A country music singer and song writer is combining his passion for seafood and song by rocking out on his lobster guitar.
When Fraser Newcombe of Murphy Cove, N.S., decided he wanted a guitar shaped like a lobster, his friends and family were surprised.
“Everybody thought I was a little bit nuts,” said Newcombe.
Hoping to promote Nova Scotia lobster while touring, Fraser finally found a guitar maker in Moncton up to the challenge.
“He said, 'What do you want?' I said, 'Well, a lobster guitar. Make it shaped like a lobster as close as you can come,'” said Fraser.
A few months and $3,000 later, the lobster guitar was born. He immediately started playing it at his shows.
“At first it was embarrassing because the audience would just erupt with laughter,” said Joanne Newcombe, Fraser’s wife. “He'll play one of his silly songs and they'll be laughing through the whole thing. Then afterwards he'll play his songs and you could hear a pin drop.”
But the show doesn't end when Fraser steps off the stage.
“He can't put the guitar away,” said Joanne. “They all come up to him. They want pictures with him, with them and the guitar.”
Fraser doesn't always play his lobster guitar. Most of the time he plays this '52 Gibson, he bought when he was just a young boy. He's played it with Johnny Cash's brother Tommy, Hank Snow, as well as Conway Twitty's son, Michael.
“It’s been to more parties than Captain Morgan,” said Newcombe.
The Gibson guitar is a big draw with the stars, but the lobster guitar has become a staple of his shows. He's taken it on the road around the country and the United States, including Nashville, Tennessee, where he played at the grand ole opry.
“They had never seen anything like that before in their lives,” said Newcombe. “Half of them had never seen a lobster, let alone a lobster guitar.”
The guitar isn't easy to travel with. Its case is about the size of two lobster traps.
“When I go into places with that, they'll see me coming.”
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Matt Woodman.
