You can skip to the Bluegrass/gospel song at the end (Give it a second to load). The ramblings below are what the songs mean to me.

From 10 years old to 17, I grew up in the sticks of the Blue Ridge mountains of Virginia. There weren't any other kids for a coupled mile radius of dirt roads where I grew up. Being home-schooled for a portion of my early education limited interaction with kids my own age. The point is, as a kid, my influences and the people I would call my friends were my uncles, great uncles, and other adult men that were farmers, mechanics, and loggers and friends of my Dad.

My Uncle Isaac, lived a 1/2 mile down the same shared driveway I grew up on. He served in the National Guard, and in the civilian sector he spent time working on interstate 40 (back in the 60's or 70's) as a heavy equipment operator, mainly operating a dozer. From there he worked other jobs but eventually became a mechanic and welder. He retired from the Komatsu dealer as a master mechanic and welder. He was an avid hunter, and helped his brother on the side with their family dairy farm. My uncle came from the era and place where a man's word meant something, rough hands were the norm, and you were who you where without pretenses. My Uncle Isaac had been battling diabetes and heart attacks for the past couple years. I saw my uncle back in July when I was home visiting. We brought him up to my moms house for BBQ.

The wife, son, and I went back home to spend the week of thanksgiving with my family. My uncle had just been brought home from the hospital under hospice care. Most every body knows what that means. On Wednesday before thanksgiving, we went to visit him but he was generally unresponsive, outside of some eye movement and guttural noises. I sat for about an hour holding the rough work hardened hand of a man who taught me how to weld. I talked to him about the weather in Virginia and Alabama, my job here in Alabama, bears my family has been seeing in the area, hunting dogs, hunting deer, trucks, and whatever else I could think of. I said my goodbye's and told him when he got to heaven to say hello to my Dad (died 2006), and my grandpa and grandma.

My Uncle Isaac passed away later that Wednesday night, he was 80 years old. He was married to my Aunt for 60 years. My aunt asked my brother and kids to sing at my uncles funeral. Thanksgiving evening after dinner we typically sit around and play a little music. We are not good musicians and the video below sucks. But, everybody back in the hills, generally can play a lick or two on an instrument and beller out something that sounds like a song. We grew up with the deep belief that God, Family and Country are the things you hold onto. They are the only thing worth holding onto. Playing music together is just another way of spending time with our families. I hope the songs below encourage and strengthen those of you who are going thru hard times.

We buried my uncle in his blue jeans a flannel button up shirt and his Snap-On Tools belt buckle.

My brother and two of his kids practicing the song they sang at my Uncles Funeral: "He Is All I Need"

Another song we were messing around with. This is my brother,wife, and 3 of 4 kids. The youngest : "Wayfaring Stranger"

Sorry about the loss of your Uncle Isaac. The music was from the heart and I'm sure he enjoyed it. I did. Thanks for sharing your story.

not a bluegrass fan but I liked that

Great story. Enjoyed the singing. Always enjoyed the fiddlers convention in Athens. I took mom every year or made sure she could go if I was working. Going to be rough this year.

Thank you for sharing that great story and the music. I really enjoyed both. You have my condolences on the loss of your uncle.

Sorry for your loss, I really enjoyed the bluegrass gospel. Not a real fan of most regular bluegrass but love bluegrass gospel. Patty Loveless’s version of Daniel Prayed is my current favorite.

Sorry for yall's loss. Loved the music.

I really enjoyed the music. They did a great job.

Sorry for your loss. Enjoyed the music.

I enjoy bluegrass gospel and I enjoyed both of your videos. Thanks for sharing. I'm sorry about the loss of your uncle, he sounds like a fine man.