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WOW, I WISH I REALLY HAD A GUITAR THIS COLOR!
Cyndi’s List O’ Musical Trivia
- First instrument : baritone ukulele … 6 years old. My father got it for me to keep me off of his Gibson guitar.
- Second instrument : huge upright piano… age 9. It was so heavy and enormous it could only come into our home through the sliding glass doors of our basement where it lived for the duration, and couldn’t come with us when we moved. I remember it was really cold playing that piano in wintertime but I persisted.
- Third instrument : 6 string classical guitar … age 11 … purchased at a record store with money I’d saved all my life. It broke the bank. But I finally had a real guitar.
- Current instruments : Martin 00-16DB 14-fret parlor guitar, my baby; Martin LXM tenor guitar; Larrivee all mahogany, 12-fret parlor guitar FOR SALE; Art & Lutherie Ami 12-fret cedar top parlor guitar; Firefly banjo ukulele; Bushman Soprano “Jenny” ukulele; Bushman Concert “Jenny” ukulele; Lanikai Curly Koa tenor ukulele; Lanikai spruce/mahogany baritone ukulele; Casio Privia PX-330 keyboard; assorted whistles, ocarinas, and percussion instruments.
- First non-paying gig : accompanying my third grade class choir on my baritone ukulele (see first instrument) during a program of patriotic music.
- First paying gig : Digger O’Dells, Buckhead (Atlanta) for tips ‘n beer, 1977.
- Tip I got many years ago that I still have : A dollar bill folded into a peace crane.
- First competitive open mic I won : $25 first prize, Aunt Charley’s in Buckhead (Atlanta), 1977. My dear friend-to-this-day and co-competitor, Peggy Johnson, won a bottle of tequila for “most interesting act.” Our prizes didn’t last long.
- First song I remember writing : “Mirrors of Water” co-written with my high school pal, Laurie Swiedler, 1974.
- First song Laurie Swiedler remembers me writing : “The Children” which she reminded me recently I wrote even before she and I met; she says she still sings it occasionally while vacuuming.
- Last song I finished and am now playing : “Not Too Late” – March 2011
- Coolest songwriting contest I ever placed in : 1992 Finalist, Kerrville Folk Festival “New Folk” competition
- Most money I ever made directly as a songwriter : $300 advance from a lovely Nashville song plugger for four songs, one of which almost ended up in a movie (see next…).
- Song of mine that almost ended up in a movie : “Train Go By” … was neck and neck with another song (that ultimately was chosen over mine), to be part of the soundtrack for Kalifornia, the worst Brad Pitt movie ever made.
- more to come.…
Cyndi Craven, Short Bio
Cyndi Craven started playing guitar—well, she thought the baritone ukulele her dad gave her was a guitar—when she was six years old. By the time she turned eleven, she realized the ukulele was in fact not a guitar, so she gave her life savings to a man at a record store who took a six-string guitar down off the wall, put it in a pasteboard case, and out she walked, guitar in hand. It broke the bank, but she finally had a real guitar. Forty some years later, Cyndi is still singing, playing, performing, writing songs, and recording songs. She can’t think of any reason to stop now. Find out more and get on her mailing list at cyndicravenmusic.com.
Cyndi Craven, Long Bio
Coming soon.
