Everybody needs a little 'Yee-ha!'

There are times it seems where everybody needs a little “Yee-ha!” in their life. Or maybe that’s just me since I’ve got a Midwestern background, where “Yee-ha!” is more plentiful than it is here on the East Coast.
Last weekend provided such an opportunity for me, at one of my favorite places on the planet, the Sellersville Theater 1894. That’s where bluegrass and country legend Ricky Skaggs performed two shows on Saturday, the first of which I attended.
I was forced to go it alone because The Blonde Accountant is an East Coast girl who’s hip. I really dig those styles she wears. In reality though, she doesn’t have an ounce of “Yee-ha!” in her entire body. Getting her to come along was a tough sell and although I tried right up until it was time to leave for the concert, I never closed the deal.
But Ricky Skaggs does have a bunch of “Yee-ha!” because he’s a good old boy who hails from the mountains of Eastern Kentucky who has been playing bluegrass music since he was a youngster, which is about 50 years now.
Now bluegrass music isn’t really my thing, although I do like the theme song to the “Beverly Hillbillies.” And any time you go see a band that has a banjo, a fiddle and a mandolin it in, you’re going to experience a fair amount of “Yee-ha!” in the show.
But Skaggs, who plays the mandolin, and his band Kentucky Thunder are the best in the business and I quite enjoyed the concert.
I had interviewed Skaggs a few weeks ago for a preview story on his Sellersville visit and he was articulate, gracious and chatty during our telephone conversation. I was fortunate enough to be introduced to him after the show. It was a short meeting and he was much less chatty, although in all fairness, he probably wasn’t much interested in a rumpled reporter hitting him with a big “Yee-ha!”
Of course, I now had an extra “Yee-ha!” that I needed to get rid of, so I saved it for The Blonde Accountant when I got home. Not surprisingly, she didn’t want much to do with it either.
I guess everybody doesn’t need a little “Yee-ha!” in their life, but I’ve still got a few extras to pass out. Don’t be surprised if you get one the next time we talk.