»click here to down to CALENDAR & LINKS, below

Article: Sunday, August 04, 2002 The Oakland Tribune,  front section, flip side to the Pope!

Headline Stories:  Alameda Thin Man Music founder started with banjo

LARRY WHITE NAMED HIS business Thin Man Music because he thought if he named it after himself, no one might come. There's no doubt when you see him that he's the thin man of the shop's name. He's tall and rangy, with large glasses and inward-looking eyes.
   White, 58, has been playing music since his teens. When he was at Santa Monica High School in Los Angeles, a buddy told him he was going to learn guitar, and that White should learn banjo so they could play together. White picked up a four-string banjo because he knew so little about banjo he didn't know what kind to get.  The same friend took him to the Ash Grove, which in those days was a coffeehouse specializing in traditional music. The first show White saw there was Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs. Once he got a load of Scruggs' banjo-picking pyrotechnics, he had a little more of a clue that he should be playing a five-string banjo. Later on he learned guitar, and over the years added mandolin, fiddle, stand-up bass and ukulele.

"I stuck with it for social reasons," White says of his early days in music. "After I got into guitar, that was the only thing that made school bearable for me."

In 1961, Santa Monica High had a folk music club. There, White had the good fortune to become friends with the legendary slide guitarist Ry Cooder ("Chicken Skin Music," "Paradise and Lunch"). Cooder, he says, taught him about musical taste. "Between both my friends, I had a good exposure to musical education," says White.

As for the friend who talked him into picking up a banjo, he subsequently quit music. Four decades later, White is still picking, playing, teaching and going to festivals. Music became his life.

He first came to the Bay Area in 1970, after he got out of the Army. He and some friends formed a group called the Smoggy Mountain Boys. He didn't move here permanently until 10 years later, after the Thin Man String Company had become a reality.

"I got the idea living in Fresno," says White. "I was just another starving musician, and strings were getting expensive. I found a way to get strings cheaper, and a friend I had said, 'You like going to all those festivals, why don't you set up a booth and sell some of those strings you're getting so cheap?'"

White is still doing festivals. "I probably have a booth at a dozen festivals a year," he says. He goes to bluegrass festivals and fiddle contests, jamming with other musicians at night or when the booth isn't busy. On the day I visit the shop, White has just returned from the Wolfe Mtn. Bluegrass Festival at the Grass Valley Fairgrounds.

Between starting out at the festivals and opening Thin Man Music in Alameda, White (again) had the good fortune to learn instrument repair from Hideo Kamamoto, who owned and ran Kamamoto String Instruments in downtown Oakland for many years. "He does wonderful repair work," says White.

Once he knew how to repair guitars, he started buying factory seconds and refurbishing and setting them up.

At his Alameda store, which has occupied the same spot on Webster Street for about 20 years, he taught instrument repair to his employee, Dave Starr, who used to be in a heavy metal band called Vicious Rumors. Starr does most of the electronic repairs. There's another guy who repairs tube amps, and between the three of them, says White, they can handle just about anything.

Thin Man Music's inventory is about two-thirds used instruments and one-third new.

White also gives lessons in most stringed instruments, including ukelele. He teaches old-timey music, which he says "is similar to blue-grass except the musicians don't play as fast."

He bartered with an artist for the design for the sandwich board he puts outside the shop, and with another artist for the logo for the store.

I ask him what he likes to listen to, and he says, "Most of the time I sit around and play music rather than listening. That's the way it is when you're a musician." He lives in North Oakland and enjoys playing duets with his girlfriend Pointy Mae, a beginning mandolin player. He says he likes ethnic music of all types. He counts among his influences (not to mention Ry C.) Kenny Hall of Fresno, who taught him Portuguese music, among other things. (he's also one of the most enthusiastic musicians on the planet!)

He's soft-spoken and thoughtful and sums up his career several times in the same way: "A little help from my friends goes a long way," he says.

Thin Man Music is at 1506 Webster St. in Alameda. For more information, call 521-2613 or visit »www.thinmanmusic.com

Cityscape runs on Tuesdays, Saturdays and Sundays. You can email Susan Lydon at »slydon@angnewspapers.com

ARTICLE From ALAMEDA JOURNAL Jan. 30th 2001
caption under picture reads:
THE THIN MAN LARRY WHITE picks a 5-string banjo and sings in his Webster Street music store. White hails from the folk music scene of the 1960's and keeps the era alive.

For the Thin Man, happiness is fiddling around with instruments
   By Susan Fuller     STAFF WRITER
What are 6 banjo players at the bottom of the ocean?  A good start.  
   Banjo players have a reputation for being loud and out of tune, thus the vast number of banjo jokes floating around in certain circles.  In some cases the reputation is well deserved, but one Alamedan wants to bebunk the myth--The Thin Man, aka Larry White.
  White has owned the Webster Street music store with the same name as his alter ego for 16 years. The display of electric guitars is a small concession to the last half-century, but most of the long narrow store is filled with "old time" instruments.  Fiddles, mandolin and acoustic guitars line the walls from just above the floor to as high as the long-armed six-plus footer can reach!  Autoharps, both old and new, lean at floor level.  A rack of sheet music and books stands near the door. Partitioned boxes on the counter hold picks in faux tortoise shell and mother of pearl, genuine purple plastic sparkle and glow-in-the-dark.  A Pair of stand-up basses tango mid-store.  Oh, and there are banjos too!
  White took a moment to explain the difference between contemporary banjos and the old-time counterparts, and the reason for banjo jokes, "New-style banjos have a resonator, a heavy solid back that throws the sound out to the audience. They can be very loud, and a dangerous weapon in the wrong hands! Old-time banjos are simply a round frame with a taut parchment (skin) top. The backside is hollow so the twang doesn't travel so far,  so they're only mildly dangerous!".
  If old-time instruments are the Thinman's love, the unusual ones are his passion. His eyes light up behind oversize glasses when he talks about instruments that "look a little different, are not finely crafted, are made of different woods."  He picks a fiddle from the dozen hanging by their scrolls.  Its' top is made from cedar and the back from oak, instead of the traditional spruce and maple combination.  "Most guitars aren't as interesting." White said. They don't have the quirky handmade character he finds in occasional violins. In a quick burst of energy, The Thinman pulled a treasure from a bottom desk drawer- a fiddle neck, with the scroll carved into a primitive lion's head. The mane drapes around the back of the scroll and near the tuning pegs, the animals' tongue sticks out!  He intends to put it on an instrument someday.
  He's found  double-neck guitars with 6 strings on one neck and 12 on the other.  He keeps his eyes open for old Gibson mandolins and guitars and banjos.  "So many people have turned into collectors, they're harder to get,"  he said.  An oddity on hand is an Arabic Oud. It's smaller than a guitar, with a rounded back like a lute. It's 3 sound holes are covered with a lattice reminiscent of screens in a mosque.  Because it has nylon strings its' sound is like a classical guitar,  but unlike a guitar, it has no frets. The player can produce quartertones and slides between notes.  "You can play any type of  music on it," he said.
  The Thin Mans' life in music goes back to the early 1960's when he was in his teens. Well-connected friends 
(the best things I've learned in life about music,  I owe to my friends) and a long string of flukes line the route to his present Oakland home,  and business in Alameda. 
" I wasn't particularly interested in school" he said. But Santa Monica High School had a very active folk music club, with some legendary names in its' membership. Remember, this was the 1960s.
RY COODER (Thinman Strings endorsee and surfing partner) - a household name now after his film "Buena Vista Social Club",  was an accomplished musician  at age 15,  said the Thinman. The daughters of Bess Lomax Hawes (A folk musician and Scholar in her own right and sister of famous folklorist Alan Lomax) Corey and Naomi,  played and sang in lovely harmony also. 
  The high school musicians followed an expansive folk music scene in the area. The Thinmans' friends favored the ASHGROVE,  a club and coffeee house in Hollywood.  Names like (RY COODER) TAJ MAHAL,  LINDA RONDSTADT,  LIGHTNIN' HOPKINS,  MANCE LIPSCOMB,  BILL MONROE,  THE STANLEY BROTHERS,  FLATT AND SCRUGGS and  DOC WATSON (to mention a few),  came through  regularly.  His crowd scorned the Troubadour, where more commercial names like Peter, Paul and Mary headlined.  Hanging out at the Ashgrove evolved into lessons and a job.  
  The evolution of a life in music continued as White bought strings in bulk and sold them, first in Fresno, then at outdoor music festivals and later at the weekend PENNY MARKET at the former Island Auto Movie.   A bass case sale drew The Thinman to a house on the island. A penny Market customer ordered the case delivered to his Santa Clara Avenue apartment, and when White mentioned he was looking for a place to live, he said he wished they would evict the people next door.  They did, and The Thinman squeezed in! 
  He started learning about instrument repair while working at KAMIMOTO STRINGS in Oakland.  The next step was buying old instruments and fixing them up for sale. "I had to open up a store 'cause I had  too much stuff to fit in my house anymore!" he said.
  Settling into a retail store also meant picking a name.  "Larry White Music seemed too ordinary," he said.  "I figured  Thin Man Music had a good ring to it (not to mention that, that shoe fits)".  He traded strings for his logo drawing of a thin man playing a guitar.  (One of my best trades, thanks to Maria Wortham!)  
  People ask if there's any connection to the movie, The Thin Man.  "I just tell them, YES, but he's fatter!" he said.  
  Over the years White and his store have merged into one identity.  "You can call me The Thin Man or Larry, whatever is fine, just don't call me collect!" He might even tell another banjo joke, if you hang around.....

Calendar and Links to Some of  my Favorite Sites (webwise, that is!)

BLUEGRASS/OLD TIMEY, & ASSORTED TRADITIONAL ETHNIC:
(all the music I like best)

Current Events:   McGraths Pub, 1539 Lincoln, Alameda, 521-6952 »www.mcgrathspub.com CONCERTS, see their web, usually F & Sat.;
 JAMS  Monday night Bluegrass jam 
Sunday Night Americana Jam (general folk)
Alternate Wednesdays Open Mike, & Swing Jam 
Sundays, Irish jam, starts with 2:30 slow jam, 4:30 to 6'ish the regular Session.
Get on their email at the website, to get Peters' email calendar. It's a great acoustic venue, live bands, Bluegrass, Swing, Cajun, Western, etc.  The prices are cheap for the Friday and Saturday bands, only $5 admission, jams free!

Open Mike Coffee For Thought, every Tuesday night 1600 block of Webster (Alameda)
Bluegrass at the 5th String, Berkeley (Adeline near Ashby) thursday nights 7:30pm.
Blues jam at Pat's Bar Wednesday Night Blues Jam 8 to 12 p.m. With house jam band: BirdLegg—harmonica and vocals Richard Younger—synth, John Graham—guitar, Patty Hammond—bass, Leroy Jones—drums at 1517 Franklin St. (cross street is 14th) Oakland, CA Phone: (510) 452-3338 (Look for the giant green martini glass, and you're there!)
Jupiter Sunday concerts coming back this spring »www.jupiterbeer.com/berkeley/events/index.html

*EVENTS I'LL BE AT (as Thin Man String Co.)

FIDDLE CONTESTS, CA STATE,  »click here, for their website
*California State Old Time Fiddle Association State Competition
March 19-20, 2004 Municipal Auditorium 1220 Myers Street Oroville, California, dance starts 6:30pm, to 10pm.
A great opportunity to hear to go to a real old timey dance too!

*June Fathers' day CBA Bluegrass Festival and more! »http://www.californiabluegrass.org
*July, The Good Old Fashioned Bluegrass Festival. Bolado Park, Hollister
Information 831-479-4634 or go to »http://www.scbs.org for info on festival or on The Northern California Bluegrass Society (formerly Santa Cruz Bluegrass Society)
*July 28-30th Wolf Mtn. Bluegrass Festival.  Grass Valley »http://www.wolfmt.com

 ETHNIC:
San Francisco Festival of the Mandolins, usually in May.  schedule at THEIR WEB: »http://www.slavonicweb.org
  Hayward Ukelele Festival, April, late,  http://www.pica-org.org/events.html
Slavic and ethnic events  »http://www.slavonicweb.org
OTHER LINKS:  
BOOKS, Old Timey and Bluegrass, Southern cooking Cook Books, Instructional and songbooks: »http://www.nativeground.com, we stock most of their books and recordings, they also have a nice links directory! 
HAWAIIAN & Ukulele Classes & Jams: Kaleponi Strings hollisnakea@sbcglobal.net;Lyn Tilton 510-786-1198 (Hayward); Temple Bar Royal Hawaiian Ukulele Band (Berkeley, they also have jam sessions in the restaurant!) templebar1@mindspring.com;  Hailama Uke Institiute 65 c0-873-1999 hikabe@aol.com ; Tennyson Lum (Hayward) 909-6319; Kaluna (beginners classes only, Hayward) 783-1591; nanikin@hotmail.com
MANDOLIN content, all types! They also an online digest, (questions and answers, etc.) you can get, for free. Go to: »mandolincafe.com. (it's not a restaurant!) 
ITALIAN & CLASSICAL MANDOLIN  by Nicola Swinburne (»www.mandolinserenade.com) 
I took her workshop at the Free Folk Festival and found it very helpful, she teaches in SF and also does the mandolin orchestra in Albany. I recommend her for any mandolin enthusiast!  
SONGWRITING, Northern CA songwriters org! »http://www.ncsasong.org/
transcribing or slowdown software and recorders that slow the music without changing the speed ! »reedkotler.com. or see our recording page.

ibanez vintage guitars http://www.ibanez-vintage-page.de/ 

back to »Home Page