WANT TO GO?

Larry Keel and Natural Bridge

WHERE: The Boulevard Tavern, 806 Kanawha Blvd. E.

WHEN: 10 p.m. Saturday

TICKETS: $10

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Careers can take unusual turns, but no matter how you look at it, the leap from teaching high school French to playing bass in a bluegrass band is a big one. Jenny Keel, bass player for Larry Keel and Natural Bridge, said she wouldn't have it any other way.

"The French might come in handy some day," she said and laughed. "One of these days, Larry and me might make it over to Europe." 

The former French teacher, along with her husband, flat-picking guitarist Larry Keel, and the rest of Natural Bridge, will be at the Boulevard Tavern Saturday night, performing their special blend of high-test bluegrass music.

Jenny said she grew up around music, but her musical journey didn't really begin until she left her home in Atlanta. "I played a little piano. I sang in the choir, but it wasn't until I got to Virginia that I really got into bluegrass music."

While studying French and English at Washington and Lee University, Jenny became a huge fan of roots music and caught dozens of shows at local clubs. But she'd somehow missed Magraw Gap, the band Larry played in.

"I'd really never heard of Larry," she said. "Apparently, he'd been coming through for years."

They met one night when she was watching another bluegrass band. They connected and soon were practically inseparable.

She took a sabbatical from teaching and followed her boyfriend as he toured the South with the band. Somewhere she found time to complete a French Literature program at Mary Baldwin College and began learning to play bass. She had to study the French on her own, but she had a lot of help with music.

"Larry and his crew were just very friendly and very encouraging," she said. "They were very accessible when it came to answering questions or loaning me an instrument to play."

After the pair moved in together, she chose the bass. They practiced together all the time, just sitting around and playing, she said. "Larry was just so patient and cool to let me figure it out."

Jenny loved to play but hadn't given much thought to performing. She loved Larry's band and wanted to be part of it but thought she could help by booking shows and doing office work. Then Larry split from Magraw Gap and formed his own band. He told her, "You're going to play bass."

She never went back to teaching -- though she doesn't sound like she regrets it -- and she and Larry have been together ever since, which is now almost 20 years.

"We've been determined to be together and have a career together," she said.

They have a good life. They travel, play music and even work in some fishing, a sideline they developed a few years ago. They host weekend workshops that combine music education with fishing. Larry, she acknowledged, is the bigger fisherman, though she enjoys fly-fishing for trout.

"I'm pretty sporty," she said. "I like rock climbing and kayaking. Larry isn't so much into those, but as long as he's on the water, he's happy."

Reach Bill Lynch at ly...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5195.