years, managed the SWBA website for the previous five years, and editor for the SWBA newsletter The Bluegrass Soundboard.

I started sharing bluegrass music videos on Facebook and noticed how many people liked and shared the posts. In 2013, SHARE THE GRASS began, and I created a Facebook group called The Bluegrass Cafe. With 100 people asking to join daily, it grew very fast. A few months later, I created The Bluegrass Cafe Facebook page, YouTube Channel, and Twitter page. I was sharing 50+ posts a day and was amazed at the response, likes, and people sharing the post with others.

Lou Ellen, a Facebook friend helping with The Bluegrass Café FB group, told me about The Bluegrass Jamboree and Annette Grady. I started listening to The Bluegrass Jamboree online and became a fan of the live shows. After meeting Annette and talking with her, I was impressed with her story and devotion to bluegrass music. So, I volunteered to help with The Bluegrass Jamboree Facebook page and The Bluegrass Jamboree Chat FB group.