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Red Steagall's Cowboy Gathering takes place each
year in the historic Fort Worth Stockyards. While
visiting The Gathering in 2002 Don Edwards suggested
that I keep a watch out for three young sisters
playing fiddle around the Stockyards over the weekend.
In his words "they are the greatest I've seen at
their age". As I walked round the stockyards with
my wife, we spotted the Quebe Sisters making their way
to set up for an impromptu performance at the side of
the Tarantula railroad station and play for the
crowds. Accompanied by their music teachers Joey &
Sherry McKenzie on guitar, the Quebe Sisters thrilled
the crowds who soon gathered to listen to the
breathtaking old-time Texas breakdowns and western
swing sweetly played by these three talented young
musicians. As they played triple fiddles or each took
their own solo number the crowd's appreciation
couldn't have been finer and one elderly man stepped
up and slipped a $ note into the shirt pocket of the
youngest, joy written all across his face.
Grace, 17 years of age, Sophia 15
years and 12-year-old Hulda live in the quiet town of
Burleson, Texas and while other teenage girls idolize
the latest pop-star climbing the charts, these three
girls are busy practising a style of music that was at
the height of popularity before their mother was a
gleam in their grandparent's eye. The Quebe Sisters
love the music of the 1940's, of Bob Wills and Spade
Cooley…of The Mills Brothers and jazz greats such as
Stephane Grappelli and Django Reinhardt. Their
dedication to playing the fiddle sees Grace, Sophia
and Hulda practicing, practicing and practicing even
more. Brought up and home schooled by their mother
Debra, the family first met Sherry and Joey McKenzie
at a fiddle contest in Denton around five years ago.
At that time the girls lived in Krum around 55 miles
from Burleson and travelled the distance every few
weeks to take their lessons. Recognising the natural
talents of the girls the McKenzies would load them up
with material to learn, which the girls had nailed
down by the time they returned for their next lesson.
About 2˝ years ago the family relocated to
Burleson, allowing the girls to take lessons far more
frequently, with the improvements in their playing
coming faster and spending more time with the
McKenzies, arranging tunes and bouncing ideas back and
forth. In June 2002 The Quebe Sisters each entered the
national Oldtime Fiddler's Contest in Idaho. Being the
first time the girls had entered the contest, Hulda
won the junior-junior division (ages 9 - 13), while
Grace and Sophia took first and second prize
respectively in the junior division (ages 14 - 18).
According to the Fort Worth Star-Telegraph, contest
director Layna Hafer said, "Typically fiddlers
compete for several years before coming close to
winning anything". With Joey McKenzie himself
being a champion fiddle player and the talent,
dedication and commitment the girls show to their
music, this is the start of many accolades yet to
come.
Around March 2003 Ricky Skaggs heard the girls
playing backstage at Bass Performance Hall and invited
them onstage to play Bob Wills' "San
Antonio Rose", promising to help them get
onto the Grand Ole Opry. Summer 2003 saw The Quebe
Sisters release their first CD. Sherry McKenzie sent
me a copy, saying; "producing, arranging, and
writing the 3-part harmonies for all of the tunes on
this CD has been a labour of love for Joey, and he
always works so very hard on all the tune arrangements
for the girls and teaching them to play the tunes at a
high level. He spent hours working things out and
re-working fiddle and all the guitar parts etc.... and
we were all happy with how things turned out and
hopefully fiddle fans will enjoy it too!"
The Quebe Sisters, Texas
Fiddlers album is an exemplary debut album
full of zest and passion. Be it the three part fiddle
playing as on "San Antonio
Rose" or the the girls taking an individual
 solo
track such as "Grey Eagle",
"Don't Let The Deal Go
Down", "Bonnie
Kate's Reel" (Hulda), "Black
& White Rag", "Sally
Johnson", (Sophia), "Crafton
Blues", "Walk
Along John" (Grace), you won't go wrong
here. Other tracks to look for include the gospel
number "Just A Closer Walk",
traditional "Red Wing"
and "Red River Valley".
Hank Williams' "Mansion
On The Hill" is a sheer joy to listen
to with the Quebe's triple fiddles and Gary Carpenter's
pedal steel solo and fill-ins, I've not heard the
number done more sweetly. Joey McKenzie plays rhythm
and lead guitars, tenor guitar, tenor banjo and mandolin,
alongside the steel guitar wizardry of Tom "The
Wolfe" Morrell, the pedal steel expertise of
Garry Carpenter with Mark Abbott on upright bass and
Nathan Coates keeping it all together on drums.
The fiddle work flows effortlessly, with a taste
of old fashioned down home back porch warmth. You
don't often have the chance to hear a trio of
top-notch fiddle playing, such as this. The Quebe
Sisters are continuously drawing interest playing
country shows and corporate events. With talent such
as theirs it won't be long before the big time comes
hammering at their door. To purchase The Quebe
Sisters, Texas Fiddlers.
email texasfiddlers@yahoo.com
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