Music Roots, 645 words

Pew Guitars

Washburn Guitars bought enough old pews from the Ryman Auditorium, long-time home of the Grand Ole Opry, to build 243 special guitars. Collectors are narfing them up at $6,500 a pop.

It reminds me of Martin’s "temple rosewood" guitars of many years ago. They were able to buy up some old Central American temples constructed of rosewood and those guitars became some of the most talked-about instruments of their day.

"The Georgia Songbird," E.G. Kight of Dublin, is swiftly becoming one of the hot new blues acts. Her soon-to-be-released CD will feature a guest appearance by Koko Taylor. Studio musicians who worked on the project are impressed by Kight’s strong vocals and hot licks.

I was able recently to catch one set of her show and she is one more soulful woman. We’ll soon have more information on her new CD.

A conscious business decision was made to redesign country music from top to bottom to attract young buyers. For a few years, almost every male star signed by the market-deft redesigners was young, wore tight jeans and a big hat. The females were mostly peaches pretty enough for Hollywood. It worked but left lovers of traditional country frustrated as radio stations flocked to the new happy-music format with a lot of the licks and rhythms of seventies rock. All the older singers loved by past generations were missed on the airwaves.

Vince Gill made it under the country tent just before the big hats checked in. He’s been one of the most successful artists of the past two decades. To dramatize the younging-down of the music, he recently said, "The whole roster at MCA is now young enough to all be my children."

Now that’s young.

East Tennessee’s Bob Douglas recently became the oldest fiddler ever to play on the Grand Ole Opry. A few weeks before his appearance he performed on the Mountain Opry at Walden, Tennessee, 120 miles southeast of Nashville. Before cranking into action, he said, "I’m a hundred years old so I may not be able to play very long," then proceeded to saw out a good hour of the finest mountain music the crowd had ever heard.

Douglas was part of a Grand Ole Opry show featuring five generations of fiddlers including 62 year old John Hartford, 36 year old top Nashville studio musician Stuart Duncan, 18 year old Michael Cleveland who tours with Rhonda Vincent, and 12 year old Jed Bulla.

Douglas has a new video titled, "Fiddling Bob Douglas: 100 Years Old & Ain’t Done Yet."

Remember Brother Dave Gardner Few Southern comedians have achieved the fame he enjoyed in the second part of the last century before a heart attack took him out in his prime. Suddenly he is back with a CD and video on Collector’s Choice and a CD on Landmark Productions of Nacogdoches, Texas.

The Collectors Choice CD contains his two most popular RCA LPs, "Rejoice Dear Hearts" and "Kick Thy Own Self." The Landmark compilation has a running time of over an hour and pulls together some of Dave’s most famous routines.

As one early fan, all I can say is, "I am rejoicing dear hearts and would kick my own self if I didn’t buy both of them."

Now hear this: crooner Kenny Rogers and rapper Coolio have teamed up for a remake of the monster 1978 hit, "The Gambler." Word is that Coolio does some rapping while Kenny sings that famous chorus.

This unusual talent combination will be on one of Coolio’s future albums. Don’t be surprised if a lot of country boys and gals pick up their first rap CD on this one. And don’t be surprised if country radio tries this one out on its young audience.

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