Somewhere along this road to returning to my bluegrass
roots, I decided that I wanted an upright bass. Not sure why, and
not sure where this desire came from, since I am a tried and true
banjo player and appreciator of the finest bluegrass instrument ever
made by God. But, somehow, the bass was something that called to me.
And I thought, shoot, it would look really good in my living room,
too! (You'd just have to know me... things don't always make good
sense in the Sherri universe, but it's never a dull moment!)
Well, I happened to mention this desire to own
my own doghouse bass to Archie Stinson when I went out to visit him
early in the year. Now Archie is one fine bass player and he plays
with the Ottawa County Bluegrass Band AND he happens to own a Bluegrass
Music Shoppe out of his home in Port Clinton. He tells me that he
could help me out and get me a great deal. I stashed that thought
in my mind... knowing that tax refund time was around the corner and
that I could probably gather up a few extra things for Ebay and make
up the reminder.
I got a call from Archie around the 12th and he
had a couple basses for me to take a look at! Oh boy! And I was just
waiting for the last of some funds to come in and on the 16th, I gave
him an email and we made plans. St. Patrick's day would be a road
trip day! My daughters Jessy and Maggie were thrilled since we called
school for the adventure. (We homeschool and these things are possible...
my daughters love to travel and love to meet folks and learn new things
and they were very excited about the bass! They are, after all, my
girls!) This time I even got there without getting too lost!
We took a look, but right away I knew that I liked
the bass with the frets! Yes, frets... it was unusual and I liked
that. The price was so right; there was not much to think about! Archie
gave me a lesson on playing the thing because, folks, I haven't a
clue! it's a good thing that Archie was there to guide me through
the process and is a fair and honest man, because I'm afraid I knew
NOT A THING about buying a bass! The girls loved looking around at
all the instruments and goodies that Archie has at his shop. If you're
looking for anything bluegrass... Archie has it for you! And you get
to sit around and pick too! How great is that?
Well, Jessy, my older daughter, is learning the
fiddle and she was really intrigued by the HUGE fiddle. Archie gave
her a few pointers and she was thumping along in no time! Complete
with a video to get us going and a great brand new padded gig bag,
we got our bass ready to go. Maggie, my younger daughter, offered
to help, but we thought she was too little. She turned to Archie and
began to inform him that everyone thinks she's too little. He told
her that she could do whatever she put her mind to and she flashed
me the "see, he doesn't think I'm too little" glare that
9 year olds are good at and so I had to give her the chance. And I'll
be darned if she didn't carefully hike that big huge bass up and off
she went! My little Maggie is one determined gal when she sets her
mind to it! We had fun getting into the van, and the girls thought
it was grand to have to ride next to the bass!
On the way home we decided that it would be called
Ivy, and that it was definitely a girl bass. Of course, this is from
a pair of silly girls themselves, but I must admit, I like the name
too. I'm sure we'll be doing a little custom decorating to Ivy, to
help her bear her new namesake proudly! She does look great in my
office and everyone plays her when they pass by. We've been working
with the video some and just experimenting with playing and building
up our finger and hand strength!
I made my first debut on the bass at the Thursday
night post jam over here in Toledo. Boy, I'm sure the guys were surprised
to see me bring in that bass. I got a lot of good-natured ribbing
about how my "banjo" got a lot bigger and then it was a
great item of interest when folks saw the frets on this bass! Thankfully
I got about 8 different lessons and by the end of the night I think
I was barely tolerable on the basic of tunes, but hey, one week of
learning, so that was pretty good. Just wait till next week! Of course,
I knew that my horrid playing would mean that someone would give me
a banjo to play here and there to get me off the bass and Jan and
Donnie both gave my fingers a break from the bass! Thanks guys! My
pretty banjo is off at the old home place in Virginia, where Mr. Geoff
Stelling is doing a little work on it. I'm suffering a bit from banjo
withdrawal, but Ivy, the fretted bass, is helping to fill the void!
Sherri and her Stelling
Bellflower...
First time on stage...
good thing there wasn't anyone in the audience save Maggie
and a couple folks at the Bluegrass Junction way before the
crowd showed up!
Yep, I drew on my
banjo... it's a girl banjo afterall. And it matches the inlay
patterns!
(What can I say,
I adore my banjo and I can't be trusted with Sharpie Markers...)
Many thanks to Archie for finding us the perfect
addition to our bluegrass family! And any hints and tips about playing
the bass would surely be welcome! Of course, I'm doing all I can to
build up those calluses and let the blisters heal up! (g) You aughta
go and visit him someday soon!
