When I was thirteen, I formed a band… We had a homemade violin, bass viol, guitar, banjo--played on a chair for drums. We saved all the money we made, except for fifteen cents a piece for carfare, so we could buy good instruments later. We decided to go 'round crowds and hustle. We saved the money and I decided to give picnics with beer, salads--fifteen cents to come in and dance. We played the same numbers we are playing now, like "Pallet on the Floor", besides some waltzes. We used to go down to New Orleans weekends to hear the different bands that played in the parks. They play a tune once, that's all I want to hear so we could play it too. Take two and make one out of it if we couldn't get all of it. [Buddy] Bolden was one I heard and Edward Clem who had four or five pieces. He played something like Bolden--just passed through sometimes on an excursion. I used to go down to the railway station and sometimes I'd see him on the train passing through. << less