27th Street

My brother the trout, Salvelinas Fontinalis, plays clawhammer banjo. That is, he says he plays it. I don’t know if any witnesses have made it out alive.  He has been trying to convince me that this clawhammer banjo thing is something I ought to get involved with. Occasionally, I take his advice. For instance, it was his enthusiasm toward mushroom picking and identification and his generosity with his knowledge that got me involved in chasing wild mushrooms, something I love to do. Well, in an effort to show me that clawhammer is where it’s at, Salvelinas pointed me to a pair of videos, the Gospel if you will, according to one Richard Peek.

I must admit that Mr. Peek is very convincing. However, I have trouble enough squeezing out a few tunes on diatonic button accordion. Why would I get involved with a banjo? Never mind the jokes. Jokes you say? Yes, jokes. For instance….what do banjos and oboes have in common?…..they both make excellent kindling for an accordion fire………….what’s the difference between a banjo and a chainsaw?…..chainsaws have dynamic range……………how many banjo pickers does it take to change a lightbulb?…..5……1 to change the lightbulb and 4 to argue about how Earl would have done it.

But I digress. Salvelinas is devious. He knows full well I would explore more Richard Peek videos and he knows full well I would have discovered his gas can and oil can banjos.

I admit I watched all 11 of his videos on how to make one of them. The problem is that I’m not that handy. Mr. Peek has an aw shucks kind of approach that makes it seem easy, but then he has also built a working car out of junk. I have trouble enough changing a faucet. I did once make a cigar box guitar, but it was technically challenged in many ways. Still, if I come across a really good old can in my travels, I just might pick it up….just in case I also come across a nice old banjo neck…..