Jimi Mac Posted April 16, 2014 Share Posted April 16, 2014 I'm curious how many folks who are musicians came from a musical lineage... While I would say I do, I was never pushed in that direction other than a gentle nudge into piano lessons at a young age that I didn't take well to at all... Later in my teens I went down the road of Saxaphone first for another failed attempt at music for junior high school band, and then in high school I really started getting interested in guitar. I think the Allman Brothers music I was hearing on the weekends on The King Biscuit Flour Hour had a good influence on that... My father was an excellent piano player and later in life took up the vibraphone in disciplehood to Lionel Hampton, that I had the privilege of seeing live and in-person in my grade-school youth... His musical tastes were mostly jazz, big-band, and historically melodic stuff; Green Sleeves etc. He played alot of Boogie-Woogie and that was what I liked the best. 1-4-5 / 12-bar hit home at an early age I guess... His record collection consisted of alot of Dixieland jazz and big band stuff. He Played alot of Glenn Miller and Louis Armstrong stuff for me in my youth... Before him, My paternal Grandfather; Sam, was from a line of full family bands of large families from multiple generations. He played wind and stringed instruments and thru the 40's & 50's and I think even into the 1960's often played in Trio's and quartets all over The Pioneer Valley of Western Massachusetts. He's the guy I got my biggest inspiration from family-wise and I see his legacy in me and it makes me proud!!! Here here is playing in a little Western MA Dine & Dance-Hall called The Wayside Restaurant in West Springfield MA in July of 1953. He's the stand-up Bassist playing with The Sam McCullough Trio. (his name) Whomever made the booking got to call the band by their name so they knew who made the booking. It was usually him or one of his 4 brothers with some family friends... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabs Posted April 16, 2014 Share Posted April 16, 2014 None for me... just my own :) Im the only musical person in the family.. apart from my brother in law who started playing only a few years ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badbluesplayer Posted April 16, 2014 Share Posted April 16, 2014 My grandmother on my dad's side was a great piano player. She could play stuff by ear and could read music upside down (or maybe she memorized it and was messing with us.) My grandfather on my mom's side was a saxophone player. My dad played the trumpet when he was young and listened to swing music all the time. Me and my sisters took music lessons. I played my father's used trumpet and the thing couldn't tune up to pitch and I spent five years trying to figure out how to purse my lips just right to try to squeeze the right pitch out of that POS trumpet. It was really traumatizing. That's why I like buying new guitars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidblast Posted April 16, 2014 Share Posted April 16, 2014 Other than an uncle that played some guitar, (which I never knew as he had passed before I came around) I'm the only one that picked up music from both sides of my family. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Farnsbarns Posted April 16, 2014 Share Posted April 16, 2014 My father played clarinet in the RAF and later travelled to New Orleans where he was taught Jazz by Paul Barnes (Daddy Paul). Later in life he took up soprano sax, partly my fault because as a young teen I found a nice example in a junk shop and told him about it. He bought it and went from there. My Grandfather also played clarinet but very traditional melodic stuff, love and marriage comes to mind as one of his favourites. I remember a funny day, my grandad hadn't heard me play guitar for quite some time, previously he'd only heard be bashing out open and power chords, proabaly badly, them he came over and said he thought I should be playing melodies. I went and got my trusty Sunn Mustang and let rip with some Hendrix. I thought that was smart, he still didn't think it was a melody and screwed his face up like I was doing something bad to a cat. I don't know about any other family from my grandfather's generation. My cousin (old enough to be an uncle) owns Just Flutes (worlds largest flute supplier) and a small wind only music shop in Croydon, South London. My uncle Norman is a much acclaimed luthier building very old fashioned guitars, liars and etc. I think that's it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cookieman15061 Posted April 16, 2014 Share Posted April 16, 2014 My Mom's side of the family all played instruments. (pictured here with her Dad and sibs) My Dad's side played the ponies. LOL! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krock Posted April 16, 2014 Share Posted April 16, 2014 I've got a few cousins who play piano, trombone and clarinet but my parents generation never had enough money to afford instruments. All of my grandparents generation were farmers in India so that also ruled them out for being able to afford instruments Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanvillRob Posted April 16, 2014 Share Posted April 16, 2014 My Dad: My uncle, (one of about 5 who played guitar...but he was probably the best): My Brother: My Brother-In-Law, behind me playing my Dove, and my brother on the Ovation: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quapman Posted April 16, 2014 Share Posted April 16, 2014 No photos sadly. My Mom taught the steel guitar. I remember my brother and I farting around with it when she wasn't home. My Uncle played the mandolin in the local symphony orchestra and at all the Romanian/Ukrainian cultural events around town. That's about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff-7 Posted April 16, 2014 Share Posted April 16, 2014 I don't have any photos but a lot of family members were musicians. Mom played violin, my grandfather (her father) played drums, violin and accordian in local bands. Never got to meet him as he died of a heart attack when my mother was twelve. My great uncle Archie is one hell of an accordian player. On my father's side my grandfather played piano, organ, and harmonica, my uncle is an outstanding bass player, and my cousin is a superb piano player. He played for GW Bush at the white house, he's now a lawyer at a firm in Paris and plays quite regularly there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigKahune Posted April 16, 2014 Share Posted April 16, 2014 . My dad learned the accordion at 10. By the time he was a teenager he was playing clubs around the Chicago area. Sure miss him. Age 12 and 72 - . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vangoghsear Posted April 16, 2014 Share Posted April 16, 2014 My mom and dad could both play a couple of tunes on an electric organ we had growing up and my mom directed the choir at the church. One of my great granddads built a violin, but I'm not sure if he could play it or not. All of my brothers and sisters play instruments and sing. One sister has a masters degree in music education and is a classically trained operatic soprano and sings in local churches and for weddings, etc. One of my brothers has a degree in music education specializing in percussion. He teaches music in grammar schools and plays drums in several bands and percussion in local symphonies. My other brother plays the trumpet and learned a few chords on guitar. My younger sister plays flute and directs a choir at her church. I can play enough piano to write music, some bass, some cello and violin, rudimentary snare drum, and guitar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnneS Posted April 16, 2014 Share Posted April 16, 2014 . My dad learned the accordion at 10. By the time he was a teenager he was playing clubs around the Chicago area. Sure miss him. Age 12 and 72 - . . Sweet pics, BK- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabs Posted April 16, 2014 Share Posted April 16, 2014 Cool pics That's one of those Teisco guitars hes playing there.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimi Mac Posted April 17, 2014 Author Share Posted April 17, 2014 Nice! Some really great ancestry/history here! Currently, of what I know, I have a cousin (old enough to be an uncle, he's my dad's 1st cousin) is an international traveling act who does acclaimed Roy Orbison & Conway Twitty impersonations; full garb and get-ups including hair styles... He plays a guitar for the Roy act mostly... Not really my thing either, but he's pretty damn good. I have another cousin (young enough to be a nephew; my 1st cousin's son) that is in a hard-core metal/alternative/punk band as a "guitarist"... And while I'd rather listen to pigs farting, at close range, being the Blues-Hound that I am, I suppose he's not bad at what he does... And while I'd rather gargle broken glass than listen to that stuff for any length of time, I'm always supportive and give his band and their projects and video's and facebook page my full support and positive reinforcement for a music sojourn of any kind... There's definitely a legacy in the family! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
69tele Posted April 17, 2014 Share Posted April 17, 2014 Great thread ! I too have a musical family. My dads uncles were musical and played brass instruments. My dad was in several different beat groups back in the 60s when this was the craze in our town they even had fan clubs ! I then took the banner and started playing guitar, when I was 13 my dad gave me his 1968 telecaster which I still have. I now play in a band with my brother (keys.bass) and sister(singer/keys/guitar) who also turned out in the family way And now my daughters and nieces are brining up the next generation. My 15 year old niece sings and wants to study acting and drama, her younger sister 9 plays piano. My daughter 8 plays piano and some guitar and my youngest who is 5 is learning piano as well. In fact the 8 and 9 year old took part in a music festival last week, playing at the governors ballroom on a steinway ! Some pics..... My Dad early 60s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekejmmi3RNw&feature=player_embedded Our Band http://www.eazi-k.com/gallery/nye05/index.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saturn Posted April 17, 2014 Share Posted April 17, 2014 While my family was not discouraging, they also weren't actively supportive of my music hobby. Same with sports. My parents thought it was great that I played a sport or guitar, but they never actively taught me anything about either one. Anything I learned was all my own initiative. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjmwrx Posted April 17, 2014 Share Posted April 17, 2014 I am the first person in 3 generations in my family to be involved in music. I don't have any photos of him, but my Great Grandfather was a Piano Builder in Chicago back in the late 1800s early 1900s until he left for WW1 and didn't come back. My Grandpa was born and his mother died at birth while he was in France, so he was raised by my Great Grandmother and then one of my Great Aunts. My parents DID NOT support me in my quest for Music. I bought my first 1985 Gibson SG (with headstock repair) with proceeds from sales during lunch hours in High School my Freshman year. Bought my first Fender Deluxe Reverb the same way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksdaddy Posted April 17, 2014 Share Posted April 17, 2014 My father: My brother: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milod Posted April 17, 2014 Share Posted April 17, 2014 Well... if KS popped over to Washngton VT, he could discover records that milod was born July 15, 1842. Left home 'cuz New England already was too crowded. Enlisted in the 112th Illinois as a musician in August of 1862. We still have his fife somewhere. I think my "baby" bro has it. He also rode a lotta dispatch according to family oral history, and supposedly was an exceptional horseman. He died in 1896 when the next milod was 8. Another milod played trombone from the early turn of the century for a number of years. Yet another didn't really play much except the top four strings of an old Stella or a baritone uke, but he and his wife, my Mom, sang together in public quite a bit for special events. On the other side of the family I was flamboozled the summer I bought my first guitar weeks after graduating from high school where I mostly played trumpet, and Grandma told me her mother had been a "fine" guitar player. I only remembered the old lady who was born a bit after the American 1860s contretemps as bedridden and not communicative; time is an inexorable enemy of youth. But prior to milod... clear back to 1680 or so in America, no record of musicianship, although it wouldn't surprise me. EDIT: My "baby" brother also plays guitar and keyboards and writes various music material via computer. Little sis (who's now a grandma) and I sang together for years as kids and likely could drop into harmony in a day of practice of material we know. Little bro (also a grandpa) not really into music, more into sports and such. m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LPguitarman Posted April 17, 2014 Share Posted April 17, 2014 My dad played drums, and a Vibraphone (slightly). I have (2) cousin's that play piano. An I've passed on the legacy to my twin sons who play Bass Guitar and Guitar. Last but not least, my daughter is a very good singer. Here's an old picture from my wedding where the Wedding Band,(hired by me) let me, my cousin (on piano) and a friend (on drums) sit in to play a couple songs. This was about 27 years ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surfpup Posted April 18, 2014 Share Posted April 18, 2014 Nobody in my family played anything! I was always jealous of people who came from musical families, and it's cool to see these stories. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buxom Posted April 18, 2014 Share Posted April 18, 2014 Only my great uncle as far as I know, he told me he had a 69 Tele in candy apple red when he saw mine in a similar color. I picked up guitar on my own, however, before I even knew he played. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimi Mac Posted April 18, 2014 Author Share Posted April 18, 2014 Here's an old picture from my wedding where the Wedding Band,(hired by me) let me, my cousin (on piano) and a friend (on drums) sit in to play a couple songs. This was about 27 years ago. We could be twin brothers if you're the guitarist... That's exactly what I looked like about 27 years ago... When I had a full head of hair... My family was actually big in the area's aristocracy back before the depression where we lost it all... My family were founding members of abolitionists and Utopian Society in these parts and rubbed elbows with John Brown, Walt Whitman, Oscar Wilde and many of the period high-society and the search for enlightenment crowd. I am a direct descendant of those credited with starting the first free Kindergarten in America in Northampton/Florence MA. My family actually owned a number of the area's biggest business enterprises here in The Pioneer Valley of Western Massachusetts... During that era they family had large/full family orchestras that performed in several variations at society, government, and community functions. They played all manner of instruments from brass to strings, piano, and invariably there were singers in the family too right up to WWII and after... The great thing about my family is they persevered and going from literally riches to rags during the depression didn't seem to phase them at all. Every one of them did their part and served during WWII. Lost a couple of them then, but most of them actually survived. Huge portions of the extended family were either in Europe or The Pacific during WWII. My families other history was a long line dating back to The American Revolution, and further, of gallant and honorable military service... Right up to my father that was an Air Force Engineer during The Vietnam era on active duty. I was born an Air Force brat when he was stationed in California and spent my first 10 months on the West Coast before he retired from active duty and we moved back to Western Massachusetts when I was just shy of a year old where I've been ever since, and we had originally come from for the most recent handful of generations... My family went from living in mansions to farms in the fertile rural farmlands of The Pioneer Valley and they made an honorable go of it and never complained about what used to be... The family still owns some great farmlands in these parts to this day... And that's where my young cousin is doin' his thing... I'm across the river (The Connecticut River) in a more Hilltown locale that my father moved us to in my grade school youth... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boodreaux Posted April 18, 2014 Share Posted April 18, 2014 My grandfather and AP Carter were first cousins and grew up in the same area so I'm somewhat from the same family as the Carter family. I have a cousin who played drums in a band with Jerry Hensley who was Johnny Cash's touring guitarist in the late 70s until he passed away. My brother plays accordion and another cousin was on The Voice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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