Today was a very productive day. I interviewed Dana Moseley, Semie Moseley’s daughter, at her house in Duncan, Oklahoma.
Dana is the daughter of Semie and his first wife, Virgie, and her memories and insights go back to the early days of Mosrite guitars in the 1950s. Dana also worked for her dad at a few different times in her life, and has kept the Mosrite legacy alive with her knowledge of winding pickups and how Mosrite guitars are set up to play and sound their best.
I was excited that Dana had a number of photos, news clippings, and even her birth announcement from 1957, illustrated by her dad—a bunch of things I had never seen before. It’s interesting that each of the people I have visited and spoken to had different photos and paper items, and each of these are like a missing puzzle piece. It feels like slowly, but surely, I am assembling the complete story of Semie Moseley’s life, and the most comprehensive story of the wonderful Mosrite instruments that he made.
One aspect of Mosrite guitar history that I find fascinating is that these instruments were born in the wild and frenzied atmosphere of the Pentecostal Church, and built by displaced Okies in California. Dana’s mom, Virgie, also came from that world; she was a teenage Pentecostal preaching sensation. When she met and married Semie, they traveled together, preaching and singing in the Pentecostal churches as a husband-and-wife duo before they split up in 1959.
Dana showed me a fabulous photo of her mom, one hand holding a Bible, the other hand holding a guitar, with the serious-as-a-heart-attack look of a Dust Bowl refugee looking for souls to save in this strange new place called California. I just love this photo. If a photo is worth a thousand words, this one speaks volumes about the Okie migration and the birth of that wild strain of country, gospel, and rock ’n’ roll music that took root in California after the Dust Bowl and World War II.
Thanks again, Dana and Jamie, for letting me in your home today! It was great to see you again, and I really appreciate you helping me with an interview and photos for the book!
See more photos at Deke’s original post.
