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BrittDLD1 - Posted - 10/06/2010: 04:52:09
Attention Players, Collectors, Historians, Re-Enactors, & Anyone Interested in 19th and Early-20th C. 5-string Banjos, The Roots of the Banjo, Banjo Ephemera, Vintage and Reproduction Banjos, etc.! The Tripartite Commission
(Peter Szego, Jim Bollman & Hank Schwartz)
of
The International Banjo Collectors Gathering
Has asked me to post the following announcement about
The 2010 Banjo Collectors Gathering
to be held in
NASHVILLE, TN
November 4th to 7thDear Banjo Enthusiasts,Here is some detailed information about the Thirteenth Banjo Collectors Gathering. This will be our first event held in The Music City, Nashville, Tn.
The Gathering is open to anyone with an interest in 19th and early 20th century openback 5-string banjos, minstrel era banjos, African roots of the banjo, and early banjo history. The Gathering will start at 8 PM on Thursday, November 4, and will wrap on Sunday morning , November 7.
We are planning a number of special events including a VIP tour of Gruhn Guitars, a screening with Bela Fleck of his film , " Throw Down Your Heart" and presentations by noted scholars including Ulf Jagfors, Eli Kaufman, Bob Winans, Bob Carlin, Paul Sedgewick, Cece Conway, Tony Thomas, Tom Mylet and Jim Bollman.
There are lots of banjos and related ephemera for sale at our evening swap meets and interesting banjos on display which this year will include highlights of the Jim White collection of W.A. Cole banjos.
We'll be holding the Gathering events, and have reserved a limited number guest rooms, at the historic Wyndham Union Station Hotel, a beautifully restored luxury hotel within easy walking distance of most of the music venues in downtown Nashville.
Please note:Attendees are responsible for making their own hotel reservations.
Call Rhonda Hill directly, at: 615-620-5669 or email her at rhill@wyndham.com Mention that you're making room reservations for the Banjo Collectors Gathering to get the special rate of $169 per day. Rooms are available with either a single or two king-sized beds for the same rate. These discounted rooms are available on a first come/first served basis so we recommend that you make reservations early.
The Registration Fee for the Gathering is $200. We recommend that you sign up early to avoid disappointment as we can only accommodate a limited number of participants.
Registration payments should be made to:
Peter Szego
2 Beekman Lane
Hillsborough, NJ 08844Nashville will provide a spectacular backdrop for this year's Gathering.
We look forward to seeing you in November. If you have questions
about the event please email Jim Bollman at:
jim@fineoldbanjos.com Peter Szego, Jim Bollman and Hank Schwartz ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Hi-
Although I haven't made it to every Gathering... I have been involved with it, since its inaugural session, over a decade ago. I gave a presentation last year, but unfortunately won't be able to attend this year. But I urge anyone who has been bitten by the Banjo History bug, or the Collecting bug, to attend. You won't find this kind of information -- or the knowledge and dedication of its attendees and presenters -- anywhere else. Many of the major vintage dealers attend, as do many renowned makers, and repair people. (And yes... people even play some MUSIC at it, too!)
Attendees can display portions of their collections and ephemera, and buy, trade and sell, as well. In the past, I've recovered the cost of attending -- by selling items to other collectors and dealers. And I've also bought a couple of hard-to-find pieces, which have become favorites of mine. International attendees are also welcome, we've had a number of them over the years.
You folks in the Nashville area, please tell ALL of your banjo friends about it. Anyone who enjoyed the historical workshops and presentations, at The Tennessee Banjo Institutes, would probably enjoy The Gathering, too. (Some of the same people will be presenting!)
Register NOW! Get a room reservation! And don't miss it.
Best-
Ed Britt
(And I wish I was going!)
Edited by - BrittDLD1 on 10/06/2010 05:53:43
Greg Adams - Posted - 10/06/2010: 06:10:37
I'm with you Ed.
This will be the first BCG I've missed since I started going in 2001. I will, however, be missing for what I believe is a good cause. I am one of 7 banjo focused researchers who will be giving papers at the Society for Ethnomusicology conference in Los Angeles the following week. Follow this link indiana.edu/~semhome/2010/pdf/...ogram.pdf to the preliminary program and either search the document using the word "banjo" or go to the bottom of page 8-9 and the bottom of page 10.
We have a lot of great things happening with our collective interest in the banjo, its history, and how it is being used in a variety of contexts. It's an excellent time to be involved in banjo-focused work.
I hope to see you one day soon Ed! Your presentation last year was amazing!
Best regards,
Greg
trapdoor2 - Posted - 10/06/2010: 06:59:56
Woo Hoo! I finally get a chance to go to one of these!
So...is there an agenda? I'll have to go either Friday or Saturday (maybe Friday evening and then all day Sat). It is only a 2hr drive for me, so no need to get a hotel room.
===Marc
BrittDLD1 - Posted - 10/06/2010: 07:39:31
Hi Greg --
Good luck with your presentation! Looks like some interesting topics on the banjo. (Hurrah!)
I need to ask you a bunch of questions... but I'll wait until after your Calif. trip. By the way,
I see Rich Jones-Bamman is in the same section as you. Say "hi" for me. (Need to get together
with him again, sometime, too.)
Glad you enjoyed mine, last year. I still need to get that presentation in a website/PDF format,
and get it out there... (I only have my outline, with scribbled margin notes to go on. In order to
write the full text, I'll probably have record myself, giving it to someone -- to get down all of the
details and minutiae stored in my quickly-graying matter.)
Edit:
DUH... Geez Greg, I forgot that YOU were sitting next to me, running the Powerpoint for my
visuals... 
Thanks so-o-o much, for helping with that. I would have been a total wreck, if I
had to run Powerpoint AND tried to talk at the same time...
Marc --
I was thinking that this one would be within striking distance for you. you WILL enjoy it. The
premlinary program should be out soon. The final program (if there IS such a thing...) comes
out, by email, about a week before.
I think John Balch and Dan Knowles would enjoy it, too. (Hope they heard that!)
Best-
Ed Britt
Edited by - BrittDLD1 on 10/06/2010 11:09:53
jbalch - Posted - 10/06/2010: 09:47:40
Ed: I heard that.....and am checking my calendar.
JB
trapdoor2 - Posted - 10/07/2010: 15:11:17
I sent a note off to Jim Bollman this morning and got a very quick reply in the form of a tentative agenda. Looks like I'm going to have to beg a vacation day for Friday as a lot of the cool presentations will be given during the day. Saturday's agenda hasn't been filled as yet but I will certainly be there then too.
So, Ed, it looks like there are some jams planned as well. What kind of music do these guys usually play? Classic? (well, Eli's gonna be there) Stroke? OT? (Carlin too).
deuceswilde - Posted - 10/07/2010: 18:44:15
Marc, Ed, all, not for certain as I have another event that weekend, but, if I can work out the logistics, I'll be there as well.
Still working it out, but I have my fingers crossed.
BrittDLD1 - Posted - 10/08/2010: 03:34:23
quote:
Originally posted by trapdoor2
I sent a note off to Jim Bollman this morning and got a very quick reply in the form of a tentative agenda. Looks like I'm going to have to beg a vacation day for Friday as a lot of the cool presentations will be given during the day. Saturday's agenda hasn't been filled as yet but I will certainly be there then too.
Hi Marc-
Oh, yeah. And as someone who has also 'commuted' to a few of them... That late-nite drive
back home, at midnight, can be a problem... (So leave early enough that you're not drowsy
while driving.) Not to mention getting back the next morning, in time to sit-down for some
great breakfast conversation. (Where's that teleporter when we need it!?)
quote:
So, Ed, it looks like there are some jams planned as well. What kind of music do these guys usually play? Classic? (well, Eli's gonna be there) Stroke? OT? (Carlin too).
EVERYTHING! You want a few akonting lessons? No problem. Classic duets? Sure.
Minstrel? -- enough for a complete troupe! Winans, Wunderlich, maybe Clarke Buehling...
(Greg Adams plays just about EVERY style...) Hank Sapoznik can show you some Klezmer
-- or Charlie Poole.George Gibson will probably be there, if you want Kentucky clawhammer.
Kevin Enoch will probably be there. Doug Unger usually makes it. (Mike Seeger will be greatly
missed.)If Gail Gillespie is there, she can show you some Old Time fingerpicking. (Hopefully,
John Balch and Dan Knowles can make it, too -- with a few Uncle Dave tunes.)
And... being that it's in Nashville, there's bound to be some slightly-anachronistic mid-20th C.
Bluegrass, in a few of the remote corners. (Not something that's typical for The Gathering...)
Don't forget, the show-and-tell part. Each attendee is supposed to get some table-space, to
display parts of their collection and ephemera -- and/or some items for sale and trade. (The
display area is securely locked at night.) The serious sellers/traders often have a printed list
hand-out, of what they have to offer.
Bring a notepad and/or recorder for the presentations. And a camera for snapshots of the
rare banjos -- and of all those world-famous banjo historians. (But you'll need elbowpads,
just to get through those throngs of pesky paparazzi.)
Best-
Ed Britt
Edited by - BrittDLD1 on 10/08/2010 04:01:30
Old Cremona - Posted - 10/08/2010: 06:08:21
Joel Hooks brought this to my attention. I'm cleaning the entire house on my day off today, laying the groundwork for the convincing of the wife that will have to take place before I can go. Chances are good, I think.
Should be an exciting event. I really enjoyed meeting Peter Szego at one of our minstrel banjo gatherings a few years ago.
trapdoor2 - Posted - 10/08/2010: 07:41:40
Yah, Ed...teleporter needed...stat! I'm considering finding a much cheaper hotel in the area (there are lots of 'em). Although I've done the "Nashville Shuffle" a lot in the past 30 yrs (or so), I'm getting too old to do that midnight drive anymore.
Then again, the "discount" rate doesn't look all that bad, esp if one is apt to jam all night. Unfortunately, I'm pretty much toast after 10pm...yawn!
Well! If Joel and Carl are going to be there...at least I'll know somebody! 
You guys got a couple tunes you want to jam on? Three piece orchestra? We can put together a Stewart ensemble!
BrittDLD1 - Posted - 10/08/2010: 08:03:21
quote:
Originally posted by trapdoor2
Yah, Ed...teleporter needed...stat! I'm considering finding a much cheaper hotel
in the area (there are lots of 'em). Although I've done the "Nashville Shuffle" a lot in
the past 30 yrs (or so), I'm getting too old to do that midnight drive anymore.
Then again, the "discount" rate doesn't look all that bad, esp if one is apt to jam all night.
Unfortunately, I'm pretty much toast after 10pm...yawn! ...
Marc --
The rooms are usually "doubles". I've almost always found a roommate to share the
expense, in the past. And often at a cheaper hotel, a few blocks away. That really
took the bite of it.
(Yes, I know... It's hard to believe I could find someone willing to put-up with me...)
A 1/2-hr to 45-minute drive is one thing... But 2 hrs is probably pushing it too far.
Carl--
Hope it works! (I know the feeling...) I think you'll enjoy a lot of it. It's not quite the
same as complete immersion in a Minstrel weekend... But you'll find out a lot about the
periods before and afterwards.
It's the Cotton-Eye Joe historical perspective: "Where'd it come from? Where'd it go?"
You begin to see the common threads that connect all of the various banjo 'food groups',
and periods. (And also the various upheavals, that put them at odds...)
Best-
Ed Britt
Edited by - BrittDLD1 on 10/08/2010 08:17:49
banjo bill-e - Posted - 10/08/2010: 09:48:39
There is a Holiday Inn Express directly across the street from Union Station, if anyone is looking to save a few bucks.
DanKnowles - Posted - 10/10/2010: 16:03:00
Ed,
Thanks for the much to kind invite. Like John I'll be checking my calender too!
Dan Knowles
BrittDLD1 - Posted - 10/10/2010: 17:43:56
Dan --
I think you'll find it to be a mutually enjoyable experience -- for you AND the
others at the Gathering. You'll see and hear THEIR stuff. They'll get to see and
hear YOURS.
Inspiration is created in such an environment.
Hope you can make it.
Best-
Ed Britt
BrittDLD1 - Posted - 10/12/2010: 04:33:13
Hi --
A reminder from Jim, Peter, and Hank:
Make hotel reservations by TOMORROW -- OCT 13th -- to get discount!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Banjo lovers far and wide,
We are writing to let you know that there are still a number of rooms available
in the block that we had saved for our Gathering at Nashville's Union Station Hotel.
They will let these rooms go if not reserved by Wednesday, Oct. 13, so Please be
sure to contact the hotel at 615-620-5676 if you intend to stay there.
Hopefully seeing you soon,
Jim, Peter & Hank=
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Best-
Ed Britt
trapdoor2 - Posted - 10/12/2010: 15:08:35
Reservation made. I just decided I needed to be onsite for this one...
deuceswilde - Posted - 10/12/2010: 17:09:21
I got our room monday.
Glad you will be living the high life with us Marc.
Old Cremona - Posted - 10/13/2010: 16:14:06
Well, everything fell into place and so I'll be attending this years Banjo Collectors Gathering. What a groovy hotel! A little fancy for this Kansas boy.
"Sir, would you be interested in valet parking?"
"No thank you, Ma'am, I prefer to stable my horses myself..."
Oh, and I called Clarke Buehling and he will be there. Gonna be some pickin' goin' on!...
Edited by - Old Cremona on 10/13/2010 16:17:10
trapdoor2 - Posted - 11/01/2010: 08:56:41
Bump. Any updates?
I'm sooooo looking forward to this shindig!
===Marc
Greg Adams - Posted - 11/01/2010: 11:23:56
Tell everyone I said hello!
trapdoor2 - Posted - 11/01/2010: 12:03:17
Wilco, Greg. You'll be missed!!
Old Cremona - Posted - 11/01/2010: 19:08:17
As we wait for any updates, I'll add this one--We're gonna have a whale of a time!!!!!!!
Greg Adams - Posted - 11/01/2010: 19:16:04
Carl, is that your o-fish-al response?
Old Cremona - Posted - 11/01/2010: 19:33:32
Oh, behave!
Greg Adams - Posted - 11/02/2010: 02:53:43
I just wanted to say it for the halibut.
CS Memphis - Posted - 11/02/2010: 06:51:55
Just around the corner!
Tomorrow evening, Clarke Buehling will arrive at our house in Memphis to spend a couple of days. My wife and I are presenting him in concert at a local coffee shop on Wednesday evening, where our band the Side Street Steppers will warm the crowd and make way for the master. After a nice breakfast on Thursday with Clarke and my wife, I will come into the office and do a few hours of work. In the early afternoon we will get on the road to Somerville, Tennessee to pick up banjo builder Tommy George, and the three of us (Clarke, Tommy and I) will drive to Nashville for this wonderful event. (My wife will stay at home. Banjoist though she is, she recognizes that this one is really for those of us who barely have any life outside of banjos.) This will be a first for Tommy and I, and I am so very much looking forward to this trip.
Does anyone have a copy or rough draft of the entire program/agenda?
trapdoor2 - Posted - 11/02/2010: 07:16:41
I meant to email Jim last night and ask for an update. I'll send him one right now...
edit: here's what I just got from Jim Bollman.
Thurs. 8:00-8:30 pm - welcome, intros , announcements
8:30-9:30 pm- Ulf Jagfors- Mali & Morocco - Early Banjo Prototypes
9:30- ? - jam, swap meet
Friday 9:30-10:30 am - Tony Thomas - Gus Cannon and Black Banjo Styles
10:45-11:45 am - Bob Carlin / Tom Mylet - Schmick Banjos " New Joisey's Finest "
lunch
1:30-2:30 pm - Eli Kaufman- Early banjo periodicals
2:45-3:45 pm - Jim Bollman- The banjos of W.A.Cole ( Jim White Cole banjo display- probably up for most of the day and possibly Saturday as well )
4:00-4:30 pm - Bob Winans -book update
dinner ( on your own )
7:30-9:30 pm - Bela Fleck -movie " Throw Down Your Heart "
followed by Q & A
9:30- ? jam, swap meet
Sat 9:30- 10:30 am - Cece Conway- Black Banjo Videos
10:45 - 11:45 am - Paul Sedgwick - The Banjo Lesson
lunch
1:15-2:15 pm - dealer panel - Gruhn, Werbin, Oster, Smakula,
2:15- 5:00 pm - free time ( museums, etc. )
5:00 -8:00 pm open house at Gruhn Guitars
8:00- Dinner ( on your own )
10:00- ? - jam, swap meet
Sunday no events scheduled
Edited by - trapdoor2 on 11/02/2010 08:39:12
BrittDLD1 - Posted - 11/02/2010: 11:37:13
quote:
Originally posted by CS Memphis
... In the early afternoon we will get on the road to Somerville, Tennessee
to pick up banjo builder Tommy George, and the three of us (Clarke, Tommy
and I) will drive to Nashville for this wonderful event. ...
Thrilled to hear that Tommy is going! He's one of my "Tennessee" friends (along
with John Balch, Dan Knowles, Curtis McPeake, and Calvin Minner) who I will regret
missing -- by not being able to attend this year.
Please give Tommy (and Clarke) my regards.
Best-
Ed Britt
jbalch - Posted - 11/02/2010: 12:02:52
I really would like to attend. Too bad this is such a busy time of year in my work. I hope you all enjoy Nashville...and the event!
trapdoor2 - Posted - 11/07/2010: 12:17:47
Well...
I had a ball at the gathering. Got to visit with old friends meet new friends and see (and pick) a helluva lot of great banjos, teach, learn, yak (lots of that!) and generally eat-breathe-sleep collector banjo stuff for two days.
I was suprised at the number of BHO members in attendance...that was really cool, I loved meeting everybody. If I told anyone I would send them something...please email and remind me. I neglected to bring a recorder, a camera or even a notebook...
I had brought a number of banjos to display but really didn't expect them to get much attention as they are almost all "inexpensive" (read: cheap) grade banjos. I also brought two U-Haul boxes full of fingerstyle sheet music, which I figured would be of the most interest. I didn't keep strict watch but it seemed that every time I turned around, someone was playing either my Hartel Ashborn (a repro, ie, non-collectible) or my Stewart Orchestra #3 (which, although a collector's item, it is not a wart on some of the great banjos that were there). Even better, while I was looking at some other banjos, I heard the strains of "Sweet Sue, Just You"...and turned around to find John (Beezaboy) playing my Paramount Style A (one of the few Tenor banjos in attendance). Just that brief moment meant a lot to me...the tenors were a last-second addition to the carload and I expected them to be totally ignored.
One of the highlights was getting to watch Bela Fleck's movie, "Throw Down Your Heart" with Bela himself introducing it and then fielding questions afterwards. Another was Jim Bollman's review/presentation of Cole Banjos (which left me wanting to acquire one). Jamming with Clarke Buehling or having Eli Kaufman play thru a half-dozen Morley tunes for me...also high on the list.
The jamming was, of course, a heckuva lot of fun. Though somehow, for me, this show could have been titled "How many times can you play "Sunflower Dance, Marc?". I played it, I taught it, I played 2nd, I taught it some more, I played it some more. I played 1st for people who wanted to play 2nd and played 2nd for people who wanted to play 1st. Amazing...I loved every minute of it.
And...I got to pick Eli Kaufman's brain. Eli, of course, is the editor of the ABF (American Banjo Fraternity) newsletter and one of the great collectors of "stuff du banjo". In a crowd of this sort, it is sometimes tough to get a minute with Eli as he is 1) GURU and 2) Very Happy to Expound on Anything Banjo...at length. I finally got my "minute" with Eli Friday night at around 10pm. At 2am, I was still standing there...on the edge of information overload, mouth agape, drool wetting my t-shirt... I believe the security guard finally intervened: "Mr Kaufman? Mr. Smith hasn't blinked in the last hour, I think he might collapse and we haven't enough people to pick him up. Please let him go to bed." The information that man has in his head...whew! I laid in bed for another 2 hrs...staring at the ceiling, trying to get my brain to stop whirling. Next time (and I hope there are many "next times" to converse with Eli), I shall make sure I have a chair and a drink!
I guess what I take away from this whole experience is that the collectors group are uniformly nice, friendly people who happen to love old banjos. I enjoyed myself immensely, I hope I get to go to another gathering!
===Marc
BrittDLD1 - Posted - 11/07/2010: 13:00:25
Yup... Sounds like you made it to the Gathering....
As For Eli -- You'll need to go into training, to keep up with him, before your next one....
First time I visited Eli, I kept up with him for several hours -- every banjo, nut, bolt,
bracket, and inlay. No problem. But THEN... he shifted into early cylinder recordings,
and left me choking in the dust -- gasping for air. Don't even ask about 'paper,' or
photos... 
I'm jealous....
Best-
Ed Britt
trapdoor2 - Posted - 11/07/2010: 18:07:13
Y'all were missed, Ed, Greg...I thought of you, Ed, when Clarke Buehling dragged out his lovely Bacon Blue Ribbon 5-string. Great sounding banjo (although Clarke is well into the "can make anything sound great" category).
We had a very noisy minstrel jam Friday night featuring Clarke, Joel, Carl, myself and Ulf Jagors. We cranked up the ubiquitious "Briggs Jig" right off the bat...but I kept having problems. Turns out that someone had retuned my Hartel to something goofy like dGDGA (double G?)..and I hadn't had a moment to even strum it before the jam kicked off. Carl had to hit me over the head and make me retune. Weird having that happen, I felt like I'd had a stroke or something (would that be a stroke stroke?) and suddenly couldn't remember how to play the banjo.
BrittDLD1 - Posted - 11/08/2010: 06:44:41
quote:
Originally posted by trapdoor2
Y'all were missed, Ed, Greg...I thought of you, Ed, when Clarke Buehling
dragged out his lovely Bacon Blue Ribbon 5-string. Great sounding banjo
(although Clarke is well into the "can make anything sound great" category). ...
I haven't seen Clarke in a few years... Didn't know he had a BR. Now I'll have
to track it down.
quote:
... Turns out that someone had retuned my Hartel to something goofy like dGDGA (double G?)
That's usually how I tune them! 5 frets below Double C.
Someone here (You, or Beeze?) tipped me off to an article by Converse, where
he describes seeing a black banjo player, in Elmira, NY (when Converse was young)
who bragged he could play his banjo "out of tune". Converse figured-out the trick
-- and from the description, the fellow was apparently playing in a relative-tuning
to Double C.
I always felt certain that 'Double C' (relative) WAS used in in the mid-1800s. But
Converse's story was the first 'hard' confirmation of it, that I've come across.
Best-
Ed Britt
Edited by - BrittDLD1 on 11/08/2010 06:47:45
TLG - Posted - 11/08/2010: 09:12:01
I too had an immensely great time. Seeing old friends & putting faces & names together.
I was very fortunate to attend.
Tommy
CS Memphis - Posted - 11/08/2010: 09:41:33
I will echo what Tommy said. This whole weekend was a blast, and it was cool to meet all of the dignitaries of the classic and minstrel banjo world. One of the coolest things was George Gruhn turning us loose in his private collection - I got a nice video of me playing Uncle Dave Macon's banjo, and that certainly doesn't happen every day. (I also got to play a mandolin whose price sticker was more that the value of my home, my car, my wife's car, and all of my new and vintage instuments combined. Good thing I didn't drop it!)
Kevin Enoch was kind enough to take a look at some banjos I built and offer suggestions. One thing that is really going to help is that he told me to bevel the bottom edge of my graver for pearl work, so that it will continue a line in the groove without wanting to keep digging deeper in the channel.
Speaking of pearl, Doug Unger was in attendance with a bunch of his banjos, and he is truly a master craftsman and artisan. His engraving and carving work is frankly the best I have ever seen.
Joel Hooks brought a bunch of bridges, tailpieces and thimbles along, and I must say that the maple bridge he gave me for my classic banjo really opened it up and gave it a bright, loud voice. He is making good stuff, can't wait to try the tailpiece.
I bought a nice wooden banjo stand from Stan Werbin of Elderly that folds up to fit inside a case. Since I can't seem to do a show with anything less than five instruments, this may help me get from the car to the venue in one trip...
As for the presentations and panel discussions, I learned much more than I could hope to retain. Tony Thomas did a great talk about Gus Cannon's banjo styles, complete with audio files and tie ins to larger trends in black banjo among Gus's contemporaries. Looking forward to the essay, which will be in Bob Winan's book that will come out next year. Eli's talk on early banjo peridicals was fascinating, and he read out a few long excerpts that were alternately informative, hilarious, and downright absurd. Some good banjo cartoons as well.
Marc Smith was kind enough to take the time to walk me through Sunflower Dance on classic banjo about 20,000 times, which was nice. This is my first classic piece, hopefully the first of many.
Tommy, Clarke and I got along fine in our off-campus hotel five miles down the road, though we never did figure out how to get back to the venue without getting lost at least once. Clarke came back to Memphis with me and put on a workshop at our place last night that was well attended. We may have some video to post soon.
I will definitely be interested in attending this event again next year, it it is within traveling distance. I am writing a short article about this year's Gathering that will appear in the next Folk Alliance Newsletter. Look forward to seeing some of you at the FA Conference in Memphis in February 2011. Stop by the George Banjo Booth in the vendor area while you are there!
trapdoor2 - Posted - 11/08/2010: 10:14:46
quote:
Originally posted by BrittDLD1
quote:
Originally posted by trapdoor2
Y'all were missed, Ed, Greg...I thought of you, Ed, when Clarke Buehling
dragged out his lovely Bacon Blue Ribbon 5-string. Great sounding banjo
(although Clarke is well into the "can make anything sound great" category). ...
I haven't seen Clarke in a few years... Didn't know he had a BR. Now I'll have
to track it down.
quote:
... Turns out that someone had retuned my Hartel to something goofy like dGDGA (double G?)
That's usually how I tune them! 5 frets below Double C.
Someone here (You, or Beeze?) tipped me off to an article by Converse, where
he describes seeing a black banjo player, in Elmira, NY (when Converse was young)
who bragged he could play his banjo "out of tune". Converse figured-out the trick
-- and from the description, the fellow was apparently playing in a relative-tuning
to Double C.
I always felt certain that 'Double C' (relative) WAS used in in the mid-1800s. But
Converse's story was the first 'hard' confirmation of it, that I've come across.
Best-
Ed Britt
Yes, we discussed that a while back and eventually decided that alternative tunings were known but rarely used. I think " 'fro da banjo out of tune' " is the quote from Converse. Double C (relative) is so close and so easy that I have to think it would have been a natural consequence of living with the banjo in the pugilistic age.
Clarke said that his BR is a "married" banjo, ie, the neck wasn't originally joined with the pot...but that they're both of the same vintage. If I didn't like my BR tenor as a tenor so much, I would do the same thing (although I would probably have to have a modern repro neck built). I didn't see the back of Clarke's BR, so I don't know if it retains its plate resonator or not.
Christian, if I have to play SD another 20k times for you, I'll be still smilin! I have had enough 'bored-to-tears' or 'not-interested-enough-to-practice' students over the years that it is a joy to encounter someone as enthusiastic as yourself.
===Marc
BrittDLD1 - Posted - 11/08/2010: 17:45:27
Well... I'm glad that my posting about the Gathering allowed a few people to
attend -- who might not have, otherwise. I ALWAYS have a great time at it.
Very happy that Tommy George had a good time.
Glad to hear you enjoyed Tony's talk, on Gus Cannon, Christian. (Tony sent a few
of us the text of his article, to critique. But I was in the middle of a crash project
that week, and didn't get a chance to answer him -- before he left for the Gathering.)
Best-
Ed Britt
Edited by - BrittDLD1 on 11/08/2010 17:47:28
writerrad - Posted - 12/02/2010: 10:27:32
Was a great time, but several folks I expect to see at the collectors especially my Hero Ed Britt and Greg and Matt and Mr. Currie from NC were not there. My own opinion is that the choice of the location was not aas convenient as many of the usual suspects. Moreover, the hotel where the activity took place was extremely expensive. Even people I consider very well off financially were complaining at what it cost to stay or eat in that hotel
Not only were the rooms expensive, but there was no place to eat that was reasonable, not even the normal slightly too expensive hotel restaurant one expects at this kind of hotel. The only place to heat was an extremely smoke filled beer bar.
It is true that there was an Holiday Inn Express---a good cheap hotel variant--across the street and down the way, but in cold weather who wants to be toting banjos and guitars and one self back and forth.
My own opinion is that the banjo collectors have done a wonderful job hosting and inviting those of us who are interested in banjo history, but it might be time for those of us interested in banjo history to figure iout a way to have a get together and organize it to be affordable for normal folk who walk the earth
