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Paul Ruppa

Paul Ruppa is a musician and mandolin historian with degrees in Scandinavian Studies and Music History. Since he bought a Vega cylinder-back mandocello in 1973 (for $175), his interest in America’s mandolin history has grown and “kind of became an obsession.” He has been a member of the century-old Milwaukee Mandolin Orchestra since 1981, and has directed the MMO on Garrison Keillor”s “A Prairie Home Companion. “Currently, when not looking for more information about the origin of America’s appreciation of the mandolin, he is realizing a dream by leading an ambitious recording project. His goal is to produce a musical tribute to what he calls “the American Mandolin Orchestra Era.” For the project, Ruppa has formed an ensemble of first-rate, local musicians to play vintage mandolin arrangements on antique Vega instruments. The repertoire selected for the project is all linked to Wisconsin’s unique mandolin orchestra heritage. Ruppa says “It sounds crazy, but it might just work.”

▪ bio current as of 2017

Spanish Students Stop Traffic in Paris

2017
AL#131 p.44               
Paul Ruppa                                                                                           

▪ Without the mandolin orchestra fad of the early 20th-century, we might not see Gibson mandolins today except in museums. The story of the pop-music sensation that triggered that fad is even more curious and unlikely than we have previouosly known. Get the straight poop here. Includes extensive historical references and illustrations.

Finding Waldo: The First Family of American F-Hole Mandolins, Mandolas, and Mandocellos

2014
AL#117 p.24               
Paul Ruppa                                                                                           

▪ Paul Ruppa traces the largely unknown history of the American F-hole Mandolin, Mandola, and Mandocello to their roots in the Waldo brand; originating with the Barrows Music Company in Saginaw, Michigan.

American Mandobass History 101

2012
AL#112 p.54               
Paul Ruppa                                                                                           

▪ A basic history of the modern fretted 4-string bass, tuned like the last 4 strings of the guitar, which was developed in the early 1900s for use in American mandolin orchestras.