Bluegrass and Salsa

This past Friday night, my husband and I went to our favorite Mexican restaurant, El Ranchero, for dinner. We love this restaurant because it is locally owned and the food is very good at a reasonable price. The two of us can eat a full dinner and each have a 33 ounce mug of Dos XX dark beer for a little over twenty dollars including the tip. As a bonus, when the weather is good, it is close enough that we can walk there from our home.

Nearly every Friday night, EL Ranchero hosts music night featuring mostly local talent. There is no cover charge but the customers generally tip the musicians. The quality of the acts on Friday varies greatly from pretty bad to excellent. This Friday night was a real treat because our favorite group was playing. They usually only come to El Ranchero twice a year and we make a point to be there to watch them play.

The name of the group is Blue Mountain Myst which is a trio of three women singers/ musicians/songwriters and their backup group is the Misti Mountain Boys. Two of the women are sisters and the third is a friend who has been singing and writing with them for about twenty years. The lead singer does not play an instrument, but her sister plays keyboards and the friend plays guitar and fiddle. The Misti Mountain Boys back them up with an acoustic bass guitar, regular guitar, banjo and manolin.

They sing country, bluegrass, and pop. About half of their music is original compositions of their own which falls into the country or bluegrass style and which is what I prefer.

My husband and I have become such a fixture whenever they come to town, that we are now on a first name basis with Bitsy, the lead singer. They were on break when we walked in and she immediately came over and gave us a hug saying how good it was to see us again. I laugh to think that we have become groupies of a blue grass group headed up by a woman with seven grandchildren.

So Friday night, we had a wonderful meal of enchiladas with pork, peppers and onions and a large mug of Dos XX dark while we enjoyed our favorite bluegrass band. Bluegrass and salsa. It doesn't get much better than that. Mmmmmm!