Yow's Friends in Tune - Chapelboro.com

UNC IT nerd-whiz Ken Yow plays a mean bass. You’ve probably heard and seen him behind the specs riffing away at Friday’s on The Front Porch at the Carolina Inn as part of Mick Mixon’s Franklin Street Band.

Mick Mixon (drums) and his Franklin Street Band, including Ken’s current performance pose (second from right).

Once in a while, it’s the heart strings that are plucked when we hear the story of old friends, generous spirit and happy endings.

Yow grew up in Randleman, that small town that most would call a pit stop between Greensboro and Asheboro, now with about 4,000 souls. But Yow and his buddy Jimmy Hayes would call it a great place for a Tom Sawyer childhood.

It’s a place where kids learned to pick and sing. Ken and Jimmy grew up together and by the age of 15, they were stars in that little firmament, with Jimmy on guitar and Ken on bass, playing and singing rock ‘n’ roll.

Ken Yow strikes his pose with Jimmy Hayes at the mic.

Ken loved his old Silvertone electric bass, which was the brand Sears put on the Danelectro. Connoisseurs know the sound and the company is still around.

But, dang it, sweet music doesn’t always make life that way. In a home break-in, some scoundrel stole it. Gone. It was like losing part of Ken’s family. He missed it mightily.

Ken and Jimmy have stayed with their music. Now fifty years later, they still gather with another old music making pal, Ron Woodell, to pick and sing, playing some of their own compositions at the Blue Rock, a High Point eatery.

Then, last Tuesday at lunch with Ron, Ken waxed nostalgic about that stolen bass. He pined for a lost love, still sad that someone swiped it.

After the lunch Ron and Jimmy conspired, searched the Internet and struck vintage gold. They found the identical model 1967 Silvertone online for sale. And voila, it was right down the highway in Winston-Salem!

So, on Wednesday night, when the pals gathered to perform at the Blue Rock, Jimmy and Ron had a surprise. Ken had his Silvertone! He was overwhelmed. But, brushing away the tears, he showed that he can still play that thing and he still loves the brassy 60s sound. Old timers might associate it with bands like The Ventures.

Over a half century, some things change. Some stay the same. Ken’s brunette mop has turned to a thinning gray crew cut. The Silvertone, though, sounds the same, even better. Ken is different, because he plays a lot better. But he still does it with the same knee-buckled pose he was striking as a teen age rocker, easy to see in a picture of then and now.

Beautiful music, great friends, sweet story.

Yow’s Friends in Tune

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