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Post by razzgospel on Mar 28, 2013 6:35:34 GMT -5
A couple of days ago, I went into the local music store. When I walked through the door, there were a couple of older guys sitting around, chewing the fat, and pulling guitars down from the ceiling to try them out. One of the guys looked up at me and said, "You play a Martin." He wasn't Claire Voyant. Turns out his name is Frank. It was the leather cowboy hat my wife bought for me several years ago on the set for Dances With Wolves. Leather hat equals bluegrass equals Martin. Funny he didn't think I played mandolin. I could have convinced him that I was Bill Monroe's younger brother. "No, I said. You must be a bluegrass musician." I wasn't being clarevoyant. His preference for a Martin gave him away. "I prefer a Gibson or a a Guild because they have a stronger bass sound than a Martin." "No they don't he said," with an edge to his voice. Then I KNEW he was a bluegrass muscian. I told him I have a Martin and an old Guild, both from the seventies that I play, but for flatpicking I love my Alvarez signature best. He perked up when I mentioned the Alvarez Signature. Paul Opalach, who is producing my new gospel CD, keeps t asking me if I wanr to sell him my Signature. He loves his, but he's let people use it in his studio and it doesn't have a pick guard, so the face of the guitar is almost as banged up as Willie Nelson's old guitar.
By then, the music store owner, Joe Banko came in from the back room, and I said, "Hi, Joe, I want to buy an amplifier for my epiphone semi-hollow body electric, and the room went silent. Bluegrass players don't low no amplifiers here.
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Post by Admin on Mar 28, 2013 6:46:45 GMT -5
A couple of days ago, I went into the local music store. When I walked through the door, there were a couple of older guys sitting around, chewing the fat, and pulling guitars down from the ceiling to try them out. One of the guys looked up at me and said, "You play a Martin." He wasn't Claire Voyant. Turns out his name is Frank. It was the leather cowboy hat my wife bought for me several years ago on the set for Dances With Wolves. Leather hat equals bluegrass equals Martin. Funny he didn't think I played mandolin. I could have convinced him that I was Bill Monroe's younger brother. "No, I said. You must be a bluegrass musician." I wasn't being clarevoyant. His preference for a Martin gave him away. "I prefer a Gibson or a a Guild because they have a stronger bass sound than a Martin." "No they don't he said," with an edge to his voice. Then I KNEW he was a bluegrass muscian. I told him I have a Martin and an old Guild, both from the seventies that I play, but for flatpicking I love my Alvarez signature best. He perked up when I mentioned the Alvarez Signature. Paul Opalach, who is producing my new gospel CD, keeps t asking me if I wanr to sell him my Signature. He loves his, but he's let people use it in his studio and it doesn't have a pick guard, so the face of the guitar is almost as banged up as Willie Nelson's old guitar. By then, the music store owner, Joe Banko came in from the back room, and I said, "Hi, Joe, I want to buy an amplifier for my epiphone semi-hollow body electric, and the room went silent. Bluegrass players don't low no amplifiers here. Love that story Jerry. Especially the "Bluegrass players don't 'low' no amplifiers here". Back in the 40's the Opry didn't allow any amplifiers (except for a pedal steel) and absolutely no percussions. I believe I have the distinction of playing the first Telecaster on the stage of the Opry - but I digress). The other things about the rules of the Opry was that no liquor was allowed. Now I know I carried enough ice from the old Huggins's Ice House up to the Ryman , when I was a gofer for the Opry, to fill a good size house. There might have been a six-pack of coke used during a typical night's performances so I don't know what was in those glasses, but it sure as hell wasn't water. The Opry had a very strict code of conduct...no cuss words, no appearing drunk, song lyrics couldn't be secular. Guess the bluegrass stills pretty well follows that creed.
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Post by razzgospel on Mar 28, 2013 6:58:51 GMT -5
Great story yourself, Jim. You should write. That's what they kept telling me, and I just finished my second book.
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Post by steve on Mar 28, 2013 18:13:23 GMT -5
Great story Jerry and Jim, I always like to hear about your experiences. That trip you made James would indeed be a great one-I've not seen too much of the USA-my experience is mostly in New England but I would love to explore the USA a lot more.
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Post by razzgospel on Mar 28, 2013 20:13:45 GMT -5
Hey, Steve: I know that area well. When I was at the University of Wisconsin in the late fifties, I spent five weeks on a geology field trip out west. We spent one of those weeks mapping in Spearfish Canyon, and we spent quite a bit of time in Deadwood. I took my wife out to that area a few years ago and hardly recognized Deadwood. It was still a wild, dusty little frontier town back in the fifties, pretty much undiscovered by tourists. The same was true for Mt. Rushmore and the Black Hills and Badlands. The tourist industry has built everyting up and commercialized it almost beyond recognition. I am so thankful that I had those five weeks out west in the fifties. Mesa Verde, Devil's Tower, Yellowstone Park and the whole west (of which we saw almost all of it) were still relatively untouched back then. It still is beautiful today. My wife bought the hat in the gift shop in the buildings built for the set of Dances With Wolves.
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Post by earleg on Mar 29, 2013 22:11:04 GMT -5
HA!!! different strokes for different folks!
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Post by razzgospel on Mar 31, 2013 2:59:39 GMT -5
Nah, I grew up in southern Wisconsin. My wife was born in Georgia, but she grew up in Brooklyn. One of my brother-in-laws lives in Brooklyn, so we've gone down there many times. I lived in New York City for four years from 1960-64, and learned to finger-oick guitar from Dave Van Ronk in Greenwich Village. We live in southern Connecticut, so it's an easy train ride into NYC. The last time I performed there was at a one day folk festival in the Village a couple of years ago of performers who played in coffee houses and folk clubs in the sixties. I've lived in Connecticut since 1964.
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Post by minorkey on Mar 31, 2013 8:38:22 GMT -5
See over here we don't associate Martin with bluegrass. We associate it with quality,for me its the Rolls Royce of guitars. Finger style heaven!
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Post by razzgospel on Mar 31, 2013 10:24:50 GMT -5
And over here, the flat-picking bluegrass boys all like it for it's clean sound. I have a Martin, had a Gibson acoustic for many years, have a Guild acoustic and an Alvarez signature. You're right about some guitars being better for finger-picking, and others for flat-picking. I do both.
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Post by minorkey on Mar 31, 2013 10:55:25 GMT -5
I've not enough experience with guitars to comment really.I just know the name Martin is a by word for quality here. But there are also some fine English hand made guitars in the same price bracket.
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Post by Admin on Apr 4, 2013 6:52:43 GMT -5
Martin guitars are definitely the acoustic guitar of choice in country music. Not just bluegrass, but every acoustic guitar picker wants a Martin guitar if they really want the Nashville twang. Kind of like the Telecaster (with a Nashville setup) for amplified country. Since bluegrass is still played primarily with acoustic instruments, I suppose that is how it has come to be associated with the Martin guitar. With Gibson's problems relative to the endangered species wood issue, Martin has probably gained market share in Nashville.
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