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The
Caron children were impressed and inspired by The Rivertown Girls, who
play bluegrass gospel and just plain bluegrass.
"We
didn’t have our instruments with us that night but, when we went to
hear Old Southern Gospel play, we had our instruments," said
Joseph, who is the spokesperson for his siblings.
And,
that was when fate played its hand again.
Wyman
McWaters, guitar player and lead singer for the Old Southern Gospel,
hung around that night and listened to the Caron children play. As
inexperienced as they were in their music, he saw potential in them and
offered to work with them.
Their
music lessons with Rusty Frith and Ashley Withrow of Music Music
continued and McWaters worked with them as a group. The children became
more confident as musicians and as performers.
"None
of us read music. We all play by ear," Joseph said. "Carolyn
and Katie are taking piano so they’re learning to read music. But not
reading music has not been a problem."
McWaters
agreed, "These young people are dedicated to playing and they
listen and learn. They are doing a great job and the potential is there
for them to take their music as far as they want it to go."
The
Caron children are now a bluegrass band.
"We
even have a name," they said with great pride. "We’re the
Broken Strings Bluegrass Band."
"It
seemed like we were always buying strings for one instrument or the
other," their mom said, laughing. "So, I told them if they
ever had a band, it should be the Broken Strings."
And,
so it is. The Broken Strings Bluegrass Band is made up of Joseph, banjo;
Peter, 16, mandolin; Carolyn, 14, fiddle; Doug, 12, guitar; Matthew, 10,
guitar; and Katie, guitar. Becki, 17, also plays the fiddle and joins
the band from time to time.
Matthew
plans to be a spokesman for the band and laughingly said he is going to
push Joseph for the job.
The
Broken Strings play bluegrass gospel and also share the Good News of
Jesus Christ.
"We
want to share our message of faith but we need to gain more confidence
as speakers," Joseph said. "We’ve just been playing since
September 1, 2007, so this is all new to us."
Bonnie
said it’s only a matter of time before the children "come out of
their shells" and become even more confident as musicians and
speakers.
"For
a while, we couldn’t get them to sing but now they are singing and
they all have good voices," McWaters said. "You can tell they
are having fun when they perform and people enjoy seeing young people
share their message in song."
Most
appearances of the Broken Strings to date have been at churches so most
of the bluegrass they have played in public has been bluegrass gospel
and old time favorites like "I’ll Fly Away."
"But
they played at St. John Baptist Church and somebody asked them if they
could play ‘Boil the Cabbage Down,’" Bonnie said. "They
played it and everyone seemed to enjoy it. So, yes. They play some ‘hysterical’
bluegrass, too."
Katie
said she enjoys singing and likes to sing for a crowd. All of the Caron
kids seem to enjoy playing for an audience.
And,
just as much, they enjoy playing for mom at home.
"When
we practice, sometimes it’s by ourselves but most of the time we play
as a group," Peter said. "We really like to play
together."
To
a band member they said they have improved "a lot" and give
credit to their teachers and McWaters.
Their
dad is in Kuwait and hasn’t heard them play together since they have
"gotten better."
"He
left from Fort Benning and we went over to see him off," Bonnie
said.
"The
children took their instruments and played a little for him. They were
just beginning so it was…not so good. But at St. John they made a CD
for us and we sent it to him. He couldn’t believe how they have
improved. He said, ‘Are those my babies?’"
The
Broken Strings Bluegrass Band is unique in that the band is made up of
six, sometimes seven, siblings playing bluegrass. Six or seven siblings
playing anything together would be unique.
But
they feel blessed to be able to play together and even more blessed they
have bluegrass in their blood.
"There’s
no other sound like it," Joseph said and not one of his brothers
and sisters disagreed.
Mom
knew exactly what she was doing when she crossed the country with
bluegrass on her mind and fiddles and guitars in tow.
The
Caron children have only been playing music since September but their
love of old time music and their devotion to each other make playing
together a joyful "noise." For scheduling information or
bookings, contact their mom, Bonnie Caron at 360-991-4299 or via email
at BrokenStringsMom@aol.com.
Jaine
Treadwell is a freelance writer from Brundidge. |
