This is me trying to play two ‘A’ tunes strung together: Lady (or is it Ladies) on the Green and Devilish Mary. I learned them both recently at Midwest Banjo Camp from Cathy Barton Para. One of the things that happens after banjo camp is… Read More
How many guitar pickers seriously mess with their instrument? Normally I’d be safe in saying banjo players do a lot more of that kind of thing than guitar pickers. On a banjo you can adjust or change the head, adjust or change the tailpiece, try… Read More
Just because it’s so much fun: Dan Gellert… Whitetop Mountain Band…
When I started playing clawhammer banjo, I fell hard for it and very quickly it dominated the music I played to the point where my old accordions lay quiet. I really never gave it a second thought – until recently. I’ve been missing the button… Read More
Here’s some homegrown music from Kristine Schmitt with the Lonesome Ace Stringband… Happy Friday.
I’ve begun my first tentative steps learning to play fiddle. I’m reminding myself that my first days on button accordion were a struggle, figuring out to to manage air and cope with learning two sets of fingering, one for pushing and the other for pulling.… Read More
Sixty plus years ago, when my brother Joe (who I often refer to on this blog as my brother the trout, Salvelinus fontinalis) was a young boy and years before I was born, our grandpa – that’s our dad’s dad – gave my brother a… Read More
I rolled into the drive at home last night at about 8:30 after a 6 hour drive back from the Midwest Banjo Camp in Olivet Michigan. Banjo camp is so much fun and such a great learning experience. It’s also a chance to meet loads… Read More
Thursday morning, I’m off to Olivet Michigan to attend the Midwest Banjo Camp. Olivet is just short of a 6 hour drive from Toronto (maybe a bit longer for slow-pokes like me who stop and stretch at just about every rest area). The camp is… Read More
I first heard Black Mountain Rag as played by Doc Watson, so I think of it as a flat-picking guitar showpiece kind of tune. Doc really moves on this one. Before that it was known primarily as a fiddle tune. Here’s Patti Kusturok’s take… Read More
