I was standing just inches/feet away from the very spot where I was was when I first heard the sad news all those years ago... backstage at the Old Fiddlers Convention in Galax, Virginia... with a couple hundred guitar players. Back then, we didn't have internet access in our shirt pockets to tell us, but the word had spread pretty quickly through the campground. I thought about it last night when I went to back up my buddy Ted in his competition. (check the t-shirt, hat-tip Bill TGO)...
The stage was modernized maybe 10-15 years ago, but that yellow circus tent has been the backstage area my whole life. Anyway, this is exactly the spot where I was. Probably where I'll be next year too.