A recent trip to California for Jennie and I has created some exiciting news
- Jennie received a "new" fiddle from my Grand-dad; it's actually over 100 yrs. old!!
- we played music all day and night, right up until we had to leave for the airport
- stranded in the Vegas airport for 4 hrs before finally get the go-ahead to get aboard and take off
- Re-connected with my Dad's Dad. "Shorty" for short and found out nuggets of interesting family past. It had been over 24 yrs. since I last saw/spoke with my grand-dad ( I was 4 yrs old)
I really didn't know anything about Shorty besides the fact that we shared the same last name and he was a musician back in the day. I had heard some short stories about how he was a "cowboy" and he rode bulls and all that. But, I really learned a lot about his life and some of the good and the bad that he has endured in his 77 years.
We did walk away with more than just words and stories: again he gave Jennie a fiddle that was in his re-married wife's family for more than 100 years. After I picked her jaw up off of the floor and closed her mouth she was able to whimper an "are you serious? I can keep this?" to Shorty. To which he replied in his own sincerity "Well, I sure as hell can't play the thing, so you might as well have it". He gifted me with a gold and silver belt-buckle with and eagle on it (true cowboy style) and two rings; one of which was my great Grandfathers. He had also given me a ball glove, that was the last I had seen/heard of him until now.
Shorty played with the country star Faron Young - back in the Sixties I believe. He played guitar and sang with him for about 31/2 years. Upon arriving at his house outside of Reno, NV, we were promply offered a beverage and some food, then about 10 mins. after that he was already inquiring as to what type of guitar I had brought with me and about Jennie's own fiddle. So here we were, travelling from TX to CA and points in between and already hitting it off. The rest of the weekend went pretty much like that as well. We met some of his friends, which are hard to come by out in that neck of the woods, as you only have a neighbor about every 10 miles or so...
more down memory lane later, with pics hopefully.
JB
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- "sometimes when you look for the truth, you see inside yourself...this can be scary!" - Me
2 comments:
Glad we straightened out the Seth Walker question! That cracks me up that he's your brother-in-law. When my ex and his friends got back from Magnolia Fest last fall, they raved about "this guy in a hat." I loved his music, too, so when the ex and I split, I figured that taking his Seth Walker CDs was the right thing to do. His music helped me get through a crappy time.
Anywho, thanks for stopping by my blog -- come by often. Let me know if Seth's going to play Florida again! Oh, and post pictures of the fiddle!
PS - About Seth's music -- I gave my uncle in Ohio Restless and On the Outside for Christmas. Of course, he loved him both. So, you kids work on spreading the good word on Seth from Texas westward; I'll work on Florida and northward. :)
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