The Steel Guitar Forum

As you may know...Ron and I do a show together called "Heading Back to the Country".Are there any other folks out there that do a husband and wife show? Or a "family show" such as ours? If so tell us about it!


Karen

Hi Karen,
My girlfriend of five years and now my wife of three months and I have been doing a duet for the last three years. She is a singer, and I am the player, (music that is). I think we do it similar to you and Ron. I record all of the backing tracks on Cakewalk Sonar, then play guitar, non-pedal, or mandolin and sing back up or lead. She sings lead or backup as the song requires. Tracks are burned to a CD in order of the set list, so it's very simple to set up. I play all of the instruments you hear on the tracks, (drums, bass, piano, guitar etc.) We were going strong for about two years playing once a month at various BBQ resturants around the Austin area, but have taken a break as of late due to trying to get her house ready to sell. She has a great voice. (we do a lot of Patsy Cline stuff and Heather Miles stuff) Most of it is old clasic country music.

Mack

Karen, i thought several would reply. Here goes,In 1950 my Dad-Fiddle-Brother-Guitar-uncle-Mandolin-uncle-Stand up bass-I-played Steel guitar all over this country for march of dime,s dance,s Rodeo,s Booster trip,s for town,s. Now we have a son that is music director at a large church and his Daughter and another grandson and i play at Church several time,s a year. Thank,s Karen==Jim Harper

We used to have a family band in the 60s Saskatchewan. It was mostly playing at the "real" country dances and the "real" old barn dances.

Love, marriage and working careers separated us but we still do a ton of jamming and reminising the old days when we get together nowdays.

Those were the days when we thought Wilf Carter could actually sing.

I have sort of cool situation, because my son, who finally at the age of 25, became interested in learning guitar and bass, after growing up on rap & hip-hop (which mostly never contained any guitar, only percussion and a rapper). He is now a member of my band singing country and southern rock while playing rhythm guitar. My daughter from Oklahoma shows up once in a while to sing with us, too. My wife is a great singer, but seems content to watch us.

Me and my son and some cousins had a band, till one of my cousins health started to get bad.

Karen, yes, my wife plays the conga drums, & helps sing, along with her best friend, who only sings harmony with me, most of the time. I play an MSA S-12 Universal & make most of the tracks that we use. for bass & guitar. We do about 7 or 8 area Nursing Homes, 1 each week on Fridays to entertain the older folks who just need to 'get away from it all' for an hour & a half. We have been doing it for quite some time & it is an all volunteer effort on our part. We do all kinds of old country & pop tunes & I play some instrumentals. Its a blast & they enjoy it so much that I hope we can continue it for a long time. At 64, I will probably be joining them soon myself!!

I did have a band with my step-son for a lot of years also, he played bass & sang real well & we had a drummer too that sang. I played steel & guitar in that band. My step-son passed away at 45 years old a year & a half ago. We had a blast doing that for years.


Heres a old picture from the 80's of that group, I have not had that beard since 1987!! No picture of the other group.

Ernie Pollock
http://www.hereintown.net/~shobud75/stock.htm

I have two daughters both of age and out of the house now. I used to leave my violin, sax, keyboards, guitar etc out for them to use whenever they felt like. Neither one ever showed any interest? I never pushed them to play, just gave them the opportunity.
Where did I fail? What did I do wrong?

Jerry,I guess it has to be in their blood to pick up those instruments. Gee these stories are great,and its so nice "Ernie" that you do these nursing home shows.We have been doing that also many years.
I think it is fun having a "family show".Now if I could only get "Ron to sing"


Karen

Karen Lee ! wrote:Jerry,I guess it has to be in their blood to pick up those instruments. Gee these stories are great,and its so nice "Ernie" that you do these nursing home shows.We have been doing that also many years.
I think it is fun having a "family show".Now if I could only get "Ron to sing"


Karen

They are my blood, I think? Now you have me worried.
It will be some tough questions for the wife tonight.

We don't have a band, but jamming is often a part of our family events. All of my siblings and most of their kids are musicians.

My wife and I have a band called "The Long & Short of It". I'm 6'4" and she's 5'2" hence the name. We gig every Friday night and some Saturdays. She's the lead singer, emcee, and dances on stage to everything we play. Our bass player (Don Yount) does the Merle Haggard song book along with Waylon & Willie stuff so he's great to pick with. I do lead guitar & pedal steel which is nice as I get to choose what I want to pick on what I want to play on each song. Our drummer (Lonnie Godfrey) is a veteran of the Nashville Scene and did a stint with Loretta Lynn's Coalminers among others. He's probably the best drummer in this area so that's cool. I don't have any band shots on the computer at the moment but here's a shot of her and I in Las Vegas last year jamming at a little joint with my old friend Al Bruno on guitar.......JH in Va.
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A LONG time ago, late 50's to early 60's we had a "partial" family group. My dad also had a "swing" band, but him, my mom, my brother, one sister, and a couple of other folks also played together at squares and barn dances. My pop played left handed fiddle, honkytonk piano, rhythm guitar, and sang. Ma played piano, brother played rhythm guitar and 6 string steel and sang some, and sis sang and banged a tamboreen. We often mingled with members of the "other band" who mostly played clubs and such with dad. I can remember a couple of jam sessions at our house that lasted a couple of days. When I brought my wife to be home the first time, one of these sessions was in full swing. Probably about 50 folks or so at the house. I sat down at around 6 PM on Friday to play, and didn't get up again, except to pee, until sometime Sunday morning. Folks just kept coming and leaving and coming back. The club guys even went and did a gig and then came back for more. Almost everyone brought food, as that was the thing to do back then. My fiance' seemed to just take it in stride. Good thing..cuz it happened in later years except at MY house. After I joined the service and went to S.E. Asia, my dad got sick and everything just sort of faded away. Now, dad and mom both passed on as well as the other band folks. Sis and brother live far apart and have not played for years and years. I can still recall almost everyone's face that was at these things, but not names so much. I am the only one left of the family who still pursues any musical interest. But I am glad I did.

My greatest earthly joy is playing gigs with my beautiful wife, Jill Justice.
She can play just about any style, whether we are playing a formal wedding together or an old-timey country dance with a small band, she jumps right in.

Shameless plug: www.JusticeSystemMusic.com


See ya..........Joel

Jerry Dragon... Great pictures folks! b0b, your lucky to have so many musicians in your family.I am still looking forward to meeting your sister that lives close buy to do some "jamming".
Now that we have more than one steel here,if you get into town we have one for you to use.
The stories are great! Lets see how many more folks have a "Family Band"

Karen

My wife, Darlene and I, have been playing in our band since 1984. Most of the band members are the same, also. I actually worked with my wife in a band, since, 1977. We married in 1984 and formed our own band.

My Dad sang and played an old Gibson arch top guitar. I played an old Serria 8 string 3 pedal steel. I also had an uncle who played dog house bass and several other family members that sang or played some. But, my claim to fame was with a family band from Grover Hill Ohio. They consisted of, Doyt Mason singing and Rythum guitar. Arleen Mason singing and on Bass. Randy Mason singing and on drums. And if you have not guessed by now, Brent Mason singing and on lead guitar. I was on a D10 ZB trying to keep up with Brent. Yes he was a great picker then too. We are still all friends and I get to see and talk with them from time to time. They are great people as well as muscians.

Hey Karen
We both used to do Duos with Lyn on acoustic and me on B@njo....or guitar
When I learnt the steel I got a 4 night a week job for a year....nough to buy a decent Steel and Amp...a daughter came along during this time.
I got sick of the type of music we were playing,,,,,,a lot of old Hill Billy stuff.....managed to get my wife Lyn in on Bass and vocals...got things more up tempo.....we kept the Sunday gig for about 6 years......during this time....4 year old Jodie..our Daughter would sit in on the Drums and do very well for a 20 min Bracket.....and would think nothing of being out front singing a couple of tunes.....in time...in pitch..no prob
We then thought we would be more comfortable doing our own thing....buy a PA.....work was no Prob.....so for 20 years we had our band.....Guitar ..Drums .....Lyn on Bass and lead vocals...could go about 7 or 8 hours doing songs from memory and me mainly on steel......bit of B@nger,,,,bit of acoustic and silly songs....our guitarist had to have words in front of him....Drummer couldnt sing anyway !!!!
The Kids always came with us and joind in....Nuff said

Christmas Day at home is great.....Mum on guitar and lead vocal......Amanda on Guitar and real strong ..Opera type harmonyvoice.....Jodie on either fiddle......Mandolin.....guitar or banjo and Dobro......singing either high or low Harmony
I just grab a Dobro or an acoustic...or a banjo............what ever is lying around

Here's a current shot of "The Long & Short of It" taken about 2 weeks ago at a gig in Newport News, Va. ...............JH in Va.

Nice picture "Jerry" your wife and you look like you are having a "great' time.That is a cool name also!

Karen

I'm sure many of you West Coast older members remember the Ultimate Family Band of "The Maddox Brothers and Rose". What they might of lacked in musical abilities they made up for it in their showmanship and perserverence. It was like watching and old time vaudville or minstrel show with the interaction of comedy routines they participated in with each other. This was one of the most popular bands ever with the "People". When I was with the Ole Rasmussen band we did several double dates with them and it was a blast ! For myself, I never played in a family band but working for so many years with the Rasmussen Band it became like a family.

Billy, I remember them well. I did a stint in the mid sixties with Fred Maddox at a couple of clubs he owned. As far as musical abilities, Fred was supposed to be the bass player for the Maddox Bros. and Rose but when I worked with him, we always had an electric bass player too as Fred's old doghouse was more of a prop. I remember when we's tune up at the start of a gig Fred would say "Gimme a note Jerry so I can tune this thing up". I'd usually give him a G and he'd plunk his bass and if it was flat or sharp I'd tell him to which he'd reply "Dammit, don't say flat or sharp, say UP or DOWN!" A great entertainer though. What was cool was we'd have Rose for a guest from time to time as she was his sister and would work for him for practically nothing........JH in Va.