I met Mance Lipscomb around 1964. I had been taking guitar lessons in all different styles from folk to flamenco to classical. But I loved the guitar style of Mance Lipscomb best of all. I was learning how to play his music by applying techniques I had learned in lessons to careful listening of slow speed, note-by-note playback of the performances on his first record. When Mance was to appear at the Ash Grove (a nightclub run by Ed Pearl that featured folk music), Bernie Pearl encouraged me to introduce myself to Mance. Bernie said that Mance was very nice, and he suggested that I peek in the dressing room between sets. Mance listened to me play, picked up his guitar and joined in, and we immediately began to call and reply musically within his style. We got along personally as well as musically, and after the club closed, we went out for pancakes in the early morning, a late night breakfast that we repeated many times over the years. I invited him to my house for dinner the next night, and I learned that Mance stayed in motels while traveling, which reduced his take-home pay from tours.

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