They say the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, but as far as one musician is concerned, his love of food is actually the key to his songwriting abilities.
Indeed, such is the strength of talented vegan cello player Rushad Eggleston’s love of tofu, that he wrote an entire song all about his devotion to bean curd.
Aptly-titled I Love Tofu, the song involves the 37-year-old, from Cachagua, California, both singing and playing the rather bizarre melody, crooning happily, while taking the odd break to munch on the plate of tofu in front of him, by spiking the cubes up with a fork that is attached to the end of his bow.
Singing sensation: Rushad Eggleston, 37, performs a very bizarre tofu song in order to express his love for the vegan treat
Eat up! Rushad sings and plays the cello, while also eating cubes of the bean curd with a fork attached to his bow in a hilarious video about his favorite food
Crooning kazoo: The musician is like something from a children’s TV show, playing the kazoo and singing simple songs about foods
The two minute long video, which has over 51,000 hits on YouTube, starts right away with Rushad standing proudly donning a pink and white argyle sweater, rainbow polka dot pants, pointy elf slippers, and a Robin Hood hat.
In his arms sits his constant music companion, his cello.
In his eclectic garb he plays a peppy beat and breaks out into song singing, ‘I love tofu, I love tofu, if you do then I know you love tofu too!’
Suddenly he plays a prolonged bassnote, a sinister change from the upbeat rhythm, and runs his bow slowly across the strings for a prolonged note. At the end of his bow lies a shiny silver fork, headed ever so slowly towards a plate of tofu on a nearby stool. As he makes his way towards the plate, he chants ‘tofu’ in a deep voice.
He picks up a piece of tofu from the place and pops it into his mouth with a cadence in the music and a shriek of: ‘Yay!’
After a brief munch, it’s back to the bubbly chorus, happy beat and, of course, more tofu-focused lyrics.
At the end of the second verse he croons, ‘I love eating it while playing the cello!’
Then it’s back to another tofu chant and bite.
Rushad couldn’t help but giggle at his playful piece. For a break he takes to a squeaky kazoo attached to the pegs of the cello to play the song’s theme in an instrumental rendition.
When the bridge comes around the song takes a dark turn.
‘People who don’t love it say, tofu,’ he sings.
‘They say God dang it Susan, what is this? That tofu again?’ he adds.
To get the point across he sings the line five more times ending with ‘no! not that tofu again’ and a menacing laugh.
Wild child: Rushad is an innovative jazz musician who defines himself as ‘wild cello goblin’
Cello hippy: Never seen without his cello, the artist performs his unique songs across the globe
Unique fiddler: Rusad’s innovative sound was Grammy nominated in 2002
But in no time he’s right back to the happy chorus and his elf-like humor, tapping his twirled pointed slippers to the beat.
For the finale he grabs two pieces of tofu this time and lifts his bow dramatically into the air, ending with a final ‘yeah!’
He looks triumphantly into the sky only to realize a piece of his fork broke in the ending, but he seems just fine with it, appreciating of his tofu plate that awaits him instead.
Rushad has plenty of other child-like songs on his YouTube and music channels with a unique pep and quirk, and viewers can’t help but feel intrigued. Some of his songs are even in a language of their own entirely. But his bizarre sound, sells, and he tours the world performing his heart warming and creative pieces.
As odd as the musician may seem, in the fiddling world he’s a well known name. His 2002 album, Fiddlers 4, was nominated for a Grammy for its filled with indie blue-grass tunes.
The artist’s name, Rushad, by definition means joyful soul.
In an interview with Ears to the Ground, he said his name gave his life’s calling.
‘That makes my mission on earth to spread joy through music, language, and fun.’
The musicians genre is not easily categorized, but he defines it as sneth, and his character as a ‘wild cello goblin.’
While his tofu song may not lead to another Grammy, it is a hilarious and bubbly piece, consistent with Rushad’s goal of creating infectiously happy music.