Dieter, Birgit, Suzanne, Suzi and Sister (l to r)

We had a real treat yesterday at church.  Dieter and Birgit Stoll (Horse Mountain) from Germany visited with us and played our Offertory and Special music during Sunday morning worship.  They are here in the TN/NC area visiting for a couple of weeks before heading to Wilkesboro for Merlefest.  They played a couple of songs on Thursday at the Pickin’ Porch here in Bristol, and again at the Carter Fold on Saturday night.  It’s always great to meet new people who share our love of music and these folks are really special!  They started their trip in Memphis, and were in Nashville before heading to East Tennessee, the REAL Birthplace of Country Music.  Imagine traveling all the way from Germany because you love the music, when some of us won’t drive 20 miles!  This is their second trip to the States in 2 years.  Dieter is an accomplished guitar player, Birgit a fine bass player, and they both have really good voices.  At church yesterday, they played the Carter song, “The Gospel Ship  “, and “By the Mark” (Gillian Welch).  Our family at Cold Spring really enjoyed having them, it was a nice change from our little choir!  We really appreciate that they took time from their trip to visit with us.  After church, we went to a local Greek place and had lunch, then they were on their way to Greeneville, TN.   In the photo above, that’s Dieter on the left, then Birgit, Suzanne, Suzi and me, on the right.