81-Year-Old Shredder Bob Wood Tells the Story Behind His Viral Video

Last week, we shared a video of 81-year-old guitarist Bob Wood shredding up a storm on an Epiphone Riviera at British Audio Service in Nashville.

Wood’s performance, shot about a year ago at the Nashville music store, has been enjoying its second viral life as of late, with pretty much every online news and entertainment outlet sharing the video.

Nashville NewsChannel 5 decided to sit down with their local celebrity and get the story behind the video from Wood himself. In their report, shown below, Wood explains how he happened to land himself in what has become an international news story.

“I had taken a couple amplifiers in to be repaired,” Wood says, “and when they told me they were ready, I took the guitar to check ’em out.”

Shane Radtke of British Audio Service says, “I was in the back at my bench and I heard somebody playing something pretty original. And I was like, Wow, that’s really cool. So I said, ‘Guys, let’s shoot a video of this.’ ”

Thanks to the video, Wood is enjoying some much deserved fame. Prior to the video, little was known about the guitarist, who was a regular performer at Jamboree USA in Wheeling, West Virginia, in 1970, where he performed for 10 years. In 1975 and 1976, Wood was awarded Entertainer of the Year by Eastern States Country Music Inc., and in 2007 was inducted into the Southern Legends Country Music Hall of Fame. He has cut several albums, including Bob Wood Plays It Cool.