PANAMA CITY — When Shoji Tabuchi began learning to play violin at age 7, he didn’t consider that he would someday be known internationally as a virtuoso with a fiddle.
“They’re actually the same instrument,” he said during a phone conversation last week. “In the country, it’s just called a fiddle. It’s my main instrument.”
Tabuchi will perform with his Famous Branson Band, his step-daughter Christina Tabuchi and guest artist Billy Rader of Panama City at a concert at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Marina Civic Center at 8 Harrison Ave. Tickets are $32-$44 and are on sale at MarinaCivicCenter.com. The act includes comedy, patriotic music and more.
Born April 16, 1944, in Daishoji, Ishikawa, Japan, Tabuchi trained in the Suzuki Method, but he had an ear for something different. When he was a college sophomore, Tabuchi heard that Roy Acuff of the Grand Ole Opry would perform in Osaka, and he managed to attend the concert and meet Acuff backstage.
“He played ‘Listen to the Mockingbird,’ and it just knocked me out. I fell in love with bluegrass and country music,” Tabuchi said. “Acuff told me, ‘If you’re ever in Nashville, look me up.’ So I brought $500 with me and came to San Francisco.”
While in college, Tabuchi put together a band, The Bluegrass Ramblers, which won a national contest. Once in the United States, he worked his way across the country, playing music at night and working odd jobs by day. He finally made it to Nashville, where Acuff got him a gig on the Opry’s radio show. It was the first of many times Tabuchi played the Grand Ole Opry.
“I got hooked up with Nashville artist David Houston and toured with him five years,” Tabuchi said. “I put a band together for (former NFL great) Terry Bradshaw, but he decided not to continue with that direction. Then I started touring as a solo act.”
Tabuchi came to Branson, Mo., about 1980 and built his own theater, which is now known for its elaborate stage shows as well as its million-dollar restrooms. He plays two shows a day in the 2,000-seat venue, only touring in January, February, July and August of each year.
“You meet so many different people and realize it’s such a small world,” he said. “People talk about the American Dream. Well, I am living, truly, the American Dream come true.”
About 45 years ago, Tabuchi was playing a club in Wichita, Kan., when he met Wayne Rader, founder of the Ocean Opry in Panama City Beach.
“Boy, he tore ’em up as a fiddle player,” Rader said last week. “We started booking him way back in 1979 to play at the Ocean Opry.”
One of Tabuchi’s cherished memories is having his parents along on one of his visits to the Ocean Opry, which closed in 2005.
Tabuchi said he’s looking forward to his return because it’s always fun to catch up with the Rader family and to play music alongside Wayne’s son, Billy, a city commissioner.
“They’re such a talented family, and Billy is one of the finest musicians around,” Tabuchi said. “I admire his talent.”
Want To Go?
Who: Shoji Tabuchi and his Famous Branson Band, Christina Tabuchi and Billy Rader
When: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday
Where: Marina Civic Center, 8 Harrison Ave., Panama City
Tickets: $32-$44, available at MarinaCivicCenter.com