Bobby Osborne Interview
By Big Al Weekley for Country Music News International Magazine & Radio Show
Bobby started out in music wanting to sing like Ernest Tubb. Bobby played the guitar, and learned everything that he could by listening to Ernest on the Grand Ole Opry. One night, while waiting for Tubbs’ appearance on the Opry, Bobby hear a sound come over his parents’ radio that was to change his life. He couldn’t believe all of that incredible music, that barrage of notes coming over the airwaves could be made by one man. When the song was over The Solumn Old Judge said, “friends that was Earl Scruggs with his fancy banjo with Bill Monroe and his BlueGrass Boys.” Bobby knew that some way, some how, he had to see this Scruggs guy and see how did that. Bill Monroe announced on the radio, that he and the band would be in Dayton, Ohio the next day. As Bobby and his parents and brother and sister lived in Dayton, Bobby asked his Dad if he would take him to see Bill Monroe the next day. His Dad said he would, and that he like to see them himself. Bobby’s Dad told him, “well one thing I know for sure, Bill’s the one that plays the fiddle”. The next day, Bobby saw Bill Monroe, Lester Flatt, Chubby Wise, Howard Watts and Earl Scruggs. Bobby found out in person, that one man could indeed make all of that music when he saw Scruggs play. Seeing these five men perform together, was ubforgettable to Bobby, (he can still tell you what each one of them was wearing that fateful day in Dayton). It was the sound of the five-string banjo, played by Earl Scruggs, that got Bobby interested in what has come to be known as BlueGrass Music. Like so many things in Bobby’s life, it’s amazing how many things came full circle, and how quickly. It’s worth pointing out, that Bobby set out to be a country singer, and his biggest vocal influence was Ernest Tubb. That’s one reason why his singingstyle was so unique. He wasn’t trying to be a tenor singer like Bill Monroe or Ira Louvin, he was singing like he wanted to. He just happened to have been blessed with a one of a kind vocal range. Bobby was alway a guitar player, until he teamed up with Jimmy Martin. That’s when Bobby became a mandolin player. And what a mandolin player.