The Quebe Sisters to bring Western swing to Bayou Theater for Valentine’s Day
January 26, 2018 | UHCL Staff
When it comes to playing music they love, The Quebe Sisters aren’t fiddlin’ around.
The Dallas-based Quebes—Grace, Sophia and Hulda—are bringing their lifelong love of
Texas style, Western swing fiddle tunes to the Bayou Theater at University of Houston-Clear
Lake for a special Valentine’s Day performance on Wednesday, Feb. 14 at 7:30 p.m.
“We actually call ourselves ‘Americana’ fiddle musicians, because it’s a newer term
that is more all-encompassing of the music we play,” explained Sophia Quebe. “It’s
a loose term for traditional music of all types. We play different styles of music
with different instruments—jazz, folk, country, swing—it’s hard to label ourselves.”
Quebe added that their music is acoustic—that is, they do not use electrified instruments.
“We play acoustically even if the song was once recorded electrically. Western swing
was one of the first genres of music to incorporate electric instruments like the
electric guitar or fiddle, and that’s been a huge influence on us, but we play on
the acoustic side,” she said.
The three Quebe sisters got the bug to learn the fiddle when they were children growing
up in Burleson, Texas. “We attended a fiddle contest, and we’d never heard that music
before,” she said. “We got connected to people who taught fiddle and the rest is history.”
The Quebe sisters began learning, going to contests, and studying together. “Since
we all played the same instrument, it was natural for us to want to play together,”
she said. “Then we thought: ‘what will we do, play around the house or start playing
for money?’”
In the early days, Quebe said, they played more separately, but their focus changed
quickly. “We went from thinking this is just a fun thing for us to do, to deciding
to make this our livelihood. I don’t know why some siblings play instruments but don’t
form a group. We did—I’m not sure the secret, but it’s what we love to do.”
All three sisters sing different parts of harmony, but they all sing leads. “Our set
is always evolving,” she said. “But if you’ve never seen us before, you’re going to
hear some tight harmonies on the vocals and the fiddles, and a mixture of older tunes
and original tunes. We’ve got a bass, an acoustic guitar and three fiddles—it’s a
unique instrumentation setup and our audience will have a unique experience.”
For more information about the Bayou Theater, or to buy tickets online, visit www.uhcl.edu/bayou-theater/
About the Author:
Recent entries by
October 18 2022
Better technology transforms campus safety: Police Chief demonstrates SafeZone to students
October 14 2022
Student's skill with drones takes chicken turtle research to new heights
October 11 2022
Planting event to help UHCL restore native plants to campus, support environmental sustainability