Bangkok Bluegrass Boys

Laos➞Bangkok➞Tokyo➞Seattle➞Denver➞Toronto➞Denver➞Telluride in six days, including a three day photo-shoot in Toronto, left me feeling quite jet-lagged. My plan was to arrive by train at 6am in Bangkok, drop my stuff at a guest house, taxi 45 minutes across town to my friend Peak’s house, then hit the gigantic Bangkok Weekend Market to stock up on gifts for friends. I didn’t account for a few things. First, Thailand is at the tipping point of huge political turmoil. That morning, tens of thousands of protesters, known as Red Shirts, had descended on the capital to call for new elections, demanding ‘democracy’ from the current government who was put in place after a military coup. With a major protest looming, I decided to try to beat the traffic, and head straight across town to get a head start on my market day. There were thousands of military police in full riot gear lining the streets. There were also hospital tents set up by the protesters, as a place to have their blood withdrawn so they could throw buckets of it on government buildings!

I got to Peak’s, (a couchsurfing.org hub) and headed out to the Market with a posse of travelers. A Mexican, two Italians, another couple, and a kid from Bloomington, Indiana, my home town. We hit the market, and got split up. Its huge. I headed for the used clothing section to find weird uniforms, and other oddities. . After about 15 minutes, something caught my ear: the ringing of the 5 stringed banjo. I charged up a row of vendors, then up another, finally, the banjo grew louder, and there, in front of a country western clothing stall, a 4 foot eight inched Thai man ripping the good ‘ol banjer. He wasn’t just kind of picking it. He was destroying it. Ripping it. He was picking the shit out of it!

I went up to him after a song and explained that I was a bluegrass musician, and that I had my mandolin on the other side of town, but it was no good. He didn’t speak a lick of English. He only spoke bluegrass. Foggy Mountain Breakdown. Cripple Creek. Ol Joe Clark, etc. Hmmm. I really wanted to play with him, but I would have to traverse the protest, now fully in swing, twice to get it and come back. 3 hours at least I figured. I looked around, and there, under some country western shirts, was another banjo! “Can I play that?” I gestured with my hands. “Sure” he shrugged with his shoulders. I picked it up, and we proceeded to rip through some classics. Duelin’ Banjos. I Saw The Light. Blue Moon of Kentucky, he would sing, with out speaking any English. It was beautiful. Soon a crowd gathered, and we spent the next two hours sweating in the hot Bangkok sun, laughing and picking and the market.

Soon, his friend, who spoke some English, approached me. He said that the Banjo Picker had to leave at 4pm because he was off to play a wedding, and was wondering if there was a way I could get my mandolin, and be back in an hour and a half to go play with him.

To make a long story short, the quickest way around Bangkok is on the back of a motorcycle. There are kids in orange vests who will pick you up, and weave in and out of traffic, go the wrong way up one way roads, head into oncoming traffic, ride up on sidewalks, and run red lights and stop signs to get you where you’re going. And that’s just what he did. It was like a James Bond scene. We were riding like we were about to save the world from a ticking time bomb, cops and protesters everywhere. But we did it. I got my mandolin and got back to the market in time to catch a ride to the gig. 

I was figuring that it might just be me and him, playing in a back yard for a traditional Thai wedding.  We walked to the banjo player’s car, a little Suzuki complete with Texas bull-horns, and a band logo that read The Blue Mountain Boys. Ok. They were serious. Its me, the Banjo Player, and now we have the mando player and cowgirl singer in tow. All Thai. No English. Well a little. The mandolin player has traveled to the U.S. to attend bluegrass festivals, but really he’s an engineer. He speaks some English. So we pile in the tiny car and, click, click, no go. We had to get out and push start the car into a busy street. It was just like home, trying to get to a gig.

So, we pulled in to the venue, a full sized event hall with seats for 350+. This was a big wedding. Everything was country western themed. Hay bales on the floor, TeePees as you walk in, and us, the Blue Mountain Boys, a 10 piece country western, bluegrass, truckdrivin’, honky tonk band. 9 Thais, and a gringo.

The rest of the band was waiting for us. Guitars, fiddle, mandolin, banjo, accordion, bass, drums, & washboard!

The set list was amazing. Bill Monroe, Hank Williams, Jimmy Martin, Bob Dylan, The Beatles, and a few Thai Traditionals.

The band was decked out.

The bride a groom were decked out too…

And the family…

I took some photos between songs, and some video Ill try to post on Youtube…

The band did their best to sing the songs in English.