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Read fitch5string's Bio

fitchbanjos.com/

Playing Since: 1975

Experience Level: Purty Good

Interests:
[Jamming] [Socializing] [Helping]

Occupation: Owner-Fitch Banjos -New and Used Banjo Sales, Repair, Upgrades, Set-up, and Restoration. Builder of the Fitch Masters Five, Firestorm, and Palomino Banjos. Authorized Recording King Dealer

Gender: Male

Age: 46

Favorite Bands/Musicians:
Rhonda Vincent & The Rage, JD Crowe and the New South, Claire Lynch, Osborne Brothers, IIIrd Tyme Out, Lonesome River Band, Seldom Scene, Larry Sparks, Mark Phillips and IIIrd Generation, Dailey and Vincent, Kenny and Amanda Smith, Special Concenses, Ralph Stanley, Infamous Stringdusters, Dixie Beeliners, The Lewis Family, The Issacs, Jeff and Sheri Easter, The Primitive Quartet.

Profile Info:
Visible to: Public
Created 8/17/2003
Last Visit 7/2/2009

Latest Blog Entry

Coming Full Circle

Monday, June 22, 2009 @11:27:14 PM

When I was 15 years old, I got my first banjo for Christmas. I picked it out of the Sears & Roebuck Christmas catalog and man, was I proud of it ! I grew up in the country and there were no other banjo players or teachers around so, I had to teach myself. I found a banjo album at my local Gibsons store. It was Curtis McPeake Plays Dueling Banjos. I use to play that record at 16 RPM to be able to hear the rolls better. I wore that album completely out but, I still have it in my collection. Later on, I found another banjo album that was a compilation that also had Curtis playing on it. Never in a million years would I have thought that one day, I would be sitting in Curtis's house picking the banjo with him but, that is exactly what happened this past friday.

My friend Alan Tompkins and I decided to take a trip and ended up driving 1900 miles. Our first stop was the Fiddle & Pick Music school just outside of Nashville where we delivered some new instruments that were donated by The Bluegrass Heritage Foundation. What a great place! We were warmly welcomed by the instructors and children and had a great time. From there, we drove to Mr. McPeakes home where we spent several hours. I got to play "Betsy", his prized original RB-75 flathead as well as his flathead Granada and RB-4. Actually, I played just about every banjo and guitar that he had. Curtis is a wealth of knowledge when it come to banjos and I really learned a lot from him. We talked about his days as a Bluegrass Boy as well as his many years with Danny Davis and the Nashville Brass. It was an incredible experience that I will never forget.

That night, I got to see Allison Krause and Union Station as well and Vince Gill at the Grand Ole Opry. What an unbelievable show! Allison is simply incredible. They even did "Man of Constant Sorrow" which brought the house down. I had been to the Opry several times in the past but, that was the best show I had ever seen.

Saturday morning, we drove to Lousiville to First Quality Music where we were treated like royalty by Jeff and Eric Sullivan as well as Murrell Thiuxton and the rest of the FQM staff. We spent several hours touring thier fantastic facilities and playing a number of great instruments. First Quality is my biggest supplier of parts and materials for Fitch Banjos so, it was nice to finally get to meet these guys face to face. I highly recommend these guys for all of your musical needs.

Later that afternoon, we drove to Alan's Mothers home in Madisonville, Ky. On the way, we stopped and visited the birthplace and childhood home of Bill Monroe in Rosine. We were greated by a nice lady that took us on a tour of the home and, standing in the room, looking down at the chairs that Uncle Pen and Bill's Mother use to play music in really sent a chill down my back. On a door hangs Bill's suit that he used on stage as well as many photos and other momentos of the Father of Bluegrass. There was no doubt, we were standing on hallowed ground. We played our banjos on the porch of that old home that had been meticullously restored and just pondered the history of the old home place.

After spending the night with Alan's Mother Murt, we headed back to Texas. It was one of those trips that I hated to see come to an end. I thought about my time with Curtis and my many hours of listening to that old record as a boy and knew that I had come full circle.

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