Dr. Bibey, Country Music Star
Well, the headline was just to get your attention. I am no country music star, and never will be. All my life I have been the baritone man. My vocal range is six notes, but I know where to plug them in, so I can get by.
I worked with a band in the studio recently, and realized I was more modern than what I thought. No, I’ll never be a star in spite of Buck Owens’s encouragement with ‘Act Naturally’ years ago. (“They’re gonna put me in the movies….”) I’m not young, and not close to pretty. I’d look beyond ridiculous in an evening gown and I have trouble with pitch. But with the modern miracle of Pro Tools software, I am a quasi country star.
Several of y’all have said you wanted to hear some music from me, and when you speak I listen. My band, Neuse River, did a couple projects back when they called them records, but we’ve got some age on us now, and they declined to try and cut another one. (Sadly one is deceased, and one is in the Nursing Home) But I am at work on a couple different music projects with some fine young artists. I hope some of these cuts will tie in with the book. It is too early to say what form that will take, but stay tuned. I promise there will be some music even before the book store mandolin duos.
Don’t look for me on Country Music T.V., though. I’m too old, too gray, and not hip enough to cut the gig. However, I always try to find common ground with other folks. Between this Pro Tools thing and a brilliant engineer, even old Doc can hang with a few of the young country stars. Dang if modern studio technology hasn’t almost turned me into a singer. I do believe I’d best leave off the evening gown, though. Modern computer software can fix a lot of things, but it ain’t that good.
Dr. B
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Dr. Tom Bibey: Stories of the Bluegrass Music Road 
January 17, 2009 at 2:51 pm
Dr B, have you seen some of the horrors that are on musical television channels these days? So much of what’s on there can’t even be deemed “music” so much as “electronically altered trash with minimal clothing”. I’d much rather see a cool Dr. playing his cool bluegrass on there. It would be more interesting and a hell of a lot more musical than what’s on there now.
And this is a ROCK music fan speaking!
January 17, 2009 at 9:32 pm
ms. Slightly,
I think much of it is more about creation of stars than creation of art.
I also would rather take in a band interested in their art form first, and CD sales second, (regardless of genre) rather than watch a marketing package.
Dr. B
January 18, 2009 at 12:15 am
lol @ protools… heck if you get that licked, you deserve to be a country star I say! Good for you Doc!
January 18, 2009 at 6:17 am
I guess you don’t meet the age requirements for American Idol, so you’re sunk. I have a copy of cool-edit on my computer, but I must confess to finding learning to use the sound editing tools a daunting task. A text editor works for me in ways that I can’t manage a sound editor. I’m sort of an agnostic about the use of such tools in recording. Hard core bluegrassers like to raw and spontaneous sound of live performance or old time recordings. Some seem to like the perfection of modern recording. I think the best recordings manage to achieve both, but it’s rare. – Ted
January 18, 2009 at 6:38 am
Ms. Amber,
Being a pretend country star is good for old Doc, but after the lights go out and my name comes down from the Marquee at the Walmart, I better go back to the office.
When I was young I got into music (electric guitar at first) to meet girls, but retired from that after I met my Marfar. Women still come up to visit after the show though. The young ones call me sir, and say they wish their Daddy was that cool. The older ones want to know I’m taking new Medicare patients.
It is a fun life, and I have been blessed to get to be a Doc and play too.
Dr. B
January 18, 2009 at 6:42 am
Ted,
What is this American Idol? I was gonna try out for the ‘Gong Show.’
I would call the recording semi-live. If you hit a wrong note once it is a mistake, but if you hit it twice it is jazz. Vasar Clements once had an LP called “Hillbilly Jazz.” It was a fine record. (Vasar made few mistakes)
The engineer is a computer geek on steriods, and I mean that as the highest compliment. He has the program down cold, and it is a specialty unto itself.
Dr. B
January 24, 2009 at 12:45 pm
Some of that stuff on CMT barely resembles country music anymore. Give me Emmylou Harris, Johnny Cash and Hank Sr. any day.
January 24, 2009 at 2:17 pm
Ms. Pande,
Now that is my idea of country music!
Dr. B