"Well, I was born and raised in Milwaukee. Growing up there was very limited or no bluegrass on TV or radio. I think I remember seeing Flatt and Scruggs and Homer and Jethro on the Ed Sullivan Show. Of course the Dillards were the Darling Family and the early Kentucky Colonels were the Down Home Boys, both on the Andy Griffith Show. These were my first exposures to bluegrass. Of course, Flatt and Scruggs made more than one appearance on the Beverly Hillbillies. But in the late 70's while working for Northwestern Mutual, the ski club had a trip for the weekend to the Great Northern Bluegrass Festival at Mole Lake, WI. There I got hooked. Sure, there were some non-bluegrass acts up there like the Ozark Mountain Daredevils, the Marshall Tucker Band, and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. But I got my first exposure to Bill Monroe there, along with Ralph Stanley, Jim and Jesse, John Hartford, Benny Martin, Vassar Clements, Doc and Merle Watson, the Bluegrass Cardinals, the New Grass Revival, along with some local acts. Man, that was some great stuff. Even some great jams went off on stage, like one with Doc and Merle and Sam Bush and Benny Martin. Even John McEuen and John Hartford got involved in some of these impromptu jams onstage. Man, that was some great stuff. And I'll revisit some of that stuff a little later."

"I found out about a small one-day bluegrass show in Jefferson, WI. All local acts performed. And I found out about a new bluegrass association based in Madison, WI, which I promptly joined. When they had their first annual festival, there was jamming in the campground that night. I was sick being on the outside of the jamming because I could not play an instrument. So later that month I found an inexpensive upright bass for sale. I figured I could teach myself to play. I had learned in high school how to write music on paper and knew chord structure and the different keys, sharps and flats, etc. Within a year I played well enough that I was in a band: the Wisconsin River Bluegrass Boys. That was 1986. I didn't make the Great Northern Bluegrass Festival that year as the band was playing in Minnesota, but I made the next two. Our band was booked. I left the band at the end of '88, but returned to play at Mole Lake a couple more times as my replacement in the band had to travel internationally now and then. Upright bass players were in short supply and I happened to be one of them. So I had the opportunity to be in some of those jam sessions I had experienced. I was fortunate to play on stage with John Hartford, Benny Martin and Vassar Clements. I also filled in as the bass player for Josh Graves and Kenny Baker. I have some great memories of the shows I played there."

"I started working on my special recipe after I left the Wisconsin River Bluegrass Boys at the end of 1988. I had the opportunity to play with my former band filling in for the bass player. I brought cookies to those shows and passed them out to some of the artists. One of them was John Hartford. He took a look at one of the cookies and said, "I don't think I could eat one of those. Why don't you just autograph one and I'll put it in my personal archives?" I told him that there wasn't any room on one to do that. So he reached into his vest pocket and pulled out a stack of 3 x 5 cards and handed one to me and asked me to write my name and address on one. He would make a placard using his calligraphy skills and place it with the cookie in his archives. So I did. Later that year at the IBMA Fan Fest in Owensboro, KY I saw him do a songwriter's workshop. When it was over, I asked him if the cookie made it home okay. He looked to either side of him as if to check if anyone was listening to our conversation and then said, quietly, "I ate the son-of-a-bitch!" He never turned down the opportunity to take cookies after that. Each show I saw of his in Milwaukee, I made sure he got a batch."

~ Hägar ~

Chris Thile put out a project in 2001 and wore
my T-shirt on his album cover

Hägar and Brittany Allyn, George Jones' female backup singer. Allyn does all the Tammy Wynette duets with George.

Chris Thile & Hägar