Earl’s Hoots : Retirement is a dirty word to the 70-year-old host of Wednesday night sing-alongs.

Those childhood guitar lessons finally paid off. I haven’t become an iconoclastic rocker, and I certainly won’t be replacing Joan Baez. But knowing my way around a capo, a barred F chord and the Merle Travis strum put me in good stead during last month’s visit to Earl’s.

Now, Earl’s is not easy to find. In fact, when amateur musician John Burres, 62, kept talking about going over to jam at Earl’s, I thought it was a honky-tonk.

In fact, it is the rural Simi Valley home of 70-year-old Earl Huff. And every Wednesday night since 1981, he has held a hoot or sing-along for anybody who wants to play an instrument and sing.

Many habitues of his Wednesday hoots belong to Songmakers, a local group that boasts about 250 members.

“I didn’t do a lot of playing till I joined Songmakers in 1980,” Huff said the night I attended a hoot.

Some of the members also meet at Huff’s house on the third Friday of every month. In addition, Huff plays in a quartet called the Melody Makers of Simi Valley, which entertains at senior citizen centers and retirement homes.

“Retirement is a dirty word to me. I do more now than when I was working,” said Huff, who retired early at age 55 after 35 years as a machinist.

“I decided my time was more important than the money,” he said. And to prove it, he bikes, hikes and tends his one-acre lot, which contains a large garden, 60 fruit trees and 38 grapevines. And, of course, he plays a lot of music.

People come from across Ventura County, the San Fernando Valley and even Rosemead to attend Earl’s Hoots. Stepping gingerly over the minefield of instrument cases, visitors tune up in the living room with the aid of an electronic tuner.

On hoot nights, you’ll find between 15 to 25 people ranging in age from 30 to 70 gathering with guitars, mandolins, fiddles, saxophones, ukuleles and a washtub bass. It’s like hanging out with Flat and Scruggs or the Grand Ole Opry.

“We play country-Western, folk, bluegrass, the old standards and some ragtime,” Huff said.

“Sometimes we also play lousy,” said Burres, laughing.

As guests trickled into the large, lived-in family room, the group warmed up with a song everybody knew. Chairs were assembled in a rectangle. Notebooks and tattered Manila folders containing dog-eared song sheaves were spread on music stands and TV trays. Two portraits of Willie Nelson and several framed mottos advocating the importance of hugs adorned a dark paneled wall behind Huff. And a tinsel Christmas banner proclaimed “Seasons Greetings” well into the new year.

Retiree Sid Pringle of Woodland Hills adjusted his washtub bass. “I’ve been playing for nearly 30 years. It’s my third tub. But I don’t do washing or ironing,” he said.

“And he plays in any key,” said saxophonist and guitarist Ken Gates, a retired Ventura resident.

The eight early birds warmed up with “That’s the Glory of Love.” The sole woman was Suzi Shepard, a retired widow in her 60s. “They call me the uke lady,” she said. For the last six years, Shepard has lived full-time in her RV, parking at the homes of friends or in various spots around the county. “I’m a gypsy and I like it.”

Shepard said she enjoys playing jazz from the 1930s and ‘40s. And she attends camp-outs held by Songmakers two or three times a year.

The group harmonized on a bluesy rendition of “Abilene.” Then Shepard led them in “‘Who’s Sorry Now.” Some carried the melody. Others played rhythm. And a mandolin picker added texture. Meanwhile, Huff’s wife arranged refreshments in the adjoining kitchen.

By 9 p.m., 16 players were present. Burres continued to bow his fiddle, oblivious to a large black retriever and orange tabby cat that periodically languished under his crossed ankles.

Harvey Taylor, 64, a retired accountant from Tarzana, picked up his Martin guitar and, sounding a lot like Leon Redbone, sang “I Got the Sugar Blues.”

” I love my coffee/ and I love my tea. / But the doggone gal/turned sour on me . . . .”

“We call him ‘Blind Harvey’ because he’s our blues player,” Huff said. Then Ernie Gordon goosed the pace with “The Crawdad Song.” I expected to see Buddy Ebsen doing some Ozark clogging. As I left, Gordon laid a three-ring binder on his lap and began playing on it like a drum using some snare brushes.

Huff invited me back another time. “We never know who is going to show up,” he said. “We don’t smoke. And we don’t drink. We’re non-political and non-religious. Anybody can come if you behave yourself.”

* WHERE AND WHEN

Earl’s Hoots are from 8 p.m. to midnight Wednesdays. On the third Friday of each month, Earl holds a Songmakers Hoot. For details, call 527-7340.