Me and my first homemade mandolin. It was made by Ben Hogue in Austin in 1982. I got it from Ben in about ’84 or so and it retired in 1995, the year I got the Lee. It has a great tone and a beautiful violin coloring. The scale is a bit longer than the F-5 so it was a bit of a stretch but some people like that. I went for a shorter scale so as to be able to play in Cb and E# more easily. Yes that’s my knee. No I’m not naked from the waist down. No i don’t have more pix of my knees.
Did you miss the annual Whistlin’ Mules Christmas party. If you did, you missed out on the great gifts that were given away as door prizes. Lucky for you, no one claimed the Lamborghini, so it will be up for grabs again next year! This year it was held at The Happy Cow in Hunter, TX. Here is a peek at some of the action as Charlie Congo claims his prize.
I was playing this instrument on stage when I thought I heard someone in the audience yell out “Hey, he’s channeling Chuck Berry!”. Turns out it was, “Hey, he’s channeling Chuck Barris!” Oh well, everyone seems to like this mandolin. It’s a Eastwood solid body electric mandolin. Here is my review:
Plays great, sounds great, looks great.
It kind of looks like a Telecaster. And when I play it I sound (and look) really huge. Unfortunately the giant microphone in this picture makes me look a little like a hobbit. I play this thing with the Whistlin’ Mules but mostly when we have a drummer sit in with us because electrics don’t have that percussive chop you get from an acoustic. I got it about 5 years ago at South Austin Music. Its a great store. Here’s a link to Eastwoods site. http://www.eastwoodguitars.com/Other/mandocaster/mandocaster_frm.htm
Oh yeah, it can be done if you are very careful. Or if you have some kevlar gloves like those that you use to clean catfish. I used to use glass slides (note the plural) but after breaking a few I have gone to steel. Now if I just don’t loose it…..
If you want to see, here’s a Youtube of me playing slide with Danny:
One day a pig, next day bacon. I told ya that it’s “all you can eat” so I saved you some.
Mike Kearney (Vato Griz) showed up to play with us and it was a great reunion. Here I am swapping slide licks with him. If you missed it we will be back there next Sunday (minus Griz) with Eddie Collins back in the guitar seat. See ya there.
…..but don’t expect it to be gift-wrapped.
What a suprise I had today finding Santa shopping at Callahan’s General Store in Austin. Looks like he has picked out a nice present for someone’s Christmas luau. Or is it a nice snuggley pet…? I shoulda asked him. I was there Friday and Saturday playing noon gigs with the Piney Grove Ramblers. Speaking of banjos,,,Callahan’s has all sorts of clawhammers, so it was a great pleasure playing some twin clawhammers (banjo version)with Chuck Middleton of PGR. And yes, we did play Cluck Old Hen, inspired by the pen of pullets who requested it.
I hope Santa will show up at Threadgill’s tomorrow for the Bluegrass Brunch. It’s always all the bacon and sausage you can eat!
Today I played my electric mandolin because Dennis was there to play drums. But I forgot to put my slide in the case, so I borrowed Mark’s. Here he is demonstrating his technique for using the slide. Me, I use it on my pinky. finger.
An unidentified member of the band The Calloused Taoboys.
