On top of the obvious talent, they’re both naturally funny people too, and maybe the most genuine folks I ever knew in the music business. Though I never played in their band, we used to end up at the same festival venues. Lot of times we’d meet up for a midnight campground jam, and eventually got to be friends. Most memorable is an easy one… in October of 1999, I was sitting alone at our record table one night after a big showcase in Louisville Kentucky. That night should have been one of the highlights of my ‘career’, but due to a chronic illness, an ugly divorce, and the financial ruin that came with both, I was about as low as I can remember being. Sure didn’t feel like partying with the band that night. Kenny and ‘Manda stopped by the table just to say hello, and I guess must have seen through the brave face I was wearing. So they sat down to keep me company awhile, then before leaving, ‘Manda took one of the business cards and wrote their phone number on the back, and told me to call them sometime if I wanted to jam. I didn’t tell them until years later how much that simple gesture meant.
Here’s another one Fretboard Journal did that features her voice in the bluegrass equivalent of a chic-flick, and Kenny’s whimsical flatpicking style:
*that old guitar Kenny's playing is a Chicago-made Regal... pretty rare anymore. He buys and restores them for use when they fly somewhere. (his 'other" guitar is a pre-war Martin D-18)
