Bluegrass is alive and well at Bill’s Pickin’ Parlor

Willie Wells still remembers the moment he fell in love with bluegrass music.

Wells grew up with bluegrass, courtesy of his father, Bill, who was a traditional bluegrass musician from Virginia. He first picked up a guitar in high school and learned a few chords from his dad.

Despite the traditional background, Wells always favored country and rock. After he finished school, he pursued singing and drumming, which led to more than 40 years of performing around Chicago and Nashville.

“My dad would call me a couple of times a month and tell me he had some CDs he wanted to send to me,” he said. “I’d ask him if they were bluegrass, and I didn’t want to hurt his feelings, so I said OK.”

One day while he was driving, Wells pulled a CD from the Lonesome River Band out of stack of bluegrass discs he had laying on his passenger seat and decided to give it a shot.

“I was like, ‘Wow, what is this,’” Wells said. “It was one of those moments where I went, ‘This is bluegrass?’”

He called his father and told him how much he liked it. The band featured an electric bass, which isn’t a part of traditional bluegrass, so it wasn’t his father’s favorite. Nevertheless, that was the start of Wells’ love for bluegrass, a love that has continued to spread throughout South Carolina for more than a decade.

“I never looked back,” he said. “I’ve got a nine-piece set of drums that have been sitting in a case for the past 15 years.”

Bill Wells and his wife Louise moved to Columbia in 1985 with the idea of creating a place for bluegrass musicians to jam. After two years in a location on State Street in Cayce and with the need for a larger venue, Bill’s Pickin’ Parlor and Music Shop moved to Meeting Street in a building that has stood for almost 40 years. Bill’s provides high-quality instruments, a family-friendly environment and bluegrass music to the community.

Bill Wells passed away at the age of 84 in 2011. But his legacy is being carried on by his son.

“I spent about the last four months with him before he passed away,” Wells said. “I told him since him and I were the only two in music in the family that I would retire from what I was doing and would come down and keep the store going.”

Bill Wells’ goal was to keep bluegrass music alive and to give everyone a chance to experience it. Since Willie Wells took over, the parlor has introduced a few different events such as shag nights, live music and dancing and even electric jams. However, the main event that has taken place every Friday since 1985 is the bluegrass and acoustic open stage and jam.

“I don’t care if you play Pink Floyd on an acoustic instrument,” he said. “It’s all acoustic and that’s what it’s meant for. You’re welcome to come in and you’re welcome to play.”

On a normal Friday night jam there isn’t a spot in the building without music. Wells said there are normally three different sections where musicians gather. One group sits at the front of the store next to the instruments and plays country. The bulk of the crowd congregates in the parlor, where they take turns playing on stage or in small groups scattered throughout the room, playing anything from bluegrass to gospel to country to rock. Behind the stage are two rooms that he said are where the hardcore bluegrass players get down.

“There’s really a section for anybody,” he said. “There’s a lot of musicians who play on Friday and Saturday nights, but there’s a lot who don’t. We want to reach out to them and give them a place to come.”

Robert Johnson Jr., an 86-year-old veteran from Mississippi, first came to a jam 10 years ago with his wife and has rarely missed a week since. Johnson has been singing and playing guitar since the 1960’s and normally performs his two favorite songs, “Amazing Grace” and “How Great Thou Art,” as the first act of open stage.

“I really appreciate the group here,” Johnson said. “It’s like a family.”

The Pickin’ Parlor offers an alcohol- and smoke-free environment that welcomes anyone. Van Price is a lifelong violinist and violist who is a regular on Fridays. Price often joins any group he can on his fiddle. He said his favorite part of the parlor is the friendly and welcoming environment.

“People come here to play and enjoy music, not talk politics or anything like that,” he said. “No one will judge you, and you’ll always have a band.”

In addition to the Pickin’ Parlor, Bill Wells also founded the South Carolina Bluegrass Traditional Music Association in 1991. Leo Pearson, who has served as the group’s president since 2018, attends every Friday night jam. The group works very closely with the parlor, with Wells serving as treasurer for the nonprofit. Pearson said it’s important to keep bluegrass music alive and that he looks forward to every Friday.

“I love it because we are carrying it on for the children in the next generation,” Pearson said. “It’s all about the kids.”

It took Wells some time to find the same passion for bluegrass as his father. In addition to taking over the store, he also took over Blue Ridge Mountain Grass, a band his father started in 1979. Wells said he does it because he loves it.

“It’s music,” he said. “To me this isn’t a job.”

He said he has no plan to stop and is simply dedicated to carrying on his father’s legacy.

“Being able to have the autonomy to really promote and push music, I can see his vision and what he was doing,” he said. “He set a pretty good foundation.”

Bills Wells opened the pickin’ parlor and music shop in 1985 with the hope of creating an environment for bluegrass musicians to come together and make music. Photo by Giovanni Cusatis/The Carolina Reporter