Poplar Bluff teenager starts bluegrass buzz after picking up banjo

Young banjo player to play at Southeast Missourian's centennial celebration.

One busy Saturday at his music store, Bill Shivelbine got a pleasant surprise.

Shivelbine heard the sounds of a seasoned banjo player, "the real deal," in his own words, coming from the store's acoustic room.

"As I walked up and looked into the acoustic room there was this kid, playing this banjo, playing difficult stuff and playing it very, very [well]," said Shivelbine.

The kid was 13-year-old Alex Riffle, a student at Poplar Bluff, Mo., who has only been playing banjo for 18 months. Already Riffle is somewhat of a bluegrass star in the area.

"Prodigy is a very good word," Shivelbine said of Riffle's talent.

In his 18 months as a banjo player Riffle has already played stages at Branson's Silver Dollar City and The Station Inn in Nashville, both venues famous for their bluegrass offerings, and released a CD called "Pickin' Toward Perfection." Then there's a slew of local gigs the youngster has played in the Poplar Bluff and Lake Wappapello area.

On Saturday he'll be providing traditional bluegrass performances for the Southeast Missourian centennial celebration.

"I'm excited about all the bands," said Southeast Missourian publisher Jon Rust. "They're all crowd-pleasers. But I bet some of the kids in town -- as well as the adults -- are going to find Alex Riffle totally enthralling. This kid's performance is full of electricity."

The teenager is humble despite local celebrity status.

"I don't know, I just caught right on to it," Riffle said.

Bluegrass isn't a style of music typically associated with today's teens. Riffle learned to love the style from his dad, who used to play bluegrass music on car rides with his son.

But Riffle finds it hard to connect with his teenage friends about his music.

"I try to stay away from that subject," he said.

Riffle isn't shy about his playing, breaking out lightning-fast bluegrass runs with his combo.

His mother Suzanne acts as his manager, booking performances and taking him to them while also juggling everything else in the teenager's busy schedule. Alex is a straight A student who also plays on a traveling soccer team based in Cape Girardeau.

"We have some weekends where you have to decide, do you do soccer or do you do bluegrass?" said Suzanne.

But ever since his parents heard Alex play "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" last spring, learning it totally from ear, they knew he had a special musical talent.

"Some people say he has perfect pitch," said Suzanne.

Even though Alex plays with the talent of a seasoned pro, he currently has no plans to make bluegrass music a full-time career. The road life and the scarce pay are big turnoffs for him, Alex said.

Instead he plans to use his good grades to go to college at Vanderbilt University in Nashville when he graduates high school, with his career choice still undefined.

He's only 13, though, so he has some time.

What is certain is that Alex will never stop playing bluegrass music.

"I'll probably do it a lot on the side and on the weekends," Alex said.

msanders@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 182