The show with Mr. Baber’s Neighbors was one that I had personally been looking forward to for a few months; bluegrass music is my favorite and I couldn’t wait to have the first banjo, mandolin and Dobro on the show. I didn’t even know what a Dobro was, but I certainly do now, the band exceeded my expectations.
For the first hour of the show we played quite the mix of music, everything from Kiss to the BoDeans and of course a lot of traditional bluegrass. I’ve always loved bluegrass music, my dad played the banjo and I now have all of his old album; a lot of Bill Monroe and Ralph Stanley. Those records combined with the stack that Jeff and Jerry brought in, plus Andrew’s Oak Ridge Boys album had the people in Mars Café tapping their feet.
The highlight for me was actually a couple of records that I had by the RFD Boy’s. They were my dad’s favorite group, and one that I was excited to show they guys in the Solar String Band. We played a couple traditional songs off them: “Fox on the Run” & “Dead Skunk”.
Here is some of the rest of what we played…
Hot Rise – Traditional Ties The Ozark Mountain Daredevils – Homemade Wine Kiss – Alive II Rush – Moving Pictures Oak Ridge Boys – Together Little Feat – Sailin Shoes It’s A Beautiful Day – Self Titled Talking Heads – Speaking in Tongues Grateful Dead - Shakedown Street
And I had to show them some William Elliott Whitmore, I played a couple tracks off of his first album, “Hymns For The Hopeless”.
To find out more about Mr. Baber’s Neighbors: And The Solar String Band, visit their website www.baberhood.com and go see them live when the play this year’s Little Big Fest on November 17th. Their self titled debut album is available now, I encourage you to pick up the album and support the sweet music coming out of our state!
Oh yeah, a Dobro, according to Wikipedia is…
“Dobro is a trade name now owned by Gibson Guitar Corporation and used for a particular design of resonator guitar. The name has a long and involved history, interwoven with that of the resonator guitar. Originally coined by the Dopyera brothers when they formed the Dobro Manufacturing Company, for a time it came in common language to mean any resonator guitar, or specifically one with a particular design of resonator. The Dobro brand also appeared, quite legitimately, on other instruments, notably electric lap steel guitars and solid body electric guitars and on other resonator instruments such as Safari mandolins.”
