Here's my 1960s Harmony Banjo!

I have been meaning to set aside time to figure out how to post videos to YouTube and link them here to my blog.  As a test, I've used a very old video of me with my wonderful buddy, Murphy, and my 1960s Harmony banjo.

26-Year Old Steve with Scottish Terrier "Murphy."  Dig the Tommy Jarrell Glasses!

This video is circa 1994; Murphy was about 16 weeks old.  I had recently picked up the banjo (which means I'll need to update the "since playing" field).  My Harmony has nylon strings on it with a real plunky sound.  I wince to see my clawhammer techniqe here (over the head and flying all over the place).  But it sounds better than I thought it would.

Murphy, a brown/brindle Scottish Terrier, was my dog for 12 years.  She was my best buddy through the years.  Murph died of cancer almost exactly one year ago.  It's been odd not having her around.  There is something about the connection between a person and their dog.  I missed her a lot today.  It's cool to see this video of her playing as a puppy.

Murphy came from a litter of puppies bred by Anstamm Kennels in Kalamazoo, MI.  These folks are among the top Scottie breeders in the world.  Everyone who met her said that Murphy was one of the coolest dogs they'd ever met.  She wasn't a young dog when we had our kids, and she was always fantastic around them.  I really miss that dog.

Behind me, you can see a number of things that really date the scene.  One is my unrestored Czech bass.  That was the ugliest bass ever before I had it restored.  What a mess!  You can also see my 286 processor Tandy TX1000 computer, complete with 9" green screen monitor!  I used that computer to do most of my graduate work!  This is also the room where I wrote all 3 of my 72-hour comprehensive examinations!

I also had glasses (had LASIK surgery in 1997).

Wow, the video is uploaded already!  Any YouTube even provides the html you need to post it to the blog (I had to figure that out myself a few weeks ago to post the Curtis Eller, Iggy Pop, and Scott LaFaro videos).

UPDATE:  I've been racking my brains to remember what tune I am playing here; haven't played it in ages.  It hit me today: "Old Mother Flannagan."  I learned it from a Joel Mabus record.