Talking to Uncle Si of Duck Dynasty is as much fun as you’d imagine it to be. The unlikely television star turned country music singer mixes one-liners with thought-provoking statements of faith. He’s like Billy Graham and Larry the Cable Guy forever joined at the lip.
Just about every other word is “Okay,” but we omitted most of those for this feature. Uncle Si Robertson was flanked by his Sicotics (singer and producer Bridgett Tatum and daughter-in-law Marsha Robertson) as he talked about his recently released Uncle Si & the Sicotics EP, country classics and technology. A recent visit to Nashville demanded he acquire his very first cell phone so he could talk to his wife. It’s a flip phone and to get it to work … well, Si explains it better.
“So look, I hit ‘phone list,’ brings it up OK. My wife’s cell phone number, hit it OK. Dialing! OK calling!” he animates while going through the motions with the phone in hand.
“I said, ‘Wait a minute stupid. What do you mean calling, I ain’t even talked to her yet?’ Thirty minutes later I’m still pushing the buttons on this stupid thing.”
Here are six highlight quotes extracted from a tidy 15-minute long interview. The Uncle Si & the Sicotics EP is available at iTunes and the group’s website.
“This is a God thing … He gave us the TV show. Because I look in the mirror and I look at all of my brothers and nephews. It would take divine intervention to make what you’re looking at TV stars.”
Si says the new album was not an extension of the successful Duck Dynasty Christmas album. It was just another way for him to express himself. The 69-year-old says he’s a lover of all kinds of music, and with the Duck Dynasty journey over, he was simply looking for something new. How progressive!
“We wanna keep the moon!”
After a career in the Army, Si became a TV star. What’s next? Movie star. Athlete? President? Astronaut? Marsha Robertson uttered the above quote when we suggested Si in the sky.
“No Felicia, that don’t work. Homey don’t play that Felicia.”
One of the songs on the EP is called “Throwback Man,” and it’s pretty self-explanatory. Si doesn’t live a complicated life. That means (until recently) no cell phone, no cable television or Hulu, no music downloads. What about Amazon’s Alexa? Is she creeping around the Louisiana man’s pad? See the above response, an amalgam of pop culture reference.
“I don’t think anybody can beat or touch George Jones.”
Si has all sorts of musical influences, but his No. 1 is the Possum. He was on hand for a celebration of his music after Jones died and was flabbergasted by not only how many hit songs the Hall of Famer had, but how many he wrote. That said, one will have to bend a fair bit to hear that influence on this project.
“I would rather go positive. The world right now is so dark … the people are so overwhelmed so to speak that maybe with us we can give a little relief.”
We know the lucky Si Robertson, but the man has lived a country life. He served in Vietnam, battled alcoholism and mental illness and struggled with a suicidal son. There’s enough there to fill a country record, but when asked why he didn’t go there on this project, he said that he wanted to provide joy and laughter with his music.
“I don’t watch Duck Dynasty. I never watched it.”
People used to stop Si on the street and tell him that he cracked them up over the weekend. The reality television star would stare back confused until he was reminded that another episode had aired. “I don’t watch that junk!” was a common response.
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This Article Was Originally Posted at www.TasteofCountry.com
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