In
My
Own
Words
I
was
born
May
26,
1955
in Columbus,
Indiana.
My parents
were
Carlton
and
Carol
Duncan.
My
Dad
was
in
the
Army
when
I
was
born
and
my
mother
and
I
lived
with
my
Father's
parents.
I've
often
thought
this
shaped
my
musical
tastes.
They
had
a
large
'78
collection
of
Bill
Monroe,
Flatt
and
Scruggs
and
Roy
Acuff,
and
they
listened
to
this
music
all
of
the
time.
They
also
had
a
big
Airline
radio
that
I
still
have
,
that
they
listened
to
the
Opry
and
radio
programs
of
the
mid
'50's.
Growing
up
in
Columbus
,
we
used
to
go
to
the
Brown
County
Jamboree
in
Bean
Blossom
,Indiana
to
see
the
shows
they
had
on
Sundays.
So
I
saw
a
lot
of
Bill
Monroe,
Ralph
Stanley,
and
tons
of
Opry
acts
there.
My
Dad
had
bands
around the
area
so
I
remember
lots
of
musicians
coming
by
to
pick
around
the
house
with
my
Dad
and
myself.
I
started
playing
guitar
and
dobro
(actually
Hawaiian
music
on
electric
slide
guitars).
I
really
got
inspired
to
play
steel
guitar,
but
my
dad
didn't
want
to
spring
for
the
money
to
buy
a
pedal
steel
until
he
saw
I
was
going
to
stick
with
it.
I'd
seen
Buddy
Emmons
with
Ray
Price
at
the
Crump
Theatre
in
Columbus
and
just
went
crazy
over
his
playing.
So
I
started
taking
steel
lessons
from
Tom
Pickett
in
Columbus.
Along
about
this
time
I
heard
Earl
Scruggs'
Mercury
Recording
of
Foggy
Mountain
Breakdown.
I
thought
(still
do)
it
was
the
greatest
thing
I
had
ever
heard,
and
I
just
had
to
have
a
banjo.
So
I
got
a
banjo
and
started
learning
everything
I
could
get
my
hands
on
of
Earl's
music.
In
the
mid
60's
I
started
playing
guitar
and
piano
and
organ
in
some
of
the
rock
bands
around
Columbus
,
then
started
playing
with
Don
Davis'
bluegrass
band
when
I
was
a
teenager.
I
met
Roger
Smith,
an
ex-Bluegrass
Boy
who
had
moved
to
southern
Indiana
to
work
with
Monroe
at
Bean
Blossom
and
had
stayed
there.
He
showed
me
a
lot
about
fiddling
and
banjo
playing,
and
was
like
a
time
capsule.
He
played
just
like
had
in
the
'50's
and
was
a
really
good
person
to
learn
stuff
from.
So
I'm
going
along
playing
several
different
instruments
'till
a
fateful
day
in
1971.
My
Dad
and
I
went
to
Bean
Blossom
for
a
Sunday
show,
really
to
see
Ralph
Stanley.
Monroe
was
on
the
show,
but
we'd
seen
Bill
so
many
time
when
Bill
came
on
we
were
actually
leaving.
I
got
to
the
back
of
the
place
by
the
concession
stand
when
they
kicked
into
Uncle
Penn.
What
happened
next
would
forever
change
my
life
...Kenny
Baker
was
playing
fiddle
and
I
thought
it
was
the
best
thing
I'd
ever
heard.
He
had
such
a
great
tone
and
just
enough
blues
to
go
that
stately
sense
of
phrasing.
I'd
been
ruined.
From
that
moment
on
I
threw
myself
headlong
into
being
a
Professional
Fiddler.
To
be
continued...