of the instruments, so, when people come down the trail to hear us — and they see that we’re playing these old pieces of crap, kind of junk-looking instruments — it boggles their minds. That’s the fun part of it.” Sprague makes cigar box guitars. “I like to use old cigar boxes” he said. “They have to be wood, and the neat thing about them is you can actually date them because of the tax stamp on the back. Mine are all over 100 years old.” The bridges on the guitars are eyebolts or eyehooks, and one bridge is propped up and made level with a quarter. The guitars have three strings and are electrified. “We have to tie a ground wire to his ankle and ground him to the nearest pole so he doesn’t get hurt,” explains Carmon, who plays the washboard. “It’s called a ‘guitashboard,’” Carmon corrects, showing that it has a neck like a guitar, but the body is pure washboard, with an aluminum camp pot and cymbals attached. “Captain Mudflap gave it to me as a gift before
he left for Texas.” Gelo, the bass player, toils magically with a two weed whacker-stringed instrument that has a PVC pipe neck, a hand-carved head, and a resonating body made out of an old pickle barrel. Musicians will also note that the bridge is made out of a rat-trap, snapper and all. The sound the threesome gets from their instruments is pretty significant. “There is the wonderment of the disconnection between the sound and the visual of what we’re doing,” Sprague said, “when our audience sees we’re a band and we’ve got a total of five strings in the whole band. We’re playing two weed whacker strings on a pickle barrel for a bass and three strings on an old cigar box for a guitar.” Once audiences realize the Muckland Crooners are real musicians serious about having a good time, a wacky kind of fun ensues. Performances are part music, part banter amongst the group plus dialogue with the audiences; it’s always intimate and relaxed.
“We get a lot of people who come to our concerts because they’ve run into us over the years and have a good time with us,” Sprague said. “And it’s young and old,” added Carmon. “The kids take to it. We’ve had kids playing a guitar.” “Every now and then we get some unusual opportunities,” Sprague said. “We played for a Jewish Social Club. Their members travel all over the country and they have a summer vacation and gathered here from all over the country and wanted to have some local entertainment. They hired us to play at Seneca Park and we had a ball.” “We separated and showed them all about our instruments and gave them a chance to play them,” said Carmon. Sprague has taught classes at the Arts Center in Newark, showing kids how to put together their own cigar box guitars. Wineries like Three Brothers have been good to the Crooners.
The Bagg Dair Stage at Three Brothers Winery in Geneva is the perfect venue for the Muckland Crooners, who looked exactly like they belonged there.
The Bagg Dair Stage at Three Brothers Winery in Geneva is the perfect ve for the Muckland Crooners, who looked exactly like they belonged there.
July/August - 55 PLUS
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