Del Rey

Dirty Linen

This is an excerpt from the print edition of Dirty Linen #129 (April/May 2007).
The full article is in the magazine, available on newsstands, by subscription, and at the Dirty Linen webstore.

Del Rey

Multiple-Personality Blues

by Linda J. Morris

Bohemian: a person with an unconventional lifestyle, often a writer or artist, who does not live according to the conventions of society.
[Encarta]

For Del Rey, the term "bohemian" might well define her upbringing, but it's just a bit too conventional for this resonator guitar virtuoso, ukulele aficionado, and songstress. With a wry wit, informed by a driving intellectual curiosity, she gives everything just a little twist. The tag she prefers is "Hobemian," which is also the title of her Seattle recording label.

Rey's shows, especially those with Austin guitar master Steve James, feature not only expert musicianship, but a theater experience somewhere between vaudeville and Beale Street -- with a touch of George and Gracie. She's likely to dress in vintage attire, gleaned from flea markets and thrift shops. Her eyeglasses are flecked with 50s-style rhinestones, and her silky, blonde ponytail falls gently to her waist. A bluesy Lily Tomlin? An intellectual Ruth Buzzi? Or maybe an urban Minnie Pearl -- Del Rey is one of a kind, intent on staying that way. To listen to Rey is to abandon all hope of ever viewing the world in the same comfortable way.

"I'm basically trailer trash with a library card," said Rey during a break from her teaching schedule at the Swannanoa Gathering, in North Carolina, where she conducted a course on boogie-woogie guitar. Her sessions were spiced with historical facts and quirky commentary. Deftly fingering a Memphis Minnie riff on her steel resonator, she circulated among the students directing each one to do likewise. And when the class seemed to have caught on, she looked skyward, squinting, and declared her approval: "Ooooo! That's goooood!" Small wonder that group had reached its limit of 15, and there was a waiting list.

[cover #129]