Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, October 1, 1993 TAG: 9310010015
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By LYNN A. COYLE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Wells, a Bedford County fiddle player, will be on stage tonight at the Salem Civic Center, playing fiddle and singing harmony for Brian James, opening act for the Lorrie Morgan concert.
James had heard about Wells for years. "I was just tickled to get him on," he said. "He's great. He's probably a better guy than he is a player. He's a great player. . ."
Wells, 38, says always had a gut feeling about his success, but he never took his dream to Nashville. Only in retrospect does he realize how lucky he is to have gotten a phone call from James, a Warner Brothers recording artist, inviting him to audition in April.
The Nashville audition went from 8 a.m. till late afternoon. More than 50 musicians auditioned; six were chosen. After being called on stage three times, Wells packed up his fiddle certain he was through for the day. But a fourth call came: "Robbie Wells, we need you again."
Wells, who plays by ear although he reads music, had auditioned with a different group of musicians each time. They had to play as close to the record as possible, but without James singing. The last group didn't realize they were the band until they heard, "All right, Brian, go on up and sing with them," and the video cameras started rolling.
The road band, of which Wells is a member, is different from the musicians used on recordings. But they must be able to duplicate the sounds on the record, said Don Fowler, who books the act. Quite a feat, because there may be dozens of musicians in the studio.
The musicians "auditioned not only playing but singing harmony, and Robbie was the best," said Fowler. It's not just talent that counts in an audition though. James and Fowler both said the way musicians look and get along together is factored in as well.
Wells' first road trip with the band was 22 days. It was hard being away from his wife, Marsha, and their 5-year-old twin boys, Jesse and Corey, he said, "especially since the last five years of my life have revolved around those kids."
Since joining the band he's played in Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama, North Carolina, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Virginia and James' hometown of Pineville, W.Va.
Wells began playing music as a child in Eastern Kentucky - guitar at age 10, the fiddle at 16, by which time he had moved to Virginia.
He's a natural fiddle player, but a frustrated guitar player, he says. But there are fewer fiddle players, so fiddling has given him more opportunities to play.
Wells has played with several bands around Southwest Virginia and beyond - The Leonards, Inheritance and Stairwell, to name three. And he's got a slew of awards to show for his years of competition.
Two years in a row he played with The Leonards when they took first place in the bluegrass band category at the Old Fiddlers Convention in Galax. In bluegrass fiddle contests he's placed third at Galax, second in the Virginia Folklife state competition and first at the Vinton Bluegrass Festival.
Last fall he released a cassette, "Fiddlin' Robbie Wells," under his own label, Holcomb Rock Music. He produced the tape for which he played guitar and fiddle, sang and wrote most of the music. "When you go to Nashville . . . it's good to have something like this, even though you can't get anybody to listen to it," Wells said.
He and Marsha are collaborating on a new song, "Hard Time Leavin,' " born out of their reluctant but necessary decision to move to Nashville. They haven't found a home in Nashville yet and are being careful to choose the right school for their sons. Meanwhile, Wells shuffles back and forth between Nashville and his home in Holcomb Rock, an eight-hour drive away.
In Nashville, Wells landed a chance to play at Gilley's for Johnny Lee ("Lookin' for Love in All the Wrong Places" and "Cherokee Fiddle"). "But if I hadn't been in Nashville, nobody would have called Lynchburg and said, `Hey, Johnny Lee needs a fiddle player,' " he said.
Wells has taught fiddle players of all ages, including students at this summer's Central Virginia Suzuki Institute, a youth program held at Sweet Briar College.
As for the future, Fowler said, another album "has been cut and is in the can, which means that it's on hold," waiting for a release date from the record company.
"We have a saying here in Nashville," Fowler added: "Everybody that walks these streets is three minutes away from being a superstar . . . three minutes - one record."
James said for previous recordings he used the same fiddle player heard on Garth Brooks' records. But for future projects, "I would use [Wells] on vocals, definitely," James said. "And fiddle, too . . . maybe on some real country stuff."
Will they collaborate on songwriting? "Definitely. That's a big yes," James said.
Before the audition, one of Wells' students - a 75-year-old man - told him, "Robbie, it doesn't matter if you make it or not. There will always be a stage for you to play on."
Wells agrees: "As long as I'm playing for people, that's what's important. It doesn't matter if it's Nashville or Hooterville."
Lorrie Morgan, Tracy Lawrence and Brian James in concert tonight at 8 in the Salem Civic Center. 375-3004.
by CNB