SOUTHERN COMFORTS
Q&A A U T H O R
:
F R E E M A N
V I N E S
North Carolina native searches for the Mystical Tone Written by J. M. McSpadden / Photography by Timothy Duffy In September 2021, Bitter Southerner, in conjunction with the Music Maker
me how to play Wildwood Flower. And that was the beginning of the guitar.
Relief Foundation released a stunning book entitled Hanging Tree Guitars. It
Q : When you started to learn the guitar who were your influences?
is the collaboration of luthier Freeman Vines with narrative by Zoe Van Buren
A : Wasn’t no influence around cause there wasn’t but one road into the plan-
and gorgeous tintype photography by Timothy Duffy. Duffy is the founder of
tation and one road out and one car on the road with about fifteen or twenty
the Music Maker Relief Foundation and has worked with Vines since 2015.
people that sharecropped down there. Nobody knowed the way out except up
Freeman Vines lives in Fountain, North
to the general store or over to (the store
Carolina, not far from the plantation his
at) Snow Hill.
family once sharecropped.
Q : So, you have lived in North Carolina
According to Vines, he has been making
all of your life?
guitars for fifty years. Part visual artist,
A : Yep. I done a little bippin’ and bop-
part spiritual philosopher, the book is
pin’, but you know how it is, I’d always get
Vines look at life and his encounters with
broke and have to come back.
racism. He approaches a piece of wood in
Q : I lived in Wilmington, North Carolina
a manner befitting a druid. Vines says that
twice, the first time from 1969 -1979.
wood has a personality, and that personal-
There was a lot of racial strife there in
ity informs each piece he creates. The title
those days.
comes from a specific piece of wood that
A : I know, that’s why I got the hell outta
was delivered to Vines, wood from a tree
there. I went down there riding with some
that had been used to lynch a black man,
folks. To get some herrings. This is in the
Oliver Moore, in 1930.
days of the Saturday Night fish fry. We went to get some cheap herrings offa the
Q : When did you first take up playing
boats.
guitar?
Q : Many people think of art as something
A : It’s been quite a while. Used to, when I lived on the plantation over there,
to entertain us. When I look at what you do with wood, I believe your art
I used to have to tote the… there was a bad white man over there. At least
challenges us.
they said he was bad. But someone told me he was a nice guy. He toted his
A : Right. Well, you have to sit there and look at the guitar to see what it’s
shotgun and his fishin’ pole all the time. I had no idea that during the hard
saying. Cause the wood itself already has that personality, that it makes me do
times he wasn’t the only one hunting and fishin’ over there. I thought he was
things. Cause see, a lot of them are, cause of losing my eyesight, were done
a bully cause every time I saw him…well, anyway, on to the important stuff. I
with about 1/3 of my vision. People come down there and ask me how do you
was out there toting it for him and stuff and he had an old Martin guitar down
cut the guitar out and assemble it. I say ‘Simple. When I run into a problem
there in the cabin. One day he went there and got it and he said, “I want you
I make a tool to compensate for what I can’t do.’ I did the same thing when
to meet Mr. Martin.” I was looking around and looking around and he had an
I restored cars. They stole all my tool designs and made them some purty
old Martin’s guitar. He wouldn’t let me play it then, but later on he showed
tools, and painted them and stuff, but my old raggedy-looking ones did the
20 okramagazine.com
SPRING 2021
