Joe Carr (1951-2014)

Volume 37, No. 1 Copyright © Central Texas Bluegrass Association January, 2015 Joe Carr (1951-2014) members – and there are many of them – who have been frequent attendees CTBA at Camp Bluegrass in Levelland will know Joe Carr well and will be sad- dened to hear of his passing on December 14. A native of Denton, after completing a BA in so- ciology at North Texas State, he moved to Levelland in 1984 to join the Commercial Music fac- ulty at South Plains College and was still teaching as an associate professor in the 2014 fall semester. There, he supervised bluegrass, western swing and Irish music ensembles. He was also the Camp Bluegrass director for many years and was fluent in mandolin, guitar, and fiddle (as well as a few other instruments we don’t like to talk about, like banjo and ukulele). Accord- ing to Alan Munde, Mike Bub, Ron Block, Stuart Duncan, Jeremy Garrett and Kym Warner were numbered among his students. I first met Joe in the late 1970s when he was on mandolin with the Fort Worth-based bluegrass band Roanoke, along with Mark Maniscalco (banjo), Dan Huckabee (dobro and guitar), and Mike Anderson (bass). That band had evolved from an earlier version called the Bluegrass Road Apples, and “the” Gerald Jones was also a member. Roanoke had regular gigs at the Chelsea Street Pub in Highland Mall and sometimes at the Lock, Stock and Barrel on Anderson Lane in Austin, as well as Chelsea Street Pubs in Dallas, Fort Worth, San Antonio, and Albu- querque. A 12-song LP (Roanoke, RRR0010, Ridge Runner Records) released in 1977 resulted from that band, with Joe on mandolin, guitar and vocals. Joe also played mando on Slim Rich- ey’s Jazz Grass LP, released the same year. Joe joined Country Gazette in 1978, playing mostly guitar alongside mandolinist Roland White, and stayed in that band until 1983, after which he left for Levelland. He can be heard on an early LP (Otter Nonsense, 1980, RRR0024) and sev- eral later CDs with his longtime colleague Alan Munde (e.g., Windy Days and Dusty Skies, 1995, FF70644; Welcome to West Texas, 1998, RRR669). In 1996 he and Alan also published Prairie Nights to Neon Lights: the Story of Country Music in West Texas (1997 winner of the Belmont University prize for best book on country music). They also wrote and performed a two-man musical comedy, Two Swell Guys from Texas. Anyone who has experienced the wry wit of Munde, Carr, or “the” Gerald Jones knows anything could happen when the three of them were in the same room. Send memorial donations to: Joe Carr and Alan Munde Scholar- ship, South Plains College Foundation, 1401 College Avenue, Levelland, Texas 79336 Picking at Hill’s Café for the Annual Meeting: From left: Steven Crow (bass), Elliott Rogers (guitar), and Billy Bright (mandolin); hidden, Alan Munde (banjo). Photo by K. Brown, November 2, 2014. The Central Texas Bluegrass Bulletin is published by the Central Texas Bluegrass Association, a 501(c)(3) tax- exempt Texas nonprofit corporation. Contributions are deductible as charitable and educational donations. Work published in this Bulletin is used by permission of the writers, artists, and photographers, who retain all copy- rights. Duane Calvin, board member Central Texas Bluegrass Association Rob Lifford, board member Box 9816 Katherine Isgren, board member Austin, Texas 78766 Chuck Middleton, board member Alice Moore, board member www.centraltexasbluegrass.org/ Lenny Nichols, board member Jason Pratt, board member Jeff White webmaster Jamie Stubblefield, board member Ken Brown, newsletter editor 2 Meet a New CTBA Board Member – Katherine Isgren by Bob Vestal e met Jason Pratt last month, one of three new CTBA board members. This month, let’s W get to know the second new board member, Katherine Isgren. Let’s get to know you. Where were you born and reared? I was born and raised in Houston. I am 100% Texan. My family are all Texans and Houstonians until my father and mother moved to Austin about 30 years ago. I was raised in Houston and graduated from Memorial High School. I say that because I was a real city girl. I went to college in San Marcos when it was called South- west Texas State, and now is just Texas State. There, I met my first country girlfriends and began a love for the rural life. I also went to Houston Baptist University and while I was there took some piano and voice lessons. Classical piano and opera voice was the norm for begin- ners; it’s what they told me, anyway. I quit them both be- fore I was any good. As a child, I tried the accordion for some reason; I still do not know why, but I think maybe my mother thought it was a good substitute for a piano. I remember it was really heavy to carry but I enjoyed the time I spent learning but it is no more than a childhood memory. When/why did you come to Austin? My family started to come to Austin when I was 15 because we owned a lot in Lakeway. That was in the 60s. Lakeway was just starting up and there was The Lakeway Inn and a few tennis courts and swimming pool. We would come and stay at the Inn and my father would dream about coming to live in Austin. My mother and father and younger brother moved to Austin in the 1980s full time and I would come to vis- it. Eventually, my older brother and some cousins and aunts and uncles also moved to Austin; kind of the family clan following my father who was the patriarch. So, for many years I visited Austin. I never had any interest in moving to Austin unless I ran for a State office or worked in one. I have been coming to Austin for 50 years and now I live here. Married? Kids? I have been married but for now am single. I have and enjoy a big family of seven grandchildren from my three adult children of which two are married. My two girls graduated from the University of Texas and my son-in-law also graduated from UT. My son graduated from Baylor University and his wife from Boise State. My oldest grandchild is graduating high school this year and hopes to be attending UT next year. My son-in-law just retired from his first career as a Major in the US Marine Corps and is working to finish his Ph.D. and return with my daughter (his wife) and their four children to the Austin area and hopefully to the Uni- versity of Texas to teach or work. My only son lives in Seward, Alaska, where he is married 3 and has my two little granddaughters. He owns a fishing lodge and has been in business there for eight years. Anyone wanting to fish in Alaska can contact me for his information and you will have an outstanding Alaska experience and fishing trip. I have a daughter here in Austin who graduated from UT and never left. She is now on her second career and is an acupuncturist and has a private practice in Northwest Hills, if anyone needs a good acupuncturist. She has one son and we live in the same ZIP code now that I am in Austin. Did I say my family bleeds UT orange? Tell us a bit about what you do for a living. I make money for a living and I guess you want to know how I do that. I was a politician in my earlier career. I was Fort Bend County Tax Asses- sor/Collector and was thinking of coming to Austin as a state officeholder but got side tracked when I realized how hard it would be to take Bob Bullock’s office or come to the Capitol and work as an assistant to someone who wanted to be governor but lost the election. My active days of politics are long over. I went out of office in 1985 and operated a small woman-owned business until I remarried. My husband and I were very successful in the hospital pharmacy business for many years. I was retired but decided to return to working and became a certified trainer and speaker for Vistelar Group, a company of speakers, trainers, and consultants for Verbal Communication Skills in Conflict and Under Stress. Starting in Law Enforcement for 30 years led to expanding training to healthcare, customer service, business in general, which is why I work with them. I am non-law enforcement and can train anywhere but law enforcement. What instrument(s) do you play and for how long? I have been learning and playing guitar for three years now. I have two acoustic guitars and one electric guitar. I just moved in to a new house and have a big music room. I have a fiddle and started fiddle lessons and have a standup bass and have been taking lessons for all instruments with Wes Green. I hope to be a beginner jammer in 2015 with my new instruments. Eddie Collins sent Wes Green to me and he has taught me so much about bluegrass playing and singing. He has been my teacher and encourag- er. He has been very patient with me as I have never been a very good student but I am a better student as time moves on. Thank you, Wes! Has bluegrass always been your focus? I became focused on bluegrass about 2011 when I was living on my ranch in Fayetteville.

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