1978 Rual Yarbrough Bluegrass Musician - 4-Page Vintage Article

Description

1978 Rual Yarbrough Bluegrass Musician - 4-Page Vintage Article
Original, Vintage Magazine Article
Page Size: Approx. 8" x 11" (21 cm x 28 cm) each page
Condition: Good
Rual
Yarbrough
In 1967, in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, a
barbershop closed. Now, ordinarily, the
demise of a barbershop in the Recording
Capital of the World, or anywhere,
wouldn’t create much stir. But the closing
of this particular establishment caused a
collective sigh of relief from bluegrass
musicians all over the country. It wasn't
that they were all getting terrible haircuts
there. It was that the barber was joining
them on a full-time basis.
When Rual Yarbrough opened that
barbershop in 1956, he didn't know how to
pick a banjo. As a child growing up in
Lawrenceburg, Tennessee, he’d listened
to Bill Monroe on the radio and had big
dreams, but music was something that
happened for entertainment. It wasn’t
something that put supper on the table.
“I play a little bit on all the string
instruments. I really started out on bass
years ago," Rual recalls. “It was the first
instrument I ever played. I tried the bass,
the fiddle, and the mandolin. Guitar was
the first instrument I ever tried to play. I
never did accomplish much on any of them
until I got to the banjo and put all the rest
of it aside. I told myself that if I was ever
going to get good enough to play with a
group, I was going to have to get on one
instrument and stay with it. I saw I wasn't
one of those naturals who could pick up
anything and play it.
“Some people say you’re just born with
a natural ability and maybe so, but I
disagree to an extent. I was the type
person who really didn’t have music about
me. Didn’t anyone in my family play, but I
wanted to play more, I guess, than
anything in the world. I wanted to play so
bad that I spent a lot of time and effort
learning to play. It comes a lot easier for
some people than it did for me. I feel like I
wouldn’t have ever learned to play with a
group had I not been so interested....
13969-AL-7810-34