The World is Waiting for the Sunrise – The Seldom Scene

Here's a hot instrumental performed by the Seldom Scene on June 7, 1996, at Lexington Kentucky's "Festival of the Bluegrass." Duffey introduces this song simply as "Sunrise," but the full title of this classic is "The World Is Waiting for the Sunrise," with lyrics by Gene Lockhart and music by the concert pianist Ernest Seitz, who had conceived the refrain when he was only 12. The original was released in 1919, and has been covered hundreds of times by artists as diverse as Django Reinhardt and Les Paul & Mary Ford. This videotape was shot and edited in 1996, a few months before John Duffey's death, by Kentucky Educational Television (KET) under the direction of my friend and former bandmate: Russ Farmer. This performance shows off the instrumental prowess (and humor) of mandolinist John Duffey, dobro player Fred Travers, guitar-player Dudley Connell, banjo player Ben Eldridge, and the fine fretless bass work of Ronnie Simpkins.