A Musical Childhood in Pictures

<p><strong>A Musical Childhood in Pictures</strong><span> is a</span><span> beautifully curated book of black & white photographs following Grammy award-winning Mark O'Connor's childhood music career</span><strong> </strong><span>during the 1970s bluegrass and old-time music scene. It is </span><span>a companion</span><strong> </strong><span>to O'Connor's aching memoir</span><strong> </strong><strong>Crossing Bridges: My Journey from Child Prodigy to Fiddler Who Dared the World</strong><span>. </span><em>A Musical Childhood in Pictures </em><span>featuring the </span><strong>photography</strong><span> of O'Connor's mother, </span><strong>Marty O'Connor</strong><span> (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>Vince Gill</strong><span> and </span><strong>Marty Stuart,</strong><span> to his command performance before </span><strong>President Ronald Reagan</strong><span> introduced by </span><strong>Merle Haggard.</strong><span> The journey begins when </span><span>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>Grand Ole Opry</strong><span> stage introduced by the "King of Country Music," Roy Acuff. </span><span>The layout follows him </span><span>on the road as </span><strong>national fiddle and guitar champion</strong><span>, touring with his jazz violin </span><strong>mentor Stephane Grappelli</strong><span>, to his involvement in some of the </span><strong>world's most iconic instrumental bands </strong><span>such as</span><strong> The Dregs</strong><span>. O'Connor's memoir details the personal</span><strong> triumphs, struggles</strong><span> 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>