The Gib Singleton Newsletter

“Music has always been a big part of my life,” Gib says. “In fact, there was a time I actually thought I’d be a profes-sional musician. A singer, songwriter, guitar player.

“I got started when our mom and dad bought my brother Jerry and me a cou-ple guitars from Sears when we were probably six and seven. They were like $12 or $13 apiece, which was a hell of a gift when you realize that between the two of them, Mom and Pop made about 50 cents an hour at the steel mill.

“So Jerry and I started teaching our-selves to play. He’s a natural and before too long we got where people actually liked to hear us. Then we started sing-ing along, because that’s how every-body on the radio did it.

“You have to remember, it was a differ-ent way of life in those days. There was no TV or anything, so for entertainment we’d all go to the Community Club at Pontoon Beach, which was like a tavern and dance hall. They served alcohol, but it wasn’t like a bar today. It was a family thing. The kids all had their own table off to the side and we’d eat barbecue and burgers and drink cokes.

For entertainment they’d have different acts that would sing or dance or what-ever. Just local people. Kind of like an open mic night now.

“Well, one night somebody said, ‘Why don’t you guys get up there?’ So we did. We did two or three songs, and people put some money in the tip jar, and man we thought we were rich! We were probably nine or 10 by then, and that was a big deal.

“So we practiced up and learned some more songs, and we went busking on the corner in Granite City. Jerry would play the guitar and we’d both sing. I’d dance, mostly tap kind of stuff, and pass a tin cup. And people would put money in it!

“We had this fantasy of being big mu-sic stars. We couldn’t get to Nashville to try out for the Grand Old Opry, which was as big a deal as we could imagine. So we auditioned for the Ted Mack Original Amateur Hour, because they traveled around doing auditions.

“We figured that was going to be our national debut. We sang a song Eddie Fisher made famous, ‘The Girl That I Marry’. And I still know the lyrics.

“The girl that I marry will have to be as soft and as pink as a nursery the girl I call my own . . .

“Well, we didn’t make the cut. We were pretty bummed out for a while, because we figured that meant we’d have to work in the mill, too. But I was still selling my drawings, and then I started sell-ing some paintings, and I never really thought about music as a career again.

“Jerry still plays guitar. In fact, he can play anything with strings. I traded one of my pieces for a beautiful Mar-tin D-38 and gave it to him, and, man, he can make it sing. But I’ve lost my voice. And you know I’m way past my dancing days!”

Makin’ Music!

Gib (left) and Jerry, in performance garb

Stradivarius

“This piece is a really personal one,” Gib says. “And it’s from a peak mo-ment in my life.

“I’d just had both hips replaced and I couldn’t walk. So my buddy Tom from the Morgan Club calls up and says, ‘I’m going to send a present over for you.’

“The doorbell rings, and it’s a guy with long hair, wearing tennis shoes, and carrying a big case. He says, ‘I’m your present.’ Turns out he’s Felix Fan, who is one of the top cellists in the world!

“He gives me a big hug and, man, we’re bonded. As artists, we kind of live in our own world, right? And we share the experience of that art just kind of welling up in you.

“So he opens the case, and inside is a Stradivarius! It’s like a five million dollar cello. It be-longs to a big bank and they let Felix play it in major concerts.

“First Felix just played with his fingers – no bow – and it was magi-cal! That’s the only word I can use. His fingers just danced across those strings. And he danced with the music. It was like he and the Stradi-varius and the music were all one being!

“Then he picked up the bow and it was even more incredible. Music at that level isn’t something you listen to. It’s some-thing you feel in your body and in your mind and in your soul!

“You know, I’ve always been kind of a Country guy But I’ll tell you what, that day I became a Stradivarius fan. Af-ter Felix played for me, I realized that if I had died with-out experiencing that, I would have really felt like I’d missed something.”

Fiddler

“I got the idea for this piece at a park I used to go to in Scottsdale where they’d have weekend pic-nics and art fests.

“There were these three fiddlers who al-

ways played there wearing white tuxedos. They went barefoot and danced

while they played, and they’d take turns doing great solos.

“Nick at the Mu-seum said he likes this

piece because you can see the attitude of the fiddler. Like, ‘Take that!’ And he’s

exactly right. I was trying to show the kind of attitude

you see when great musicians do ‘head cuttin’ – when they’re

playing at each other, showing their stuff.

“You know, as an artist, I think anything you do has to be ag-

gressive and meaningful. You have to bring your best and you have

to put it out there. If you’re holding back, it’s not really art.”

Maestro

“I love the maestro. He’s the di-rector of everything that comes out of an orchestra. You have a

score and you have musicians, but he’s the guy who puts it all in place, and really, it’s his sound you

hear.

“Think about an orchestra. It’s 100 people all playing different instru-ments and different parts of the music. He has to be able to hear every instru-ment and every note, and he has to ad-just all of them to create the whole.

“He fits them all together to shape the sound, and he gets that response just by the movement of his hands! It’s a whole different kind of art, and I think when it’s done right, it’s one of the most beautiful things in the world.”

The Gib Singleton NewsletterWinter 2013

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Left to RightStradivariusBronze, Edition of 9922 x 13 x 9

FiddlerBronze, Edition of 2530 x 10 x 15

Maestro - LargeBronze, Edition of 2570 x 50 x 26