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These two brothers set out in the '50s to establish bluegrass around the state of Louisiana, a task one could easily compare to attempting to plant a lawn in a patch where there's already a full vegetable garden blooming. Between New Orleans rock and R&B, Cajun and zydeco music, and so-called Dixieland jazz, there was hardly enough room for a mandolin player to swing his neck around, let alone a full bluegrass band. Luke and Cecil Thompson were born in a sawmill town between Baton Rouge and north of New Orleans, Luke in 1928 and Cecil in 1932. It was a musical family of Scottish, English, and Irish descent who had wandered down to bayou country from the Carolinas. Grandfather played old-time fiddle, and family members would sometimes sit around keeping time with his tunes by tapping on the side of his instrument with straws. Both Luke and Cecil started out on guitars but switched to other instruments. Luke picked up fiddle and then a tenor banjo, which he then traded to another boy for a mandolin.
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© 2008