By T.L. Huffman
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Bill Whitten, the Singing Barber of Gilman City
There has never been a page in Bill Whitten’s life where music has not written the better part. From when he was a tike listing to the radio, through his Army days, his marriage, his barber shop in Gilman City, his church, to his jam sessions, music has been in the background, setting the tempo and keeping the beat.
Bill was born on a farm between Gilman City and Jamesport. The family later moved into town. During his junior high days, his folks moved to Trenton.
“When I was a boy I listened to quartets on the radio stations out of Iowa. Live shows and radio was our entertainment. There was no television.”
Bill went to Kansas City to work. He joined the Army in 1963 during the Vietnam era. He was stationed in Germany for two-and-a-half years.
“I learned to play guitar in the Army. I shared a room with a Texan named John Huezdos who could sing and play and he taught me. We are still in contact.”
Bill Whitten writes his own songs and has made three CDs. They are titled Music from Missouri. The first came out in 2003 with Young Country Band from Laredo providing the band; then Volume Two in 2004; and Volume Three in 2007.All the musicians are local. His wife Barbara does harmony. He still has copies for sale for $5. “I’ve exhausted the local market, but I occasionally still sell one,” Bill said. “My goal was to get some big artist to record my songs. But the music industry is controlled by just a handful of people and it’s a stroke of luck to make contact with somebody that might do it. It costs about $4,000 to make a CD. That’s a lot of haircuts.” The boxes hold old vintage albums. They are also for sale.
He got out of the Army in 1966 and went back to Kansas City to be near family. The drummer in a band he was playing with introduced Bill to his sister-in-law. And that’s how he met his wife Barbara.
Bill went to barber college in Kansas City and was an apprentice for two years in Raytown. He heard that Gilman City needed a barber. His roots were in the town and he had a grandmother Belle Tourney living there. Belle was in her 80s and was tickled to have Bill and Barbara rent the house across the street with their two children. They would have four children eventually, one boy and three girls. They all live in Missouri, the closest in Hamilton.
Bill and Barbara began by singing at the First Baptist Church. Soon they were asked to sing at funerals.
“I couldn’t hardly do it,” said Bill. “I tried one and nearly froze up. It was pretty intimidating. It was different than a church crowd.”
That would change, and he and Barbara would sing at a hundreds funerals during their career … and still do them.
“I realized it was not about us. I began to see it as a kind of ministry. Music helps with the process of grieving and healing at the same time.”
Bill has had five different locations for his barber shop inside Gilman. He has barbered part-time and worked out at other jobs. At one point, he sold to another barber, who soon closed it up.
Bill stopped at a wholesale outlet in Kansas City that had a scratch and dent room. This guitar had a tiny chip and gouge. He bought it and covered the defects with black magic marker. He told Barbara it had cost five. She told him she could do a lot of things with $500. She wouldn’t believe he’d bought it for only $5 until he showed her the receipt. “It’s good enough for who it’s for,” Bill said. The guitar is in the back room of the barber shop. “If I had my wish, I’d have a larger building for the jam session.”
“I couldn’t stand the idea of not having a barber shop in town,” said Bill. “I owned this building so I put the shop in here.”
He only cuts hair by appointment now. Bill really does sing while he cuts your hair. He’ll sing his favorite songs or yours. He’s been singing to his clients now for 48 years.
Bill and Barbara eventually retired and live in Gilman. He holds music jams in his barber shop.
On jam nights the back room fills up with all the chairs it can hold. The women set up a card table and play board games in the front room.
“Once in a while a wife or girlfriend will want to join, but usually it’s just us guys. Mostly we play gospel, bluegrass and country.”
Bill developed a lung problem and the doctor worried about him getting pneumonia. He and Barbara have been going south during the winter for the last six years. They have been to Florida twice and Texas four times. They go to the Rio Grande Valley, which claims to have about 150,000 snowbirds. The temperature is sub-tropical, averaging around 70 degrees.
“We prefer Texas because of the music. They have music jams like I have, except there’s more people.”
All the RV parks have a house band with as many as 250 people attending at one time. He and Barbara were singing once at a jam and were asked to do the Bruce and Elaine Country Shindig Show.
Gilman, like most small towns around, is struggling. Its only restaurant recently closed. It has about eight things running these days: a lumber yard, a bank, a medical clinic, a service station, a grain elevator, a school, and the barber shop. It has lots of old buildings still standing, including a blacksmith shop and this old Sinclair service station.
“You could go three times a day to a jam if you had the time,” said Bill. “The only bad side is it’s crowded. You sing two songs and you’re done. Then you’re asked to play along with all the others. It’s worse than working at a job, so we slacked off. But we’ve met a lot of people and made a lot of friends.”
This summer, their children helped them celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary, which is in December, with a trip to Branson. Unbeknownst to the couple, the kids had arranged for them to open for the Baldknobbers. They sang “My Woman, My Woman, My Wife.” The children put a YouTube video on the Internet.
“We got calls from everywhere,” said Bill.
“I’m thankful for my family, especially my wife, and all my musician friends who have helped me through the years,” said Bill.
You can still get a haircut at Bill’s Barber Shop in Gilman City. Call and make an appointment. He will sing to you at your request.
“Ever since I was a little guy listening to the radio, music has been a part of my life,” said Bill. “There are a lot better singers around. But I don’t know if anybody has anymore fun.”