Boots Eubanks, 71, practices his fiddle at his fruit stand next to his Derby Avenue home.

Produce seller likes crooning old tunes
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By Eric Pera               
The Ledger

AUBURNDALE - Boots Eubanks pushed the "play" button on his portable cassette player and let his mind wander back about 60 years.
"This is the first song I ever sang on stage," said Eubanks, grinning with pride as the music erupted from two tiny speakers, filling the interior of his produce stand with Dixieland jazz.
The tune was "Old Shanty Town." He first sang it as a 10-year-old schoolboy in Alabama.
And he's still singing it, every chance he gets, but particularly on Thursday nights at Carl Allen's Historical Cafe, an Auburndale eatery famous for its Southern home-cooking and live entertainment.
At 71, Eubanks is one of the oldest musicians to pick a guitar and croon to patrons of the restaurant, joining in on jam sessions with other musicians - all literally playing for their supper and nothing else.
He borrowed the moniker "Blue Yodeler" from his idol and Country Music Hall of Famer, Jimmie Rodgers. But folks know him better as "Boots."
"He amazes me to tell you the truth, that he can still (sing) as well as he does at his age," said Carl Chambers, Eubanks' nephew and producer of "The Boots Sessions," a collection of songs near and dear to Eubanks' heart.

Chambers, a professional musician /songwriter, helped his uncle put the album of songs together primarily to provide their family with a permanent record of Eubanks' style. But the final product "turned out so well," both men decided to search for a financial backer in hopes of putting an album in the hands of consumers.
So far, no one has come forward with any money. But Eubanks is optimistic. He doesn't expect to get rich. However, it would be a nice way to cap a 61-year career, he said.
Carl Allen, a local historian and owner of Allen's Historical Cafe, was working as a soda jerk at an Auburndale drug store when he first heard Eubanks sing in 1936.
"He's a typical, old-fashioned country singer; sings just like it used to be," said Allen, who considers Eubanks a "real good entertainer."
Eubanks was 17 years old when he came to Auburndale in search of work. He brought with him his sister, Lillian, a 4year-old niece named Hazel and two friends. Together they were known as "The Dizzy Ramblers," a country music band featuring Eubanks as lead vocalist.
By day the men worked by picking citrus for $35 to $40 a week. But come Saturday night, they performed on street corners in downtown Auburndale.
Eubanks' brother, Irvin, who had left Alabama a year before the others, was also a musician and often joined the "Ramblers" on stage.
Boots Eubanks opened up a produce stand 20 years ago next to his house at the corner of Derby Avenue and Lemon Street. Over the years he has labored as a truck driver for a local citrus packer and as a carpenter.
He said he had the opportunity on three occasions to hit the road and sing professionally, but chose to stay behind to support a wife and two children on a more stable salary.
Nowadays, he is known to sometimes pick up his guitar, sing and wave to folks driving by Eubanks' Produce Stand. He doesn't mind dipping hot, boiled peanuts from a pot, or chatting with customers over baskets of ripe, red tomatoes.
But "The Blue Yodeler" said he's at his best on stage, keeping the old songs alive.