ALL FRETS - July/August 2018 ENTIRE ISSUE | Página 20

My first recollection of music was sitting in a sky blue ‘65 Ford station wagon on a hot summer day
and hearing my parents sing some old sentimental song in harmony. I was amazed that two
different notes sung at the same time could sound so good together. I liked the old songs they
would sing, and on lazy afternoons in the country I would sit at our player piano and enjoy
pumping the pedals and singing along.
My Dad plays the banjo and ukulele and my mother
plays piano so music always filled the house. When I
was nine years old my dad asked me if I wanted to
play the uke. I said yes and he taught me the chords
and strumming patterns for the fun songs we would
sing together in the car. He joined the “Northwest
Banjo Band” in our home town of Corvallis, Oregon
and the band would come to our house to practice.
When I was eleven I started playing banjo as well
and took lessons from Hank Dougherty, a good
family friend and a member of the band. I loved the
sound of the banjo. So I stopped listening to most
of the 1970’s pop music my friends liked and I
began listening to the Eddie Peabody LP’s my dad
had in the house. To my young ears, Eddie’s playing
seemed like a miracle.
20
ALL FRETS JULY/AUGUST 2018