| My History My name is Lana Exline and my dad, Buck Exline, had a brother that lived in Verona, Mississippi named Emmitt D. (ED) Exline. Uncle Emmitt had a disability that did not allow him to work a conventional job, so he made a living by being a luthier. He made violins, guitars, Appalachian dulcimers, and I am not sure if he made any banjos, but I remember seeing them in his shop. He in fact was said to have made a guitar for Elvis Presley (whose birthplace is right up the road in Tupelo, MS) and also a fiddle for President Jimmy Carter while he was in office. I have seen with my own eyes and held the latter. The name of his shop (though no sign was hung in flashing lights) was Master Hand Violin Shop. When I was very young (probably about 6), dad hitched up a pick-up truck camper and drug mom and us kids down to Mississippi to visit my uncle and his family. It made quite an impression on me as I recall vividly the stops along the way at truck stops where people gathered in the parking lot to play music until very late. And once there, seeing all the musical instruments in his shop, and hearing people that stopped over to ‘pick music’, I was hooked! When we returned home after that first visit to Mississippi, I asked my dad to make me one of those ’fiddles’ like my uncle made so ’when I got old I would have something that my daddy made’. I was about six years old at that time and had no idea what I was really asking my dad to do. A fiddle has hundreds of hours of work involved in producing a ’fine’ instrument. Not to mention that the tone wood used to make one is not exactly cheap. But, my dad was up for the challenge. By the time I was about 8 or 10 my dad had made a few fiddles and by the time I was in the sixth grade, he had produced one that I was able to use in the string program at my school. When I was in the seventh grade, he finished the one that I have now and will indeed keep until I am an old woman, and be proud that my daddy made it for me. When I graduated from High School, my graduation present was a fiddle that my dad had contracted my uncle Emmitt to build. On the back of it is carved the Good Shepherd, Jesus with His staff. He called this violin The Messiah. I picked up the 5-String Banjo when I was in the seventh grade and the guitar when I was in the ninth grade. The guy I took lessons from on the guitar is now a very successful guitar maker, Paul Beard. Not sure what became of Bill Davis, my banjo teacher. As for the violin, I played with the string program in school from the 6-12 grades. But I ‘fiddled’ from the time I put my hands on it. Having the ability to both read music and play by ear on the fiddle is a gift from God! Below on the left is my dad, Buck Exline and on the right is my uncle Emmitt (Ed) Exline. You know, the funny thing is that my dad couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket, and my uncle, well, he enjoyed playing. To continue the mini self-bio here, I have had the opportunity to play at church, weddings, receptions, Christmas gatherings, jams, with the late area banjo builder, Andy Boarman, with the Maryland State Fiddle Champion (way back 20 plus years ago) Shawn Snyder, the very talented Pat White. And even at the White House in DC with my brother-in-law, Lynn Routzahn several years ago. I recorded an instrumental CD a few years back with the extremely talented Pastor Ken Oyerly in Shepherdstown, WV. Ken played back up tracks on the guitar, banjo and bass on the project which I called ‘A Tale Once Told” (available upon request). Based on the psalmist who said in Psalm 90:9 that ‘our lives are lived as a tale that is told’. I chose that because I have seen my folks and my uncle, ‘fly away’ as the very next verse says. And, all that is now left, is our ‘tale’ of what we remember of them. When we are gone, what ‘tale’ will be told of us? Hmm…..ponder that just a moment! Although I have ‘performed’ on many occasions, it is really not my passion. Frankly, I really do not like it (I would suppose that is why I am a teacher). I do enjoy the informal ‘get togethers’ that I remember from growing up. And as I get older, my passion for wanting to have my hands on an instrument is an ever growing madness. I just can't seem to get enough of it! As I was growing up, other than traditional hymns and classical styled music, the bluegrass influence prevailed. I enjoy listening to the more bluegrassy styled folk music such as Nickle Creek, Goldmine Pickers, Old School Freight Train, Gillian Welch and Hot Buttered Rum. I like the fact that these artists use traditional bluegrass instruments but create new music. Not ‘New Grass’ but, a much better sound as well as modern relative lyrics. One of my favorite tunes is by Old School Freight Train called Drama Queen. Honestly, I think they were writing about my daughter, Kristyn! You can sample their stuff on the net at www.pandora.com which is a free online radio. (It’s an excellent source to sample different genres of music without wasting money on something you may not like.) |
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