Bobby Krech Carries on a Family Tradition

Warren and I flew to Denver last weekend for our nephew's wedding. Bobby and Michelle were married on a perfect day in October with the golden aspens and a warm breeze adding to the day's beauty. We were surrounded by family, many of whom we rarely see--one of the sorrows of our far-flung 21st century family. We tried to catch up with all the nieces, nephews, cousins, aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters, etc. We left knowing we'd done the best we could but also knowing many more moments were unrealized and questions unspoken.

Other than the wedding and celebration that followed--which were wonderful--probably the highlight for me was when Bobby and his buddies took out their instruments and jammed for hours. This appears to be a common occurrence in his household but was rare and special for Warren and I. Bobby is a professional fiddle player with a Colorado Bluegrass Group called "Hunker Down." Come to find out they played at the Blue Note in Columbia, about 30 miles north of us last winter. We didn't know about it or we would have been there, believe you me!



Most special moment was taking a picture of Bobby with his great-great grandfather's fiddle. It used to belong to his father, Tom, who is an amazing musician as well, who handed it down to his son, Bobby--the newest fiddle player in the Krech Family.

You may remember how I mentioned in a recent post here on "Be Mindful" that "the fact that Bobby Krech plays a mean fiddle and so did William Krech AND his father Chris--who is Bobby's great-great-great grandfather, doesn't surprise me either."



I was surrounded by Bobby's fiddle playing that night, listening to these wonderful musicians playing any old thing they felt like, someone singing or not, folks dancing along, others listening, and wondered how similar this was to a family get-together a hundred years ago in Iowa or South Dakota, William or Chris playing music with other musicians while kids played and teens and grown-ups danced in the grass or on the barn floor. This time we were out on the patio, under the shelter of the canvas gazebo built by Bobby and his friends, kids still playing, teens and grown-ups still dancing or sitting around listening, all of us marveling at the beauty of it all.

The only videos I managed to snag were badly lit and poorly recorded, but I will upload one if I can because you can see people dancing and enjoying the fiddle music of Bobby, who carries on the family fiddling tradition that goes way back to his great-great-great grandfather, Heinrich Christoph Krech, who played in the 1870s. None of this surprised me and it all surprised me. The more things change, the more they stay the same, even when 100 years separates the men who play the fiddle.

Thanks for the memories, Bobby and Michelle!