Alan Bibey looks to Loar for his signature mandolin

Alan Bibey, a founding member of bluegrass bands New Quicksilver and IIIrd Tyme Out, was just 5 years old the first time he saw Bill Monroe, the Father of Bluegrass, perform. He stood on his father's shoulders and watched Monroe play on the back of a flat-bed truck, and that night he picked up his father's mandolin, learned one chord and started "chopping" right in time, the rhythmic chop that is the heartbeat of bluegrass songs.

"I was just awestruck by his presence, he was like a bigger than life kind of figure," Bibey recalls. "That night I told my father, 'that's what I want to do.'"

Bibey has since become one of bluegrass music's most influential mandolinists - he's been referred to as a "Young Mando Monster." His new Gibson signature mandolin is modeled after his Loar F-5, which coincidentally is the same date as the late Mr. Monroe's instrument - July 9, 1923. According to Darryl Wolfe's F5 Journal, there were only 34 known instruments that were signed that day by Lloyd Loar, the Gibson acoustic engineer who designed the Style 5 series.

He wanted the 1923 reproduction flowerpot headstock inlay that's characteristic of the F-5 model, but he added his own unique "look" features like tortoise shell binding with white inserts and hand-engraved, gold plated hardware. He'd worn the finish off the neck of his Loar, and he wanted that same feel for his instrument: the neck is stained and unfinished, and the neck extension is scooped out.

"When all these pickers get out in 100 degree weather, and the humidity is bad, it's easy on your hand," Bibey explains. "Most players really like the scooped out neck extension because they usually hit it with the pick."

His Loar F-5 came to him unexpectedly through a friend five years ago, and it would appear it was meant to be. When he was first starting his career, he gave lessons to a veterinarian from Asheboro, NC and they stayed in touch throughout the years. Bibey borrowed Hershel Sizemore's Loar to use on his current band's (Blue Ridge's) first recording and just loved the sound, so he thought he'd call around to see if there was one for sale. He happened to call the veterinarian.

"He said, 'It's just wild that you called, I don't have that mandolin for sale at all, but I've been sitting here listening to this recording that you're on, and it just blows me away,'" Bibey says. "He said the mandolin had been sitting in the vault and he wanted me to have it."

Alan set out to raise the required capital by looking for buyers for a limited edition Gibson Bill Monroe mandolin and several other instruments that he wanted to sell. Months went by and he wasn't able to come up with the dough, and he had basically given up. Then one day he came home, and there was a message from the veterinarian - he was willing to take the Gibson Bill Monroe model in trade and some cash, and Bibey took out a loan to cover the rest. He's now a self-professed collector of one, he says with a chuckle.

As a youngster, Bibey played with his family's band, Southern Tradition, and recorded his first album at age 13. His father gave him his mandolin, a 1950s-style A-5, when his young son's skill surpassed his. Alan listened to all kinds of music and instrumentalists including horn players, electric guitar players, rock and jazz players, and tried to assimilate different techniques and sounds into his own style of playing. He emulated Jesse McReynold's cross-picking style and learned Tony Rice's guitar breaks note for note, as well as Benny Goodman songs. He cites Southern Rock giants Lynyrd Skynyrd as an influence, too.

A native of Walnut Cove, NC, he competed in state contests nearly every weekend, and won the World's Championship at the 1982 World's Fair in Knoxville, TN.

Besides bluegrass music, he played in a country music variety show in Myrtle Beach called Southern Country Nights. He also made frequent appearances on The Family Channel in commercials and various country music specials.

"My ambition was to be able to play any kind of style really well. I wanted to be the best, and I'm still struggling with that, of course," he laughs.

His current band, Blue Ridge, just released their third album, Side by Side. It features mostly original tunes including the title track, written by Bibey about his grandparents, and an instrumental he composed called "Avalanche." "It's got real traditional stuff on there, but the instrumental is modern sounding, and there's an a cappella tune on there that I think is our best," he says. "I think it's by far our best band work to date."

He's also crafting a new solo album, the follow-up to 2000's critically acclaimed In the Blue Room. It will have mostly original tunes this time around, and he'll do the lead vocals and have his favorite bluegrass singers do the harmonies.

He's got his new signature mandolin in the studio, as well as his Loar, in the studio, and he uses Neumann 184 microphones to preserve their natural tonalities.

"As good as my Loar is, and as good as my signature model is, I think you're hurting the sound by added anything to it," he concludes. "I don't add any reverb or anything - it's a crime to take away from it."