I grew up in a family full of musicians. My grandpa plays the guitar and mandolin, and has jam sessions once a week with his friends. My mom plays fiddle, and my dad plays guitar. Even though I’ve been surrounded by instruments my entire life, I wasn’t really interested in taking up music, until I was 12 years old. My parents played in the band Denim Grass that performed at Six Flags Over Texas, in Arlington, Texas. They played at the Texas Heritage Festival, every September. There would be several bands staged throughout the park for entertainment. There were several genres of music represented, such as Texas swing, bluegrass, German, and old time country. There were also vendors located throughout the park. Each vendor was to present a craft, that represented the time frame of the turn of century in Texas. Costumes were required to be worn by the the vendors and musical performers. From a young age, I loved the times my parents performed for the festival. A special benefit was the free admission tickets, that could be shared with family members and friends. I would invite my friends to come attend Six Flags, and we would roam the park all day, riding rides and playing games. Within a few short years, riding rides at Six Flags was not on the top of my priority list. I wanted to be one of the entertainers for the festival. It was a small size banjo on display, that caught my eye, and changed my world forever. One of the band members of Denim Grass, was an accomplished banjo player, Richard Angell. Richard was quite a character, whom I quickly admired for his friendly attitude, and great sense of humor. He was a very intelligent man, and seemed to be knowledgeable in several areas, such as hunting, fishing, and building instruments. Richard would build Appalachian dulcimers, and sell them. After a few years of building instruments, Richard built a small size banjo. It was small enough for a twelve-year-old to play. It was when Rich