Down in Bob’s shop, he had an old stereo setup with a massive sub-woofer and speakers that both cops and neighbors would both complain about. He had it set up so he could plug a phone into it and listen to music over the noise of the lathe. Turns out, Bob had a fairly eclectic taste in music. Joe Bonamaso and Stevie Ray Vaugh were a constant, Robert Cray, Delbert McClintok, Bob Marley, Earth Wind and Fire, old 60’s folk, CCR, and just about anything that had a catchy rhythm or memorable lyric would cycle through at some point. His taste an mine were different, but they were the same in that we both appreciated any artist who was undeniable good at their craft and some songs were “needed” on certain projects.

One weekend while turning in my shop, I was listening to YouTube and fell down a rabbit hole. While I was there, a song came on that I hadn’t planned, but by the time it finished I had turned off the lathe was standing there with tears in my eyes. Something about the voice, the emotion, the unconventional phrasing of the lyrics, that tone, and the way her voice broke just enough at the end to make you think she had to struggle through it… It got me. I stopped turning, pulled up my phone, and started researching.

The song was a cover of “Somewhere over the rainbow” by a woman named Eva Cassidy. she was born in 1963, like me, but unlike me she could play guitar and could sing! MAN she could sing! She played gigs from a very early age and was playing at Blues Alley in DC by the early 90’s. She was “noticed” by Mic Fleetwood and was good enough to be offered record deals, but she turned them down because she thought that would put limits on her. Locally, people knew of her, but she was no where near famous. Then, in the spring of 1996 she was diagnosed with Melanoma. Despite treatment, things had progressed too far by then and she died by the end of the year. Sad, but that’s when fate stepped in. A couple years later a small record label put out an album (Songbird) of her old stuff, but didn’t expect much in terms of sales. Somehow a copy of that album made it to a DJ on a BBC radio station. The DJ played this track from the album on the show without screening it first and the listeners kept calling in to request it, so they kept playing it. That led to one of the BBC’s top TV shows getting a hold of very old black and white footage of Eva singing the song live in Blues Alley and showed it. By 2000, the Songbird LP had hit #1 in England. In 2001, ABC’s Nightline ran a segment on Eva which was brought her “back” to America. While she died in relative obscurity, she finally got noticed. Since then, the album sales and YouTube views have sky rocketed.

One of the reviews I read during the research was someone who said “Judy Garland sang to movie viewers, but Eva sang to angles”.

Tuesday night came (2023?) and I was at Bob’s, down in the shop, turning while listening to music. After listening to “Alice’s Restaurant” (because who doesn’t want to hear about mother rapers, father rapers, and litterers) I told him I’ve had a song stuck in my head for the last week. Like an idiot, I told him about Eva, to highlights of her story, and her rendition of “Over the rainbow”. I told him I teared up when I listened to it. He gave me that smile, went to his iPod, and without warning, Eva’s version of “Over the Rainbow” came across the speakers.

He knew!

That was Bob. He didn’t live in DC, but he was on to Eva before I’d ever heard her sing.

I will concede this is a weird thing to talk about, especially on a site that primarily only talks about whatever projects I attempt within woodturning. Still, it made me stop and think, only to realize two things. First, whatever connection Bob and I grew during my tenure with him went well beyond just woodturning. It strayed into mutual thoughts, common beliefs, and even individual likes. Second, was a deep knowing that there was a part of Bob, and perhaps a part of me, that knew things that weren’t common knowledge to everyone. Things we thought were only in our individual minds and hearts, but ended up being common, hidden, guilty pleasures. I miss that connection.

If you’ve never heard of Eva Cassidy or seen the way she plays her guiter like a second voice, check this one out: