Saturday, March 5, 2011

CaribouBill || Queen of the Truckstop

This is an original Caribou Bill tune. It should put Bill in the country music hall of fame! It has a timeless feel to it.



I asked Bill to tell me something about his musical background, here's what he shared...
"...I flipped over some Gene Autry records my aunt had when I was about 10. My dad had a rototiller and he tilled someones garden in exchange for an old guitar for me. I learned a few chords and decided that a country singer was what I wanted to be. I took some piano lessons, so I had some idea of reading music. I have a brother who also plays and sings, He's five years younger that I am. My old guitar is dented and cracked from the fights we used to have over who was going to play it. We used to listen to the WWVA Jamboree from Wheeling, West Virginia. When the Jamboree would end in the middle of the night, he and I would sing and play for an hour or two before going to bed.
I got married and involved with making a living as a printer. I pretty much gave up my music for those years. Eight years ago, my wife died. I went back to playing my guitar. I bought a few ukuleles. One of them was a $60 entry level baritone uke. It fingered just like the highest four strings of the guitar. Wow! It sounded great and seemed to fit with my voice better than the guitar. I bought a Kala, Koa, amplified from Musicguymic. Sweet! Now it's my favorite instrument. I also have an amplified, spruce topped Riptide.
Last summer I played at a couple farm markets almost every week. I used my Kala baritone and got constant questions about what kind of an instrument it was. I also play for three Senior Centers. The last center I played for, the young lady director was intrigued with my Baritone and wants to get one herself. I promote baritone ukuleles at every opportunity."

1 comment:

  1. My own experience with Riptide, Jeff, is that the soundhole on the top of the uke, if the uke is at all tilted toward the player, which chances are it is, sends the sound, not up to
    the player's ears so much as into the player's chest. Plus, clothing must be watched or the
    top hole will be covered and the sound significantly lessened. Plus again, the angle of the headstock to the neck is so great as to cause unwanted difficulty playing at the nut.

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