Harping on

"And tears are heard within the harp I touch." - Petrarch

Sometimes, just sometimes, even I am gob-smacked by a new discovery on the interwebs.

Imagine my joy to learn today was the birthday of someone dubbed the "Liberace of the Harp". And so I went searching...

Lloyd Lindroth (for it was he) - as well as sewing on his own sequins, evidently - specialised in twinkling harp versions of traditional Country songs. 'Cos heaven knows, no-one else was doing it!

Here he is performing two Tennessee State Songs in his own inimitable way:

Lloyd Lindroth - songs from The New Cascade Show

It's certainly different.

Facts about Mr Lindroth:

• He owned four harps, wore a $7,000 harp-shaped ring, had a huge rock in his back yard that resembled a harp and owned a lamp with a harp-shaped base.
• He invented an electronic amplification system called "The Voice of The Harp", so he could be heard above a 100 piece orchestra.
• Actually originating in Seattle, when he came to Nashville he was told to "look glitzy" for his appearances there. [He evidently took this advice to heart, and amassed more than forty outlandish rhinestoned-and-beaded-and-tasseled costumes.]
• He performed five times in the White House for President Eisenhower.
• His harp-playing was featured on the soundtrack of the television mini-series "Roots".
• As well as various television appearances and one-off concerts, he had a long residency six nights a week at the Opryland Hotel in Nashville, appearing on a spectacular set complete with dancing fountains and laser beams.

Fancy.

Lloyd Lindroth (6th June 1931 - 9th June 1994)