Laid Back Country Picker

I was 13 years old in 1978. My dad was into bluegrass and classic country like Johnny Cash. He taught me to play guitar and I was just starting to discover rock and roll. I recall watching the Today Show one morning and they did a story on an English group called The Sex Pistols.

“I had never seen a band conduct itself like they did. It seemed to me that they didn’t want people to like them!”

I had never seen a band conduct itself like they did. It seemed to me that they didn’t want people to like them!  A few weeks later I saved up and bought Never Mind the Bollocks on 8-track.  I didn’t hxave a proper stereo. I had a car 8-Track player in my bedroom that I powered with a battery charger. I didn’t have speakers, so I wired it directly to a pair of Radio Shack headphones. It was mega-loud!  I am sure the tinnitus I suffer from now started with that stereo set-up. I popped the Sex Pistols in and I was in awe. I had never heard a guitar sound so raw, and a singer so angry! The songs were not complicated but they certainly moved me. I blasted it non-stop and learned God Save the Queen on guitar. 

I currently perform as Laid Back Country Picker. High School Social Studies Teacher for 25 years. Married for 40 years (she also plays drums in my band). We live in Louisa Kentucky

You can find out more information about my music at www.laidbackcountrypicker.com.

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August, 2026 – Gouache on black paper. 10″x10″

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I heard about Laid Back Country Picker randomly somewhere on the internet. The first song I hear by he and Honey blew my socks off. Every once in a while I saw a punk rock reference in his posts so I was doubly hooked. I knew he understood the ways of my people.

SS August 14, 2026