Doc Stevens

In my last post, I was attempting to get Doc and Marilyn and Big Dave to discuss the end of the world, the Mayan calendar and survival. You can read how far we didn‘t get in that attempt. This segment is from a few minutes later in that same conversation, such as it was. 

I was trying to explain to Doc, Marilyn and Big Dave how unsettling it will be, according to all the scare mongers, when the next disaster strikes. I didn’t get too far. 

Tondeleo: OK, Doc, I understand that you don’t want to buy the Mayan calendar. And, like I said, there really isn’t a Mayan calendar for you or anyone else to buy. It just was like a prediction or something… but the point is that there are a lot of people saying that people ought to be ready for a disaster or for a zombie invasion…

Doc: Aint no ZOMBIES gonna invade nobody, Tondy! Don’t get your panties in a bunch…

Marilyn: I ain’t scared of zombies, Tondy! I have anointing oil that I got at the church and I would pour it on them and rebuke them in the name of Jesus! A zombie ain’t nothin’ but a demon livin’ in a corpse. I’d cast that demon out of that zombie and command it go to back to hell and the zombie would just be a dead person again…

Doc: Yeah, one more thing for me to bury around here.

Tondeleo: Well, what about being’ PREPARED, Doc? I read you about the “37 Foods You Must Have in a Disaster.” What do you think about that?

Doc: Well, Tondy, it’s a scam pure an’ simple. There ain’t no secret foods. That guy ain’t got no special secrets. OK: you gotta have water. We got a well, so we’re ok. Then you need to have things you can store. But we live like that anyway. You been out here in the winter. When it snows, ain’t no snowplows comin’ down here. We can’t get to the store.

We have sweet potatoes, regular potatoes, carrots, turnips and such down in the root cellar. They keep as long as you need ‘em. Why it’s called a root cellar.

Then we got salt cured ham and deer jerky. We even got some catfish jerky that Big Dave makes. We’re good for meat. We do that every winter and been doin’ that since I was a boy.

Plus, we got guns and ammo and plenty of deer, rabbits, squirrels and possums. We got fresh meat year round – all we have to go is take a walk in the woods.

When we ain’t got no electricity, we play the acoustic guitars… and Marilyn don’t need no electric to play her harp.

We got blankets and a woodstove, and kerosene lamps. That ain’t no disaster Tondy! It’s how all us live out here! Poor people been livin’ like that since the world began!

And you city boys think it’s the end of the world if you cain’t get your Starbucks and the interweb! You better man up, Tondy!

Big Dave: Well, if it IS the end of the world, you’re not gonna make it anyway. You’ll be dead. The world ended, remember?

Marilyn: The Bible says all this stuff is gonna happen in the last days. Tondy, what you need is the Holy Ghost. Then you wouldn’t be scared all the time. Do you want me to cast that spirit of fear off of you? I can do it if you want…

Tondy: No thank you Marilyn. I’ll be all right. I have some freeze dried food and other supplies coming from Amazon. 

Tondeleo: I am not a hunter. I am an eater, but not a hunter. I don’t want to know where my food comes from or how it died. I don’t want to think about whether or not it was frightened when it died. I simply like to eat it.

Doc and Big Dave were telling hunting stories back in November and this one stood out to me:

When Doc and Big Dave go hunting, Marilyn makes each of them a sandwich and a thermos full of gravy to take into the woods with them to quench their thirst and to keep them warm.

I asked about why they didn’t take tea or coffee, and they both looked at me as like I was daft.

Big Dave said, “It makes you have to water the lemon tree too much.”

I said I didn’t see where that would be a problem, out on the woods.

Doc said that when you’re crammed up into a deer stand, you don’t want to be climbing up and down from it to go water the bushes – and it would scare the deer away. Soup or stew is better in the thermos than coffee or tea.

Big Dave said that a man wouldn’t drink hot tea, anyway.

Apparently Marilyn USED to make soup or stew for their thermoses. One day when they were hunting with Thurman Goodlett, he was drinking stew out of his thermos and got choked on a piece of meat.

It was only Doc, Big Dave and Thurman out there in the woods, and neither Doc not Big Dave were willing to do the “Hind Lick maneuver” to save Thurman. Doc decided that this was definitely the time to call on the Good Lord to save Thurman, if God didn’t rather have him in Heaven just yet. Big Dave agreed.

Doc and Big Dave laid their hands on Thurman and called out to the Lord to save him if He would. Doc said he even spoke in tongues just in case that would give their prayers a boost.

Fortunately, Thurman was so scared – or touched by the Lord -  that he was able to swallow the meat with little or no damage to his throat. Doc said he was real sure it was the Lord that saved Thurman. Thurman’s eyes had rolled back into his head and his face was getting blue. But then, suddenly there was a gulping sound, and Thurman was swallowing and breathing. “Had to be the Lord,” said Doc. “I was speakin’ in tongues out there.”

Since that day, Marilyn doesn’t put soup in their thermoses. Instead she fills them with red eye gravy so they can be warm and comfortable when they are out in the deer stand.

Of course, I don’t know what red eye gravy is, so Marilyn explains that it is made from meat drippings and a cup or two of coffee, some salt and flour until it is just thick enough to be like drinking hot warm silk.

I am not certain that it is better for a person than stew is, but Doc and Dave are settled on “no more stew or soup” when they go hunting.

Big Dave said, “I don’t care WHO it is what’s choking. I am not doing the hind lick maneuver.

Doc: Me, neither. I’ll pray for ‘em and ask the Lord to save ‘em. Or, He can call ‘em home. I ain’t doin’ none of that other stuff. I ain’t no doctor.

Tondeleo: One thing that is difficult to get used to in the States is the fact that many Americans are armed. By that I mean, not just carrying knives, and it seems that most of them do (including the teenage girls and women!), but many are actually carrying loaded hand guns! You may not notice it, because they carry "concealed" meaning that their gun is hidden, but they can reach it in a moment.

Out in the rural areas, it is very common for the locals to carry loaded rifles and shotguns in their pick up trucks. They usually have special racks mounted in the back window, behind the seat, so that their guns are in plain sight. That seems to be legal, and is not considered threatening, because anyone can see the gun! And, no permit is needed for this!!!

After an evening playing music and jamming with friends, Big Dave, Doc and I piled into Doc's truck and drove the 19 plus miles to the Wal-Mart in La Plata. They needed guitar strings, which sell at Wal-Mart for just a little over three dollars and also ammo. Both needed bullets for their handguns and "double 0 buck" for their "12 gauge" shotguns, whatever that means. I know it has to do with deer hunting, or home protection or both.

I have a difficult time with the ready availability of guns and ammunition in the US. Even the Wal-Marts sell guns and ammunition to nearly anyone. I find this frightening, to say the least!

I was talking about this with Doc and Big Dave, and they were trying to get me to take comfort in the fact that when we are all in a Wal-Mart together that there may be as many as twenty people, women as well as men, who are carrying loaded handguns!

Doc: Yeah, Tondy, a lot of women carry guns. How else they gonna protect theyselves if a man wants to rob 'em or worse? They usually ain't carryin' 'em in they's purses 'cause a man'll snatch they purse. So they carry a gun somewhere else, on them where you cain't see it. Might be in they's waist band, or under they dress, strapped to they leg. Anywhere. Maybe a small gun is in they bra, Tondy!

Heck, Marilyn carries sometimes, an' you ain't never been scared 'cause you ain't never knowed it. She ain't NEVER unarmed. Sometimes it is just a knife what she carries.

Tondeleo: Marilyn carries??? MARILYN? I never thought she would carry a loaded gun!

Doc: Well, she ain't gonna 'nounce it to the world, Tondy!

Tondeleo: I was just thinking that if someone was carrying a gun, it would be more obvious, like in a bum bag (make that "fanny pack!" in the US! I cannot bring myself to say that.), or something more obvious. It is very frightening to think that so many people may be carrying loaded guns here! Especially if you can't tell who is carrying a loaded gun and who isn't.

Doc: I'd be scared if people was carryin' UNLOADED guns, Tondy! What're they gonna do - THROW it at a bad guy? A unloaded gun might as well be a rock!

I'm glad to be in a store where people is carryin' guns. If someone tries to rob that store, then whoever's carryin' can protect anyone else in the store, or shoot the person what is robbin' it.

Big Dave: Yeah, and if there's a shootout, like with the police, the people that's carryin' can help the cops, and maybe take out a couple of bad guys. Cops need help too. Most people what carry handguns is good people and they is givin' backup to the cops and is against dopeheads and scum that rob people or stores. I ain't got no use for none of 'em. Predators ain't no endangered species.

Tondeleo: Is there any way to tell who is carrying a concealed gun and who isn't? That would help me feel safer...

Big Dave: Well, bad guys what's carryin' concealed mostly don't use holsters. Bad guys have their guns stuck down the back of their pants (trousers, not "pants" as in UK!) or in their waistband up front. Some just carry their gun in their pants pocket or coat pocket. If you look at them, you can usually see their clothes drooping on the side where the gun is. Pants leg is lower on that side, or jacket pocket hanging lower on that side. Some dumb ones carry their gun in the hood of their sweatshirt that's hanging down their back.

Doc: People what gets permits to carry don't look like that. Mostly they use a holster. And mostly, they dress like off duty cops. That's people with office jobs and such. They got the money to buy shirts and pants with pockets to hide guns in, and they wear them.

My neighbor's boy is a cop and he wears that stuff when he's off duty. He gets 'em from catalogs and on the inner web. They got they own brands of clothes for carryin' guns in! If you seen what he wears, and other cops, you can spot it pretty clear if you're in the mall. Cops can spot it too, so they know prob'ly who is packin' and is a good guy and who is packin' and aint.

(Later I confirmed this with a quick Google search on "concealed carry clothing," and found these kinds of clothes on the websites of 5.11, Blackhawk, Gall's and others).

Pants for carryin' got extra pockets down low on the leg, but that ain't where a gun is, and usually some kind of cop looking boots. Polo shirts, with another shirt over it what is untucked. Some of 'em carry two guns, one in a holster what is hidden under they shirt what is untucked, but there is a bulge on that side, and one strapped to they ankle, which you can also see the bulge of, if you look.

Big Dave: Yeah, if the wind is blowing, or if they bend over to pick something up, you can pretty much tell. There'll be a bulge or even the butt of their gun sticking out from under their shirt, or you'll see the outline of their gun on their leg. Might be a off duty cop, or someone with a permit. Usually they ain't criminals. They is mostly people with good jobs, and are out to protect themselves and the people around them. I ain't got no problem with that.

Doc: Yeah, Tondy, none of them people is gonna hurt you. They mostly are good people exercisin' they rights as Americans. You all cain't do that, cause you aint Americans in your country so you cain't carry guns. That's all. But we is all ok with it over here, except the ones what ain't cool with it. Lotsa people ain't cool with nothin'.

Tondeleo: I am attempting to learn more about the music and equipment that rural Americans use in their music making. One thing that I have noticed and have mentioned in earlier posts is that even poor rural Americans have plenty of what they think they need in order to live quality lives. I have noted that all of them that I have met have several rifles and shotguns. It unnerves me to think of these people with so many guns!

They keep them loaded, and usually right behind their front or rear doors! They are literally ready to shoot whomever may come knocking on their doors! Doc says, "An unloaded gun ain't nothin' but a stick."

Some have 8 -10 loaded rifles or shotguns behind their door, with another two or more hanging on racks on their parlour walls, and sometimes two or three more in their bedrooms! It is just a way of life for them and no one thinks it is unusual.

And, as I mentioned before, they seem to have an abundance of musical instruments. I have written posts about several of Doc's guitars, and I am hoping he will let me take pictures and write about two of his home made guitars. We are building up to that.

Today, we are looking at his Kay guitar:

Doc: Ok, Tondy, this here is a Kay guitar. It is from the 50's. I done had it a long time. It is a archtop, meaning that the front and the back of it is arched or bowed out, and the sound holes is shaped like "s" but they call it a "f"sound hole. I guess whoever made up that name couldn't write too good.

It is also electric so it's got a pick up on it. It used to have a pick guard but that got lost about 15 years ago. My cousin down North Carolina borrowed it and brought it back with the pick guard off. That is why the wire to the pick up is taped on, so you don't get your hand caught up in it when you is playin.

The knobs was off it when I got it, so it's gots some knobs from outta my shop. One is metal an' one is plastic. But they both work.

The strings ain't lay close to the neck as what I like, even though it is pretty good for one of these old Kays. I usually use this guitar for bottleneck. It is on some of them yourtube videos what you put on that innerweb. I use it for a lot of songs with bottleneck. It sounds just right for that.

It's gots the right sound for blues and country roots. Ain't no good for rock music. Just blues and old country music. But that is what we play.

Tondeleo: How much would you say it is worth, Doc?

Doc: I don't know. I give $30 for it a long time ago. Maybe it's worth a hunnerd. Maybe more maybe less. I ain't really care.

Kay's wasn't really ever worth a whole lot. They was for just regular folks who couldn't afford no Fender or Gibson or other expensive guitar. These was made for folks like us to be able to buy secondhand, after the person what bought it new thought they needed a Fender or a Gibson. I ain't never knowed anyone what bought a new guitar, like as the first owner of it.

That is one thing about people today, Tondy. They want to play music what was wrote an' played by poor people, an' then they think they got to have a shiny new thousand dollar guitar! And they wonder why they can't get that sound they is lookin' for! Cause that sound ain't in a thousand dollar guitar! It is in a poor man's guitar, and in his fingers and in his heart when he plays it. You cain't buy that sound.

I think a poor man has a vibe that becomes part of his guitars over the years, and that guitar responds to his vibe. A new guitar ain't got no vibe yet - and it ain't gonna get no vibe if it is bought by some smarty pants who is tryin' to plau it note perfect off'n' some sheet music! The folks what wrote them songs ain't even knowed hot to read sheet music! They just played what was in they's hearts, and it came out that way. Mostly never the same way twice, neither. I DO like this old Kay guitar.

Tondeleo: I'm trying to learn more about the guitars and equipment that Doc Stevens uses, because I have noticed that when I have been with him and Marilyn, that other musicians come up to them and ask about their equipment, and apparently whatever equipment a musician uses denotes some level of status or another.

As I mentioned earlier, many of these rural people who barely seem to have life's necessities may have, for example, a couple of dozen or more guns. It is not uncommon for a rural American to have maybe ten or more rifles; (a long gun that shoots bullets) These typically would be what are called, "22's" referring to the calibre of the bullet. A 22 is a "rabbit gun" or "squirrel gun," and yes rural Americans intentionally shoot squirrels so they can eat them! I cannot imagine this, but Doc, Marilyn and their friends have served squirrel to me, without telling me what I was eating. If I had known, I would have been ill. Doc says that a 30 ought six is also common. I am not certain what that means.

These same Americans with maybe ten or a dozen rifles would also have several shotguns of various sizes, mostly, from what I hear, .410's, 12 gauges and 20 gauges. Twelve gauges seem the most common. So a poor American may have more than two thousand dollars worth of guns, yet live in a small bungalow!

In addition to rifles and shotguns, rural Americans typically have a few handguns. These seem to be in the following sizes: 22's, 25's, 38's, 45's, 380's and 9 mm's. I am not certain what these mean. Doc says a 38 or 45 is good for home protection, but not as good as a 45.

He says if you shoot someone with a 45 and he is still standing, you want to stick your head through the hole to see what is propping him up. In America, that is considered humourous. And Doc said to tell the world that he has not shot anyone before.

I said that to say this. In addition to having small arsenals of weapons, rural poor Americans may also have collections of musical instruments and equipment. I find this a bit odd, since they are clearly poor.

I mentioned already some of Doc's guitars, and will continue with this, as long as he will let me. I have seen some that are clearly special, and I hope he will let me take pictures of them.

He has several small guitar amplifiers, and at least three bigger ones. His small ones are mostly home made, and I am including pictures of them in this posting. Some of them are mains powered, and some are battery powered for when he and Marilyn are busking.

For busking, he says all you need is about 15 watts of power for the guitar, and a mic for Marilyn's harp. He says a busker shouldn't need a mic for vocals because a busker "develops pipes" by playing out in the street singing louder than the traffic. I know that he and Marilyn definitely can sing loudly without amplification.

Here is a pictures of one of his small amps, with brief explanations:

Doc: "This here is one of my favourites for busking. I made the box for it, so it would be strong, but easy to carry. I put a battery pack holder in it so I don't need no 'lectric. Takes 6 D cell [torch] batteries. Them bigger batteries give you longer play life.

Then I wired in the plug in adaptor for if you DO have someone who'll let you plug in. I fastened the adaptor inside and then plugged it in to a small extension cord.

Last, I hooked in a adaptor for a car cigarette lighter, so I can run it off a car if I need to. I've done that plenty of times, like at car shows what is outside. I plug in and play.

The front with the speaker in it is hinged so I can aim the sound up a little bit so it carries. It's got a pin on the side to fasten it shut when I'm carryin' it. This amp is 15 watts. Loud enough for busking and is two channel, so me an Marilyn can play and she can plug her mic in for her harps.

Lookin' at the picture I can tell it needs somethin' to make it stand out. I will put a couple Cadillac emblems on it when I get a chance. I got some out in the shop I will put on it.

I put a shoulder strap onto it as you can see, so I can carry it and a guitar and still have a free hand. That's pretty much all on this one. Got a handle on the top. Got a eight inch speaker with two cones.

I got others. Some made from old amps and old radios. But they all do the same thing. Ain't nothin' to write about, if you know what I mean."