Marilyn Graves

Your choice for Picker of the Month - a true southern lady, one of the most congenial, kind-hearted, delightful members of the Plectral Society, and a repository of oldtime music. Ms. Marilyn Graves:

When and how did you first become interested in music? I really don’t remember a time when I wasn’t interested in music. We always had a piano at home, and every time our extended family would visit, we would gather around the piano and sing the old time gospels and hymns. In my family, taking piano lessons was just something taken for granted that all the kids did when they started school. I still have the piano that has been in our family for over 100 years.

How long have you been playing music? I started playing piano in second grade, but it was not until Coley and I married that I got involved with other instruments. His family always had music in their home, but they had guitars, fiddles, and mandolins. There was always a crowd at their home on Saturday nights, playing the old time music. It was at one of these jams that Coley found out that one of the pickers had an accordion for sale. He went that night and bought the accordion for me. I can’t tell you how I learned to play the accordion, it just seemed to come natural.

What are your musical influences?

For many years we had a gospel band, playing primarily at churches, and then a country band, which played for line dances at community centers. In our gospel group we had a guitar, mandolin, bass, fiddle, and accordion. Like the hammered dulcimer I play now, it was unusual back then to have an accordion in a group. In the country band we had a keyboard (which I played), bass, fiddle, electric guitar, and drums. The person who influenced me most was Coley’s uncle, Tim Walsh. He was one of the best old time fiddlers in the mid-south area, and he played with us for many years until his death in 1995.

I learned to play a lot of the old time fiddle hoedowns from him. He played by ear, and had learned these tunes from his mother’s family. In the early 1990’s, we had a monthly Friday and Saturday night show in Mt. View, AR. Being in Mt. View often gave us the opportunity to attend shows at the Ozark Folk Center. On one such occasion, I heard Grandpa Jones’ daughter, Alicia, play the hammered dulcimer. I was intrigued by the sound , and told Coley I had to get one. The rest is history, and I was playing on stage within three weeks after getting the hammered dulcimer. Here again, I can’t tell you how I learned to play this instrument.

I play strictly by ear, and have never been to a workshop.

Does anyone in your family play music? My mother played piano, and my dad ‘led the singing at church’. An aunt was a music major in college and taught music in the school systems in Kentucky, Illinois, and Tennessee for many years. Our son plays drums, our daughter and granddaughters sing, and have been featured with us many times in the past.

What kinds of times and places have you played music in your life? For the more than 50 years that Coley and I have been playing together, it would be hard to remember all the times and places we have played. Some of the most enjoyable places would be the show we had in Mt. View, AR, conventions at the Peabody Hotel in Memphis, our association with the Jackson Area Plectral Society, the many times we have played at the Old Country Store, and all our travels throughout Arkansas, Mississippi, and Tennessee, which we continue to do. These travels include playing for churches, schools, civic organizations, festivals, wedding receptions/rehearsals, funerals, TV appearances, and ‘just jamming’, with our band "Wildwood Express". What else do you do besides play music? We enjoy camping in our RV (but music is usually involved in our camping)! We are active in our church, and enjoy spending time with our family and friends.

What makes this kind of music “good” to you? It is the music passed along by our forefathers, with a simple beat.

Why do you choose to play this kind of music? We have played different styles of music through the years, but the old time music has won us over. It is good to play music you like without all the amplification. Russell Cook, who owns the company that made my hammered dulcimer, once told me to play music “as you hear and feel it – not like how someone says you should play”. The old time music is easy to play that way. I like the hammered dulcimer because we never play a show that someone doesn’t ask – “What is that instrument called?” This has given me a chance to meet and talk with the people from all walks of life and from all around the world.