Sep 16
A vist with Bobby Osborne….Part 1 of 3
Bobby OsborneBluegrassJournal.com’s Bob Dieterlen caught up with Bobby Osborne at the Franklin, KY Music Festival September 7th.
Bobby was gracious enough to sit down and talk about his music - past, present and future…along with a glimpse back into the genre’s glory days when radio stations used bands live over the air and he also shared a great story about the Osborne Brothers playing for First Lady Pat Nixon’s birthday celebration as the White House.
Bob Dieterlen – What are you doing now that the Osborne Brothers have separated?
Bobby Osborne – Well, Sonny just decided to retire. You know, and, …First of all he had surgery on his left shoulder and he decided that was it. I think he’d decided a long time before that.
I think he’s enjoying what he’s doing. He’s tryin’ to get his health back and he’s doing a good job with it. I think he’s enjoying exactly what he’s doin’ and I’m sure enjoying what I’m doin’. Other than that I’m just tryin’ to be Bobby Osborne.
I’ve got a couple of CDs out now on Rounder Records and a little bit of a sound of my own. Every time I open my mouth, somebody thinks about the Osborne Brothers. I can never get away from that but I’m really pleased with what I’m doin’.
Bob Dieterlen – Tell me a little bit about your latest album, Bluegrass Melodies. Is it mostly original music?
Bluegrass MelodiesBobby Osborne – No… It’s mostly just some older songs. I did a Del Reeves song. I think I’ve got a couple on there, a religious song and an instrumental, that I wrote. Bluegrass Melodies, the title of it. We re-did it, you know from me and Sonny’s rendition of it.
I did a song that Rhonda [Vincent] came out and sang with me a while ago [during Bobby’s set at the Franklin Music Festival]. I’m really proud of it. It’s “Go Rest High On That Mountain.” It’s a Vince Gill song.
It’s got some songs that probably have been out before. Some of ‘em are new and some of them are not. There’s some new songs on it. They’ve probably been out, but it’s been so long that people in this generation here, they’ve not ever heard them. I take some country songs and turn ‘em into bluegrass. You know.
Bob Dieterlen – Tell me about the mandolin you’re playing. How long have you played that mandolin and what is it?
Bobby Osborne – It’s a Gibson f-5 Fern model. I bought it in 1954…November of 1954, and November of this year here will be fifty…fifty-three years I’ve been playin’ that mandolin. It’s been on all of our records and it’s still hangin’ together with me.
Bob Dieterlen – Tell me where you’re originally from and when you got started in music.
Bobby Osborne – Originally come from Hyden, Ky. And then the family moved to Dayton, Oh. We kinda got started in music there.
Bob Dieterlen – Where’d the music come from? Did it come from your parents?
Bobby Osborne – I don’t know? I think… yeah… My Dad was a Jimmie Rodgers fan and he tried to sing and play like Jimmie Rodgers and he played the banjo claw-hammer style. That was on his side.
My Mom’s side, she had 5 or 6 brothers and every one of them played a little bit. You know, I think it came from both sides… maybe I was just destined to do it.
Bob Dieterlen – Why did you decide to play the mandolin?
Bobby Osborne – I always liked the fiddle and I had started playing the guitar at first. I played the guitar about three years. I had an old fiddle and was always a foolin’ with it. Finally got up with a mandolin and it was tuned like a fiddle. It’s hard to play the fiddle and sing. Only a couple guys can do that right. I like the old tunes that the fiddlers played and I learned to play them on the mandolin. I played electric guitar for a while and I switched it off, but the mandolin became…I just got stuck with it and it became a part of me and still is.
Go to part 2 of this interview with Bobby Osborne.
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