This year I spent the week of December 28 through January 1 working on a new CD. As I thought about my band, Hard 2 Git, I realized that everyone had a CD to offer except me! When Jonathan Perry played dobro for H2G, they recorded a couple of CDs, and Stuart Anderson has a banjo instrumental CD ("Banjo Solution"). But, I don't really have anything to offer as far as bluegrass music goes. OK, OK, I do have a Christmas CD, but there just isn't much interest in Christmas music throughout the bluegrass season! And that CD, "Merry Christmas", is a mixture of banjo, pedal steel guitar, dobro, and classical guitar music. I got to thinking that, as dobro player for Hard 2 Git, I should record a dobro instrumental CD! So, on Monday morning, December 28, 2009, I hit the floor running. By the following Saturday, with the help of my wonderful wife, Debbie, I had my first dobro instrumental CD!
Debbie supported me by listening to each song and providing valuable suggestions as I mixed down the final tracks. When we got around to designing the CD label, she had some great ideas for it. In the end, we were both pleased with the final product. If you haven't heard or seen the CD, let me give you a preview!
First, the music was inspired by my grandfather, John Henry Edelhauser. Grandaddy played the Hawaiian lap steel guitar. But, there wasn't much "Hawaiian" about it. As a child, the only music I heard coming from his instrument was good ole country and gospel. I eventually learned to play the lap steel also, and what do you think I played? Yep, good ole country and gospel! In case you didn't know, the lap steel and the dobro are usually tuned and played identically. The only difference is that one is electrified and the other is acoustic. Of course, they look different! So, when I started thinking about what music I should put on my first dobro CD, there was really no question. It had to be those great old gospel songs that Grandaddy played so often!
The design Debbie and I came up with for the label stems from the same theme. We recently had a revival at our church and I was tasked with coming up with a flyer that would be used to promote the revival. To make a long story short, one Sunday morning I walked outside to get the morning paper and the sky just looked absolutely beautiful. I ran back in the house and grabbed my camera for a few shots. I eventually superimposed a picture of our church on one of those photos and used it for the background of the revival flyer. Guess what! It would also work perfect for a gospel CD label! I then added a small picture of my Grandaddy to the CD, added the title, song list, and credits, and WA LA, "Singing Strings - Grandaddy's Gospel Favorites".
Where did I get that title?! Well, I'm not much of a singer, and like my Grandaddy, we both had rather let our strings sing to the Lord instead of trying to do it with our off-key vocal chords! (Actually, Grandaddy could sing pretty good. He lead music at Selfs Baptist Church for many years.) And, as a bonus track for the CD, I decided to add a little of my Grandaddy's playing. The recording you'll hear was made in 1968 at a family reunion in Selfs Texas (north of Honey Grove). That's where Grandaddy lived and where my musical roots started growing.
In Loving Memory of John Edelhauser - 1915-1982
