You want hardcore? Try bluegrass banjo vet Eddie Adcock, seen here playing his axe during his own brain surgery. The unflappable picker elected to have the surgery to correct a hand tremor that had been seriously affecting his playing. Adcock, 70, played with bluegrass godfather Bill Monroe and many others over the course of his long career, but he wanted to keep the ball rolling for as long as possible, so he decided to take the risk of the procedure. Apparently it’s not uncommon for a patient to remain awake during brain surgery, so as to interact with the surgeon as needed, but Adcock took it to a whole new level, firing off those downhome banjo licks while laid flat on the operating table with medical apparatus poking into his grey matter. Let’s see Amy Winehouse or Pete Doherty try that one. [Boingboing]