80-Year-Old Guitarist Wows Nashville Shop with Epic Shredding
Watching older musicians gradually lose their ability to perform is one of the most heartbreaking sights. However, Bob Wood, an 80-year-old guitarist from Tennessee, was still performing exceptionally well, to the point that a video of him shredding in a music shop went viral on YouTube, garnering over 10.3 million views to date!
The father of nine visited the British Audio Service music store in Nashville, TN, to collect some amplifiers he was having repaired. According to him, “When they told me they were ready, I took the guitar to check ‘em out.”
The performance was outstanding. Wearing his pink and blue checkered shirt and playing a classic-style, sunburst Epiphone Riviera, Bob demonstrated extraordinary agility for his age; his fingers moved lightning-fast across the frets as he delivered a clean, Latin-inspired riff while fingerpicking! His sound was impressive, drawing inspiration from the subtle blend of blues and tango, both shockingly original and captivating.
It was store employee Shane Radtke who cleverly captured the moment, giving Bob his viral fame. Shane told Nashville News Channel 5, “I was in the back at my bench and I heard somebody playing something pretty original. And I was like, Wow, that’s really cool. So I said, ‘Guys, let’s shoot a video of this.’”
Bob’s rendition was “Bésame Mucho,” a song as timeless as he, written in 1932 by Mexican songwriter Consuelo Velázquez and considered the most covered Spanish tune of all time. Bob’s effortless guitar shop performance ranks among the best versions we’ve ever heard here at The Music Man!
Bob’s incredible dexterity showcased a lifetime of dedicated practice. He first picked up a guitar at six years old and played his first gig at twelve on a live radio show. Despite never breaking into the mainstream, Wood’s music career was filled with epic stories and high-profile collaborations. One friend from that era, James Brown, would often call Bob, as Bob explained: “I couldn’t understand a word he said. He’d start rattling off so fast and, man, he’d lose me.”
He even performed a few sets with electric guitar pioneer Les Paul, who passed away in 2009, humorously recalling, “For me to follow Les Paul was like following a bulldozer with a spoon.”
Bob owned his own music store for a brief period between 1981-86, releasing three studio albums during that time. He worked as a session musician and a musical equipment salesman, while also playing at festivals on the side. Bob Wood passed away peacefully at the age of 88 a few days before Halloween 2022, surrounded by family and survived by his nine children.
