MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Bluegrass musicians and fans are mourning the death of a popular bass fiddle player from McNairy County, Tennessee.
Gerald Kennedy and his wife were killed June 15 in an car accident in Corinth, Mississippi.
Members of the bluegrass band Hatchie Bottom Boys say Kennedy’s death is hard to accept.
“He was a fun person to be around. He was full of life. It was just a joy to have known him and be a friend,” said Hatchie Bottom Boys band member Joe Garrett.
The 82-year-old bluegrass musician appeared regularly at Pickin’ in the Square in Corinth, an event that attracts hundreds to the courthouse lawn for an evening of bluegrass music.
“There’s just a lot of people here in the county, surrounding areas, even Tennessee and Alabama that come sometime,” said Patricia Nachbar with Pickin’ in the Square.
Kennedy is described as a self-taught musician whose death is a loss to the bluegrass community.
Garrett describes Kennedy’s on-stage presence as more than laid back.
“Sometimes after he’s been playin’ a while, you look over and you think he’s fixin’ to go to sleep and fall off the bass, fall off the stool maybe,” Garret said.
“As a friend you couldn’t beat him, and if he was on the stage, you still couldn’t beat him. He was one of the best bass players in bluegrass I know of around anywhere. He made the Hatchie Bottom Boys sound good,” said band member Peck Boggs.
