Tondeleo: It has been a few months since I have been able to post a blog for Doc. I have been busy with work and travel.
Last week, I was able to get a few days in the Washington, DC area, and visited Doc and Marilyn. As you may know, Marilyn got married last September to David, and they moved to the Eastern Shore of Maryland.
Fortunately, she was visiting Doc when I was there for a few days.
Doc: Tondy, we just played a few jobs where there was people with a lot of money and nice cars and they was real nice to us.
One was a lady’s 80th birthday party. Her grown kids threw it for her. They had a car show at it and everything. When we pulled up in my old Chevy panel truck, I saw all those nice cars with pretty paint and shiny rims and chromed out motors and thought, “Uh oh. They are gonna make me park out in the back!”
But once we got all the ‘quipment outta the back, the guy whose house it was asked me to park my old truck right out there with all those nice hot rods! I was really surprised, cause this truck ain’t never been waxed and only washed maybe twice in the last couple of years. But he let me pull it right out there in the line with the nice cars! And people took pictures of it, just like they did the other cars!
Then when we was settin’ up, I found out there was a good handful of guitar players and musicians there, too! All I had brung with me was the homemade guitars. I don’t know why. I brung my two favorites, which I made a long time ago, and two smaller ones what I keep in the truck. You need smaller guitars when you’re playing out on the streets, or travelin’. You ain’t got room for full size ones.
It’s cheapest just to make ‘em yourself outta old parts and boxes. I keep the one what is made from a tackle box in regular tuning and the other little one in a open tuning for slide guitar and blues. The lady who lived there took pictures and sent them to us in a e-letter.
I figured those guys with all that money was gonna laugh us off the property when they saw those old home made guitars what was made outta trash. But NO! They was real nice about it. People was even takin’ pictures of ‘em. That made me feel real good.
We had Marilyn down for the weekend, and Buttermilk Wade was on the lead guitar, and Lump was on the harp and K.I. on the drums. That is pretty much our line up these days. We are lucky to have a good handful of musicians to pick from and who can be available.
The people there was real nice and it was a good party and we all ate a lot of food. They had a little bit of everything there. Nobody got too drunk, and there was no fightin’ which is always a mark of a classy party.
But we was all amazed that people kept asking about those guitars and takin’ pictures! Well, I know this: If we’d had nice guitars and good equipment, and nice clothes, ain’t nobobdy woulda been takin’ pictures!
Oh yeah – the other thing is that when they see those crappy looking guitars and old amps, they figure we’re gonna sound like garbage. So when we don’t sound like garbage, they all are surprised and then they think we are good. Those guitars sound GOOD though, Tondy, they was just cheap to make, that’s all.
Last week, I was able to get a few days in the Washington, DC area, and visited Doc and Marilyn. As you may know, Marilyn got married last September to David, and they moved to the Eastern Shore of Maryland.
Fortunately, she was visiting Doc when I was there for a few days.
Doc: Tondy, we just played a few jobs where there was people with a lot of money and nice cars and they was real nice to us.
One was a lady’s 80th birthday party. Her grown kids threw it for her. They had a car show at it and everything. When we pulled up in my old Chevy panel truck, I saw all those nice cars with pretty paint and shiny rims and chromed out motors and thought, “Uh oh. They are gonna make me park out in the back!”
But once we got all the ‘quipment outta the back, the guy whose house it was asked me to park my old truck right out there with all those nice hot rods! I was really surprised, cause this truck ain’t never been waxed and only washed maybe twice in the last couple of years. But he let me pull it right out there in the line with the nice cars! And people took pictures of it, just like they did the other cars!
Then when we was settin’ up, I found out there was a good handful of guitar players and musicians there, too! All I had brung with me was the homemade guitars. I don’t know why. I brung my two favorites, which I made a long time ago, and two smaller ones what I keep in the truck. You need smaller guitars when you’re playing out on the streets, or travelin’. You ain’t got room for full size ones. It’s cheapest just to make ‘em yourself outta old parts and boxes. I keep the one what is made from a tackle box in regular tuning and the other little one in a open tuning for slide guitar and blues. The lady who lived there took pictures and sent them to us in a e-letter.
I figured those guys with all that money was gonna laugh us off the property when they saw those old home made guitars what was made outta trash. But NO! They was real nice about it. People was even takin’ pictures of ‘em. That made me feel real good.
We had Marilyn down for the weekend, and Buttermilk Wade was on the lead guitar, and Lump was on the harp and K.I. on the drums. That is pretty much our line up these days. We are lucky to have a good handful of musicians to pick from and who can be available. The people there was real nice and it was a good party and we all ate a lot of food. They had a little bit of everything there. Nobody got too drunk, and there was no fightin’ which is always a mark of a classy party.
But we was all amazed that people kept asking about those guitars and takin’ pictures! Well, I know this: If we’d had nice guitars and good equipment, and nice clothes, ain’t nobobdy woulda been takin’ pictures!
Oh yeah – the other thing is that when they see those crappy looking guitars and old amps, they figure we’re gonna sound like garbage. So when we don’t sound like garbage, they all are surprised and then they think we are good. Those guitars sound GOOD though, Tondy, they was just cheap to make, that’s all.
