Attn Tiny Desk Concert Booking-Person

November 10, 2023 2:59 PM

Rushad Eggleston aka "The Cello Goblin" aaka Rushadicus has for no good reason escaped attention on the blue...but just until today! Ear to the Ground: Rushad Eggleston —part mad-scientist, part musical genius. This mini-documentary explores the creative inspirations of a mind-boggling, genre-bending talent.

Moar: the large motions of jark lit the wick of sick and thundered vibrations upon the green hills of infinity whereupon the gregarious thumpers and pluckers did gather to variously dance the intoxicating swirl of the fat forces to pacify without violence the reptilian thirst and finally to just jam pretty hard lol moooo mooo mengulosnarpus
https://rushad.bandcamp.com/music

posted by Fupped Duck (18 comments total)

This is a 9m documentary, so it isn't really asking much.

This is also Fupped Duck's fifth post since they joined, and their first in 19.5years.

So maybe check it out!
posted by hippybear at 3:12 PM on November 10, 2023 [7 favorites]

Thank you! I’m a casual fan of Crooked Still, and my son (raised on Shaken by a Low Sound) just this week showed me Rushad’s work—I will be watching and sharing this with him! (Timing; we were just discussing him over dinner!)
posted by MonkeyToes at 3:51 PM on November 10, 2023 [2 favorites]

Fupped Duck, that was great! Please also enjoy his work from a few years back: Crooked Still Sings Ain't No Grave at Joe's Pub. He’s a fierce talent.
posted by MonkeyToes at 4:10 PM on November 10, 2023 [2 favorites]

I love the mad scientist/musical genius genre, thanks!

I also have never posted on the blue but I do have another artist to recommend who fits that description so maybe I should :)
posted by SaltySalticid at 4:18 PM on November 10, 2023 [3 favorites]

This guy is wonderful. and sweet and a music elemental. But...i mean...actually it just does what it says on the tin. a talented fellow achieving athletic prowess at a difficult instrument in a way that's delightful and he owns. plays jokey fiddle on a notoriously finicky and beautiful instrument. sounds like Shell Silverstein working a page. Presents himself correctly. Let me amend my prior statement. This guy is wonderful.
posted by es_de_bah at 5:00 PM on November 10, 2023 [4 favorites]

He plays the cello like it's a guitar - he must have fingertips made of steel!

He's quite impressive and the similarity to Shel Silverstein is also pretty apt.

Thanks for posting, Fupped Duck.
posted by ashbury at 5:49 PM on November 10, 2023 [2 favorites]

Back in probably 2011 or 2012 I went and saw him in Tornado Rider at a seedy dive bar in Fremont, CA. What an insane show! At one point a Speedo clad Eggleston ran from one end of the bar to the other from table top to table top while playing cello and singing at the top of his lungs.
posted by flyingfox at 6:52 PM on November 10, 2023 [5 favorites]

daaamn I wish I'd remembered Rushad when I asked my "music for goblins" AskMe
posted by scruss at 7:09 PM on November 10, 2023 [1 favorite]

I will say, the way he appears to be strapping his cello is pretty clever. I think the bottom strap goes down, around the peg, then up behind the tailpiece and finally is anchored in a peg in a C bout?

I was worried about undue pressure being placed on the instrument but he seems to have found a way that works, can be put onto any cello with no damage, and by all evidence is quite robust.

Maybe the cello player in The Polyphonic Spree should be alerted to this. They've always been quite stationary on stage, but maybe the liberation would be, um... liberating.
posted by hippybear at 7:17 PM on November 10, 2023

Man… all I can think of is that it’s Tom Bombadil come alive…

Thank you for this Fupped Duck
posted by boredgargoyle at 10:01 PM on November 10, 2023 [1 favorite]

Man… all I can think of is that it’s Tom Bombadil come alive…

Funny you should say that…

…also from those Billy Strings (LotR themed) Halloween concerts is Ramble On (but no Gollum)
posted by brachiopod at 4:51 AM on November 11, 2023 [3 favorites]

I'll pop in again to say that playing a cello like a guitar is something a lot of bassists have the physical and often theory acumen to pull off. What we're looking at here is a type of spiritual acumen. I'm an atheist and this fucker making me superstitious.
posted by es_de_bah at 6:29 AM on November 11, 2023 [2 favorites]

→ I will say, the way he appears to be strapping his cello is pretty clever

The cellist for the stage show Once (at least in productions I've seen) have a clever setup that allows them to dance quite freely while playing. It's kind of a standoff pad to keep the body clear of their legs, and a snug over-the-shoulder strap
posted by scruss at 10:18 AM on November 11, 2023

This was delightful, thank you!
posted by mersen at 5:31 PM on November 11, 2023

I didn't know what to expect, and I loved it. This guy knows he'll only live once, and I envy his commitment to doing it his way.
posted by Acari at 11:54 AM on November 12, 2023 [2 favorites]

Crooked Still remains my favorite newgrass band ever. How crazy is it that there was a band in which the phenomenal Dr. Greg Liszt was arguably the second most absurdly talented whackadoo string player?
posted by gurple at 6:22 PM on November 18, 2023 [1 favorite]

Oh yeah, this post has been added to the Best Of blog and sidebar!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 3:59 AM on November 19, 2023 [1 favorite]

Hey, don't forget that this Bandcamp Friday, all of Rushad's music is there, and it's pay-what you can: Music | Rushad Eggleston.

I'm particularly enjoying snethyxmasparty, the most different Christmas album ever. It's so gloriously off-centre: all the cheesy seasonal tunes, except with gibberish lyrics and cello/kazoo backing.
posted by scruss at 2:29 PM on December 1, 2023 [1 favorite]