Artie and Happy

It seems like it happened to a different person in another lifetime. Yet it was me who would load a U-Haul truck with bluegrass and folk albums and drive to Winfield, Kansas, as the representative of the on-site music vendor at the annual Walnut Valley Festival. In that pre-internet era, it represented a rare chance for fans to purchase specialty music. I recall this now because Artie Traum died Sunday. He and his brother Happy sold guitars a few feet from my booth. Rubbing elbows with the noted folk musicians was the first time I felt like I'd finally arrived.