Riffs, Roams and Raves:

Imagine going home for the Thanksgiving holidays with your new husband only to find your parents’ living room packed with a hundred relatives, neighbors and friends eager to size up the fellow who’d captured your heart. That’s what Sarah Jarosz did this past weekend when she and husband Jeff Picker performed for WVACA’s “Stars Over Wimberley” concert series.

If the truth be told, not everyone in the audience knew that the couple had wed. When KWVH’s Coach Smith let the news “slip” in his introductory remarks before the show, a few gasps were heard around the room. The question in everyone’s mind was, “Who was the man who had won the affections of Wimberley’s sweetheart?”

First and foremost, Jeff is a first-rate musician. Like Sarah, he was a prodigy, playing bass professionally at age 15 in the northwestern U.S. He was raised in Dallas and Portland and gained national recognition as one of the most promising young jazz musicians of his generation. He was named “Presidential Scholar for the Arts in Jazz” by the U.S. Department of Education at the age of 18 and was given a grant by the National YoungArts Foundation. He was also awarded a scholarship to the Manhattan School of Music. After a year in that program, he transferred to Columbia University.

After New York, he settled in Nashville. In the decade or so that followed, he played bass with many of the biggest names in Bluegrass and Folk music. His instrument of choice is a bass — of the acoustic, stand up variety — but he is also a multi-instrumentalist with chops on a number of instruments.

For five years he performed, toured and recorded with the band, Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder. Kentucky Thunder has won the “Instrumental Group of the Year” award from the International Bluegrass Music Association multiple times, as well as seven Grammy Awards.

He is a member of the Nashville superband, East Nash Grass, that features Nashville’s hottest young Bluegrass musicians.

This year, he began touring with Nickel Creek, the legendary progressive Bluegrass band that recently ended their 2023 tour in Austin. Also this year, he was a nominee for “Instrumentalist of the Year” at the Americana Music Honors & Awards held in September, parts of which were aired on Austin City Limits in November. When not touring, he works as a session player on the Grand Ole Opry.

In an interview in August with Jay Horton of the Willamette Week newspaper, Jeff said that he’d recently put out two records under his own name that are all original instrumentals. “In the future,” he told Horton, “my plan’s at least 10 to 15 gigs a year with my own band.” He described the sound as “having bluegrass sensibilities and some jazz intrigue. . . that doesn’t stray too far from the front porch.”

When asked if he had plans to include vocals on his instrumentals, he said, “Probably not. I do sing a little bit in our show to give some dynamism, but I stay focused on the compositions and improvisation. I’m lucky enough to be surrounded by the best singers in the world—including my wife—so I think the best I can offer as a composer and bandleader is in the instrumental realm.”

Jeff demonstrated his jazz chops during the concert when he accompanied Sarah on her interpretation of “When I Grow Too Old to Dream,” by Oscar Hammerstein and Sigmund Romberg.

By the time his Wimberley debut drew to a close, Jeff had more than proved his mettle as a musician and suitable consort to the very talented Ms. Jarosz.

Roams - Hill Country Home Companion My roam this week took me to a place that really only exists in the Wimberley of the Imagination, but you’ll recognize each and every character you’ll meet there.

Join me, if you will, for a trip to the “Hill Country Home Companion,” December 30, at the Wimberley Playhouse for Guy Noir Jr., Private Eye; Life in the Checkout Line; Around Town: The Historic Wimberley Game Show; and all the latest local news available from The News from Here.

The live radio show, written by local playwrights and punctuated by sound effects from a foley artist, will include musical guest Jill Jones, Wimberley’s yodeling singer songwriter who appeared on the original “A Prairie Home Companion” with Garrison Keillor, and The Jazz Messenger Boys.

Joining them will be “special” show sponsors, The Non-Profit Committee to Explore the Need for Committees; The Wimberley Newcomers Group — Shut the Gate Guild; Brutal Brew Pub: Home of the open mic and awfully earnest musicians; and, The Palindrome Partnership whose motto is “Where the road ahead looks exactly like the road behind.”

Make plans now for this original, entertaining production that promises to be big fun before tickets sell out. The Wimberley Playhouse only seats 109 people, so don’t wait. For tickets and other Hill Country Home Companion information, go to wimberleyplayers. org. But seriously, act fast.

Raves - WVACA and the Moreman Memorial Fund partners with Amigos de Jesus With the Wimberley Valley Arts and Cultural Alliance dominating the news this week, it is not surprising to learn that WVACA and the Robert Moreman Memorial Fund have also partnered with Amigos de Jesus to provide scholarship assistance to Wimberley students.

You may know that Amigos de Jesus is a nonprofit organization that supports underserved populations in Wimberley and the surrounding areas. They operate a food pantry called “the Mercado” where families come to get groceries, fans, heaters and other resources. They recently completed their Annual Winter Coat Drive, and this Fall they launched the Amigos Mentorship Program for 9th to 12th graders to help Wimberley students succeed after graduating from high school.

Stay tuned as this program develops. For more information about the Amigos de Jesus, go to texasamigos. org. For information about WVACA, visit wimberleyarts.org.