I had a birthday coming up, and during one of my livestreams some of my folks started whispering around in the comments.
“Hey… let’s get Ric something for his birthday.”
Now see, I thought they was joking at first. But behind my back, my VIPs and fans got together and started cookin’ up something special. And I’ll tell you what — there ain’t nothing sweeter than watching good people come together for somebody they care about.
Cap’n Dennis Ruley.
Miss Biscuit Head outta Arkansas.
Dr. Moto.
Man… they were WORKIN’.
Donations started rolling in. Twenty here. Fifty there. Hundred-dollar drops coming outta nowhere. Before long they had stacked up three or four hundred dollars, and in my mind I already knew what was coming.
“Aww yeah,” I thought.
“They getting me a guitar.”
So on my birthday they told me, “Ric, head over to Guitar Center over in Huntsville. There’s something waiting on you.”
Now you know I grabbed the video camera. I’m thinking this is gonna be one of them legendary moments. Big dramatic reveal. Maybe some beautiful blues box with steel strings and a new attitude.
I walk in there feeling like a king.
The guy behind the counter reaches down and hands me this little tiny case.
And I mean tiny.
I looked at that thing and said, “Damn… that’s a small ass guitar.”
Turns out… it wasn’t a guitar at all.
It was a ukulele.
But not just any ukulele.
A beautiful baritone ukulele. Fancy too. That little joker cost a pile of money.
Now I didn’t know whether to laugh, get excited, or feel like I’d been set up in the greatest prank in blues history. I’d never owned a ukulele before in my life.
Didn’t know how to tune it.
Didn’t know how to play it.
Hell, I barely knew how to spell it.
But I started fooling around with it.
And somewhere along the way, me and that little instrument became friends.
Thing is… I didn’t play it like most folks do.
I played the blues on it.
So to me, it ain’t really a ukulele anymore.
It’s my “blues-ulele.” My Jukulele
Back during the COVID days I even recorded a song on it called Corona Blues. Matter of fact, that’s still the only recording I’ve ever done with it so far.
But I love that little thing.
And this picture here?
Just a quiet moment one day before playing it. Nothing fancy. Just me and that funny little instrument that showed up by surprise and somehow found its way into my soul.
Funny how life works.
You ask for a guitar…
and the blues hands you something stranger.
But sometimes stranger sings better sometimes.