While searching for a small guitar to nourish my son's hunger to make music, I ended up buying us both a guitar. While he's had a plastic guitar from Sprout for a couple years already, it's a toy and nothing more. It's impossible to even tune, much less keep in tune.
So, I checked out the Fender Squiers at Cascio and some acoustics, too, but they were all a bit too big for his wee paws. And on the advice of a friend, I set aside the Squier idea. That led me to check out what Wade's Guitar Shop on Oakland Avenue had in stock.
There, I discovered the Little Martin and suddenly, I thought not only could I finally own a Martin, so could my son. Although it's still a little big for him, I traded in an old acoustic and snapped this baby up for under $300. It's mine for now, but he already knows that as he grows up it will become his.
Despite being fashioned from high pressure laminates (which means no trees died to make this guitar), the LXME has a warm, bright sound -- which I think will get even better when I put on some lighter strings, that will also make fingering easier for my boy -- and its small scale makes it easy to carry, easy to play and perfect for the backyard and for trips.
It's also got Mini Q electronics so when he decides it'd be cool to see what it sounds like through a Memory Man of a Big Muff, he can find out. Then, he can graduate to the Rickenbacker 320 I'm woodshedding for him.
His fingers need to get bigger but he also needs to outgrow the desire to bang on it with drumsticks and drag it along the floor. So in the meantime, I think he prefers the toy. That's fine, I'll break this one in for him!
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
