Cousin Mel has been (not so) secretly making a busker friendly music row in Clovis

Plus, Rudy Parris tries his act on AGT.

For a behind the curtains look at how journalism sometimes works, let me point you to this story I did on Melvin Mason for The Fresno Bee a few weeks back.

Mason is an old-school country music guy, who is known to friends as Cousin Mel (or Kuzzin Mel as its spelled out on his guitar) and, whom, had I a better memory, I would have remembered from his performances at the Fresno Grand Opry in the 20-teens (he played with Roger Perry, I believe).

But Mason wasn’t really on my radar until Bethany Clough ran into him while reporting on a breakfast spot that opened in Clovis. He was just hanging out, playing his guitar and singing songs, which is apparently a thing he does often at several spots along Pollasky Avenue. He even started leaving guitars around to make things easier (for himself, and others).

So, that was the pitch (though I found out later he was being honored by Clovis Hall of Fame, which added some newsy-ness to the story).

I went out on a Tuesday morning and met Mason and just kind of watched him do his thing. He gave me a quick walking tour down Pollasky (during which he busted out a quick tune inside of On the Edge coffee shop) and then led an impromptu sidewalk open mic/jam session across the way at Scoops, Soups & More.

He played “Six Days on the Road” (a song I’ve always loved), but mostly let others have at it and spent his time hyping them up (he made sure to introduce me to everyone there).

It was a nice snap shop of this guy and the quirky thing he started doing, which just kind of caught on with others. It was also a nice introduction to a part of the music scene that I knew existed, but had never touched directly (guys like Randy Carroll and John Pemberton).

This kind of story was the bread and butter of the Features department, back when The Bee had a whole staff of writers covering arts, entertainment and pop culture. It’s nice to be reminded that stories like this still exists and that doing them is worthwhile (If you agree, be sure to click through. Metrics count these days).

Rudy Parris has got talent, auditions for AGT

Rudy Parris has gone looking for another shot at competition TV.

Last week, the singer/guitarist announced he was auditioning for AGT (America’s Got Talent), which he followed up with snapshots of himself at what appears to be open call auditions for the show (which were happening at Pasadena Convention Center).

The show closed virtual auditions for its 20 season on Saturday.

If you’ll remember, Parris did well in his last TV go-round.

In 2012, he landed an audition for Season 3 of NBC’s The Voice, doing a version of “Every Breath You Take.” It got him a spot on Team Blake and a run on the show that lasted through the Knockout Round (if you follow the format of the show).

Season 20 of AGT premieres May 27, so, depending on how things went, we might see Parris dropping hints soon.

That’s it for this week. Remember you can now hear me on the Homegrown Show Sundays at 8 p.m. on New Rock 104.1 FM. I’m in the studio tonight with the band Seven Asterisk. Follow my other writing at The Fresno Bee. If you have anything you think I need to be looking at or listening to, feel free to let me know: jtehee@gmail.com