The first recording of “True Life Blues” come from the 1945 sessions that produced other singles such as “Footprints in the Snow”, “Rocky Road Blues” and “Kentucky Waltz”. I was first drawn to this era of The Bluegrass Boys because of the bluegrass girl, Wilene “Sally Ann” Forrester on the accordion. Key of A for those of you keeping track at home.
I play jazz piano, bluegrass mandolin and other things in Raleigh, North Carolina. I’m a self proclaimed music nerd and recently found myself in a unique position due to my background in both bluegrass and jazz. I run a periodic newsletter of weird, obscure and interesting music called The Orphic. Like many productive members of society, I work a desk job to finance my unhealthy interest in music. The following is a rewrite of a response I made on the r/jazz subreddit about the relationship between improvisation…