A Musical Childhood in Pictures

<p class=ql-align-justify><strong style=color: rgba(34 34 34 1)>A Musical Childhood in Pictures</strong><span style=color: rgba(34 34 34 1)> is a</span><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)> beautifully curated book of black & white photographs following Grammy award-winning Mark O'Connor's childhood music career</span><strong style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)> </strong><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>during the 1970s bluegrass and old-time music scene. It is </span><span style=color: rgba(34 34 34 1)>a companion</span><strong style=color: rgba(34 34 34 1)> </strong><span style=color: rgba(34 34 34 1)>to O'Connor's aching memoir</span><strong style=color: rgba(34 34 34 1)> </strong><strong style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>Crossing Bridges: My Journey from Child Prodigy to Fiddler Who Dared the World</strong><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>. </span><em style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>A Musical Childhood in Pictures </em><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>featuring the </span><strong style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>photography</strong><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)> of O'Connor's mother </span><strong style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>Marty O'Connor</strong><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)> (1930-1982) traces the narrative of the memoir with never-before-published images of young Mark and the legendary musicians he learned from and performed with including his fellow teenagers at the time </span><strong style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>Vince Gill</strong><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)> and </span><strong style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>Marty Stuart</strong><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)> to his command performance before </span><strong style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>President Ronald Reagan</strong><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)> introduced by </span><strong style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>Merle Haggard.</strong><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)> The journey begins when </span><span style=color: rgba(34 34 34 1)>at age 10 he was winning classical guitar competitions against University graduates and at age 12 was thrust as a soloist onto the </span><strong style=color: rgba(34 34 34 1)>Grand Ole Opry</strong><span style=color: rgba(34 34 34 1)> stage introduced by the King of Country Music Roy Acuff. </span><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>The layout follows him </span><span style=color: rgba(34 34 34 1)>on the road as </span><strong style=color: rgba(34 34 34 1)>national fiddle and guitar champion</strong><span style=color: rgba(34 34 34 1)> touring with his jazz violin </span><strong style=color: rgba(34 34 34 1)>mentor Stephane Grappelli</strong><span style=color: rgba(34 34 34 1)> to his involvement in some of the </span><strong style=color: rgba(34 34 34 1)>world's most iconic instrumental bands </strong><span style=color: rgba(34 34 34 1)>such as</span><strong style=color: rgba(34 34 34 1)> The Dregs</strong><span style=color: rgba(34 34 34 1)>. O'Connor's memoir details the personal</span><strong style=color: rgba(34 34 34 1)> triumphs struggles</strong><span style=color: rgba(34 34 34 1)> and demons that informed the decisions he made about his music career path and the risks he was willing to take for a shot at the brass ring. </span></p><p><br></p>