warpdrive - Posted - 08/29/2019:  11:06:12

Hey Ken,
Well doing any with music is always "sketchy" at best, and i still have plans to do somethings, but music won't keep a roof over my head coming out of the up's and down's i've had this past year.

Getting back into a truck and getting some financial stability will let me look toward the music when it comes around. Unless your touring with a really booked up, in excess of 100 dates a year, bluegrass band, it's difficult to have much of a living on less than that, trust me, i've been there and done that, and as much as i want to pick right now, i want ever more to get back to being able to support myself, and a 18 wheeler is more capable of that right now, than a 5 string, and the 18 wheeler is just as much fun too me!

Warp!

From Greylock to Bean Blossom - Posted - 08/29/2019:  11:24:18

Good deal Warp!. Good luck in your search.
ken

warpdrive - Posted - 09/04/2019:  06:22:30

wednesday, sept, 4th, Infusion Center, 9:17 am....



Hello, to all



"HOORAY" TODAY IS THE START OF LAST TREATMENTS!"



My how the time as few by, can you believe it's been 6 months already?

Not to say its been a joyous picnic, not by any stretch of the imagination , but i am staying focused, and positive , and i know there is still a couple of weeks of sickness due to the chemo and side effects, but that is no reason to be a minus, i've come to far, and my life has changed so much, but i could not have done it without my online support family....that being you people here on the hangout....THANK YOU!

I met with my oncologist this morning, and discussed my plans to return to trucking, and she is all for it, and has cleared me to get a DOT physical next week, and i can take those to the DMV and get my CDL privileges  back, and then companies will start taking me serious. 

My plan was to be in a truck by the end of this month, out on the road, but since i can't have scans until sometime in October, i am going to have to come up with another idea, possibly finding a local company and just drive home daily with the option of going OTR after my scans, it is just a difficilut time in a work perspective, and trucking companies are not looking for drivers that need constant time off for health, but the PET scans, and CT.s and possible  bone marrow biopsy are absolute have too's, if anybody has suggestions, please feel free to to fling them at me via private message.

This past Saturday, i ventured out, and took a day trip over to Hamilton Ohio, and attended  the grand opening of my friend Vernon' McIntyre's famous old time music store. This is i think, the fourth store in a brick and mortar fashion that he as opened, and it was a large turn out indeed.

There was plenty of good food, and lots of Jamming. It was a good outing for me and the Hatfield, and we had lots of nice comments both on my playing and the sound of the banjo, and i look forward to playing out with it in the future, when the chance make itself available!

Ok guys, i'm in the middle of pre-meds and bug juice, so i will close for now, but i should be here till about 12 EST, so if anybody wants to chew the fat.....you know where i'm at!

Take Care,

Yall have a gooderin

Warp!

Edited by - warpdrive on 09/04/2019 06:48:22

Mooooo - Posted - 09/05/2019:  12:12:25

Good luck Kevin. Nice to finally see the end of the treatments coming up. Hoping for great news when it's all over, and wishing you good luck finding some nice work as soon as you're up to it.

warpdrive - Posted - 09/05/2019:  13:09:57

Thanks, Moo,

I'm looking forward to getting back in the saddle...so to speak, i guess the better term would be getting back in the drivers's seat.

I'm scheduled for a DOT physical next Friday, then to will take those to the DMV and get my cdl privileges active, then it's just finding a company that we are fit, going to orientation , and getting out on the road.

I have pet scan scheduled for Oct 7th, and based on blood work as of yesterday, and my current physical stature, we are anticipating good news, so i don't want to jinx anything, i'm just trying to keep on keeping on, and get back to some better form of productivity than what i've done the last couple of years, and certainly the last 6 months.

For now, i'm just drinking a lot of water, and resting up, and pushing the chemo toxins through, and trying not to become over zealous , which i've been known to do in my past, but the way i figure it, even being a bit over zealous is more positive than having no get up and go, and no ambition at all, so i think i am heading in the right direction.

As for my playing, i still figure to keep my banjo in the truck with me, and can post from the road once i get a well functioning posting device, and who knows what that might develop into?
It's just nice to be able to think about life after treatment, not too say that everything is going to be good , i mean there is always going to be things to watch out for, and keeping things real and in check, but i've learned you can't let anyone thing or train of thought rule your life, or you will have no life, and it will rule you, and as they say, i've been there and done that, and just as soon not do it again.!

Ok , thanks for the shout out mike, your one of the good guys that never gives up on me, and that means a lot,!
Warp!

Laurence Diehl - Posted - 09/05/2019:  13:39:45

Warp, I can just imagine you going down the highway, with that banjo alongside in the passenger seat. It's talking to you - "hey this road's pretty straight, you could steer with your knees and play a few licks"!

Edited by - Laurence Diehl on 09/05/2019 13:40:39

warpdrive - Posted - 09/05/2019:  15:05:29

Shsh..Larry,
You'll give away the other super power i have!

No, i know that would be something that everybody would think about me, but i am a serious driver, and seldom do i even listen to a radio when i am driving a Big Rig, i just don't like distractions, and you stay busy, basically driving something the size of a Whale down the road, and people still don't see you.

You know Larry, that steering with my knee's reminds me of the time when i was going up a big mountain somewhere in Virginia i think....i was maxed out on weight and was in the slow right lane for big trucks....going a whooping 5-7 mph up the side of that mountain....and thought to myself......."i'd sure like a sandwich. if i had a long broom handle with a hook in the end of it, it's going to take so long at this speed to get up this mountain...i could get in the back in the sleeper and make me a sandwich and steer with a broom handle, and eat a sandwich, of course, i never acted on it, but i sure gave it a long think!

Good to hear from you Larry!
Warp!

warpdrive - Posted - 09/14/2019:  16:18:58

Saturday, September 14th, Urbancrest Ohio, 6:27 pm,

Good, Evening,

How the heck is everybody? I tell you what, ole warp has been busy, busy, busy, which is to say, that i am starting to finally, after such an exasperating year, and especially these last 6 months, i feel like i'm turning a corner, and somebody is awaiting just out of eyesight to hit me with a club.

First things first, " I PASSED MY DOT PHYSICAL YESTERDAY !" and i have my cdl privileges back, and hold on to your hats......i've agreed to a job offer and am only waiting for company background checks and such.
I won't go into full details as of yet....dont want to jinx it, but if all goes as planned, I will be re-locating back down to Cincinnati, which as y'all know, i've been trying to get back too since this time last year, when i was gutting it out down in Arkansas.

I've had some good offers, but this private contractor that i've decided to take up on his job offer....i just liked how he talked to me, you know, like a person wants to be talked to, and not down to, which as you people know, from my past, i've been guilty of doing, and don't tolerate so well when it's done to me.
I also had to consider more than just good money, i also know from experience that the larger the company you drive for, the more people you have to answer too, and this is a smaller regional company that i've know of a few years, and i like the idea of not having to just hit it hard right out of the gate, "i'm still testing my sea legs just a bit" and i don't want to be over zealous !

On the banjo picking side, i really hope that as soon as i get re-settled down in Cincinnati, i can start posting videos again.....i tell ya, the Hatfied is really coming alive, and i don't have to tell y'all how easy it is to practice and play when all you have to do is look at your banjo case, and you hear it call to you.

It seems i have a small fan club here in the extended stay, and i get knocks on my door now and again, and people tell me they enjoy hearing me play, everybody but the next door neighbor.....which for me, in itself, is a funny thing we have going on. Who ever my next door neighbors are, they allow me to play each day, but as soon as i am finished, they counter with heavy bass/hip hop music, i mean you can set your watch by it, but i don't mind, as you guys know ole warp is very open minded, and i listen to all genre's.

I am looking forward to the start of the Ken Burns documentary starting tomorrow night, and i hope i can find a way to watch it live on my laptop, but if not, it will be online the next day i'm sure.
You guys remember last year, when i was complaining all i had down in Mt View was 2 PBS channels, and now, i have direct tv cable, and not one PBS channel to watch this special, ain't life peculiar? Karma, go figure!

Well people, just thought i'd update you guys on my status quo, and for the most part, ole warp is feeling pretty good.
The last week's side effects were tuff, and i suffered a lot of depression since the first week of september was the anniversary of me and the babies having to leave Cincinnati, and started me down this un-believable journey.

I still have bad times when i think about losing the babies, but i know nothing is forever, and i have a good documentary in this thread, so they will never be forgotten, and there is a shot or two of Bernidine and Andy,in those videos from Mt View, man that seems like forever ago, so much has happened, and you guys have been here with me, i will never forget all the support yall have gave me, and hope in the future, i will be able to pay it forward, some way, some how!

Ok, i guess that will do it for now, and i will keep you guys posted on my job offer and how it pans out.
I am in this extended stay unit Oct, 4th, hopefully, i can make a couple of paychecks by the time i'm due to be out of here and then plop a deposit down on a small efficiency somewhere down in Cincy.

I know what some of you are probably thinking....what about the cancer, is it in remission, whats the status....well, obviously its not killing me right now, and i have a pet scan scheduled on Oct 7th, and Oncologist appointment on the 10th, but based on blood test, and how i've been physically doing, were just going with i'm doing well enough to get back into life....."cancer be damned"!
If somebody has anything better..... please let me know!

Y'all have a gooderin
Warp!

chuckv97 - Posted - 09/14/2019:  16:27:43

Nothin’ but blue skies from now on, Warp. Good to hear you’re winning. Have fun behind the wheel... nothing makes a guy feel more alive!

warpdrive - Posted - 09/14/2019:  16:33:35

Thanks Chuck,

I'm hoping that if the new job pans out, one of the routes the contractor was talking to me about, would run me through Indy up to Chicago, and the first thing i thought of was my ole buddy Ken over in Bloomington, i'd be close enough on pass throughs to stop close by for some picking sessions!

Warp!

chuckv97 - Posted - 09/14/2019:  16:37:14

You bet -“Truck Driving Man”, “Truck Driver’s Queen”,, “Lonesome Truck Driver Blues”,, etc......you & Ken can wail’em all out!

adl1132 - Posted - 09/16/2019:  22:15:14

Kevin,
Just discovered this blog of yours about a month ago, and have enjoyed finally catching up to the present day in my reading. Nice to hear about the new banjo, making it through the treatments in one piece, and now good job prospects. Hope it works for you.

As someone who has some hearing loss and tinitus, I have to say I cringe hearing you talking about playing the Hatfield and peeling paint off the walls, just worrying about what it may be doing to your ears. I know how hard it is not to play a great new banjo, even though it may hard on your ears. I've been playing a long time, and the hearing problems showed up about 8 years ago. I used to wear ear-plugs while practicing, but I got serious about protecting my ears from the banjo a couple years back, and shelled out for some really good noise-cancelling headphones. And they are great! I can hear the banjo well enough to play, but it is very quiet (everything else is super quiet, so no competition), so I can play for hours without affecting my ears. If you haven't tried those, get some with your second or third paycheck and see what you think. And I suppose you already know about musician's earplugs for performing.

Best of luck to you with a new job, and (hopefully) a move to Cincinnati.
Allan

warpdrive - Posted - 09/17/2019:  11:11:13

Alan,
Thank you for your kind words of encouragement, and how serendipitous it is that you've responded to my post....today of all days, i've just came in from seeing a hearing specialist that the VA wanted me to see for evaluation of my tinnitus.

Yes, it is painful at times to play the Hatfield Howitzer, and one of the things i am going to have to spring for (since i can't the VA to do it) is some in ear...electronic noise protection/limiters.
I know there are some high end, in ear electronic ear protection that hand gunners use, and what they do is limit the amount of noise in decibels that can come into your ear....say i don't want to have any loud noise above 35 decibels, you can set them for exactly that!
Quality noise limiting protection like that don't come cheap, but i can see me, sometime in the future once i get back to earning a paycheck....purchasing something like that for my well being and hearing health!

As i commented to the audiologist a couple of hr ago.....with my tinnitus and severe hearing loss, sudden loud noise and even playing my banjo is very painful at times and i have a permeant level of tinnitus now that is so loud, i'm surprised that others can't hear it.....i mean really.....it can get "MADDING"!

I will look into those noise canceling head phones for playing my banjo indoors and i thank you for telling me about them, i seriously never gave any thought that something like that might give me some relief from my hears just ringing to a painful end when i am putting the Hatfield through it's paces.

Look in on me anytime, and again, thanks for your input and kind words.

Warp!

warpdrive - Posted - 09/21/2019:  14:47:13

Saturday, Sept, 21, Urbancrest Ohio, 5:01 pm

Good Evening,

Well today was my good friend, Carol Rosenthal's 66th birthday, so i got up at 4am this morning, cleaned up, and loaded up, and headed down to Cincinnati for a day trip, and arrived at my old haunt, Luckman Coffee.

I arrived a bit ahead of the Rosenthal's and extended family, for a bit of a Flash Mob birthday gathering for Carol....Dan and I had this in the works for a couple of weeks, and Carol was very surprised and happy with the attention....i'm glad i went, and of course, with the new happenings in my life, and my soon return to work in the area, they are on the lookout for possible dwellings for me to move into in a couple of weeks!

I for the most part, am feeling fairly well, and i am eager for my future employer's mechanic, to get the new engine in my truck, so i can test my limits, i am a bit anxious, it would not be the first time for me to suffer the old "best laid plans of mice and men curse" but i remain hopeful!

I am starting to grow another beard. It don't look like much right now, only a couple of weeks old, still not sure how far i will take it, but i just felt like doing something different now that i think i am on the mend, but i am prone to changing my mind, we will see!

Well, after the birthday crowd petered out at the coffee shop, i made my way over to my friend Vernon McIntyre's newest Famous Old Time Music Company, location in the little spot in the road of Millville Oh, just north of West Cincinnati, on 27 north.

Today, i finally learned a tune on the banjo, that has alluded me all of my banjo picking life. Now weather or not some or any of you know this, Vernon is hugely responseable for a big chunk of my, what i like to call, finishing touch's on banjo happiness in your playing.

Not only is Vernon maybe the best rhythm guitar player i've ever played or shared a stage with, he is also, the best teacher of "True Scruggs Style Banjo" i've ever seen. He really knows the exact licks and notes that Earl is playing on the recordings, and can play them slower than a machine can slow them down.
He is also quite the authority on Walter Hensley's banjo stylings, seeing how he was personal friends with Walt all his life and Walter Worked Several years with Vernon at different venues.

To get to my excitement over my new tune, and how it came about....Vernon and I were Jamming in his store about noon or so today, and he really likes the sound of the new Hatfield. I started us off playing Walts breakdown, or better know to probably most on the hangout as JD crow's Stoney Mountain Twist. We rocked along, passing time in-between songs about our glory days ,and always revisiting the Earl mystique , and we happen to get off on a JD tare, for what ever reason, i started playing Red Rooster, and Red River Valley off the Jimmy Martin instrumental album, you know the one with Three Banjo Pickers on it?

After a few minutes I looked at Vernon and i says to him " you know, out of all the tuner tunes there is, i think i play them all except for "Bear Tracks" i said, for the life of me i can't figure out how JD is getting his tuners to work on that tune, and had it not been for Vernon, i still would not know.....the banjo has to be tuned up to a , i guess you call it a "Double C" tuning?. I never could figure it out, i knew you had to drop the fourth, but i didn't know that the 1st and 2nd strings had to come up as to make a full Open C cord.
Once i stumbled through it a couple of times, vernon took the banjo and with no picks on(that is they way he has taught since i've known him) he played through it, mistake free, just as easy as breathing. But, that is what he does.


Once i got the tuning correct, man, the tuner parts fell right in place. I do understand now why i heard Big K once say he kept an extra banjo on stage tuned to the bear tracks tuning because it is a pain, and takes time to get the tuning right, but i think the tune is worth it, Bear Tracks and Randy Lynn Rag both are time consuming for re tuning the d tuners, but the reward is great, at least in my opinion.
So probably for the next few days, the next door room is going to be hearing a lot of Bear Tracks, as i am just exploring it, and have not got it polished to where i want it.

Well, once again, i am tired and wore out, but it is a good wore out. I have a lot going on, and can only hope i can get it all taken care of, as the old timers say,
" i have more irons in the fire, than i have cattle to brand"

Ok guys, i guess it's time to wrap it up for warp, i do promise that one day soon, i will find a way to make good on posting video's again, i can't have y'all thinking i'm making this stuff up, it's been so long, i'm sure there are a few people wondering if i can even figure out which end of a banjo to grab!

Y'all have a gooderin,
Warp!

warpdrive - Posted - 09/25/2019:  17:01:57

Wednesday, September 25th, Urbancrest Ohio, 7:37 pm

Hello, and Good Evening,

Well i tell ya, i am having more fun with my banjo the last few days, playing out of the the double drop C, or Open C, what ever you call it, the "bear tracks tuning" but it is so cool, and different sounding, and just invigorates the silly and stupid side of my playing, and i think, something like this is probably good for everybody now and then! And i promise, one day soon to do a video on this!

After i got bear tracks polished up and slicker than a barrel full of minners, i just couldn't get out of playing out of that open drop c....so i started noodling around with other tunes......wow....there is just so many cool things you can do with other tunes.
On my list thus far, out of the drop double C open tuning... Bonaparte's Retreat , You Are My Sunshine, Sally Ann, Cumberland Gap, Sally Goodin, and maybe the 2 coolest sounding besides the reason for being there, Bear Tracks...Lonesome "funky Ruben" and Black Mountain Rag, both those are stand alone, good as Bear Tracks for just so cool from what you normally hear!

I guess it must be the combination of highs on the first and second strings, in conjunction with the low drop C on the fourth string, its just captivating to me, and i full understand now Sonny Osbornes infatuation with the low String on his 6 string banjo....this could get habit forming!
And when you combine this tuning with the fact that this Hatfield quite possibly has the best fourth string i've ever owned, and one of the best...anywhere i've ever played....well....forgive me if i am just a bit one-sided in my gleeful opinion.

Ok guys, enough gushing about playing my banjo.....wow, who is this guy anyway, i thought he was sick from cancer?

A bit of good news on my job front, i am heading to Zanesville Ohio on monday morning the 30th to do my company orientation , and then hopefully, i will be up and running by middle of next week, providing the parts come in for the engine in the truck.....if anybody's interested its a 1998 Kenworth w900 with a cummings engine!

I am headed back to Cincinnati this Saturday to look for an apartment, which is turning out to be quite an obstacle to overcome!
I, have a prior eviction, and bad credit, so low, my identity can't even be stolen, and i've not worked in 2 years.....i've got money, and good personal references, and am going to work and will be making more than the qualifying amount required, but the priors are really hurting me and i still might be nothing more than a well to do homeless person if i can't find someone to give me a second chance without wanting me to sell my soul to the devil!

Ok guys, that will about do if for now.
Y'all have a gooderin , till next time
Warp!

JReb - Posted - 09/25/2019:  17:19:53

Next time you're in "double C " give "Angeline the baker" a spin, really fun.

warpdrive - Posted - 09/25/2019:  17:24:52

JReb,

I absolutely will do, Angeline the baker is one of my favs in conventional tunings, should be a hoot out of double c!
Thanks for the suggestion,
Warp!

From Greylock to Bean Blossom - Posted - 09/25/2019:  18:25:17

Warp, Will they give you an area to be trucking in or will it vary with the job?
ken

warpdrive - Posted - 09/25/2019:  18:59:27

Ken,
as i understand it, or at least what me and my truck owner(private contractor) i am driving for......i could stay local, home everyday running rail cars, but i've never don't that. So he told me about one of his common routes that runs from the Cincy area up to Chicago, so my take is i will be coming through Indy quite often, at least that is what i'm hoping for. So depending on where the freight is going and where the back haul is coming to down here, it can vary some....but i took the job based on Cincy to Chicago because i've ran that lot!

Warp!

warpdrive - Posted - 09/30/2019:  18:47:18

Monday, September, 30th, Urbancrest Ohio, 9:10 pm

Good Evening,

Well, the luck seems to be holding out for ole warp, and i can't help but believe that it is partly due to all the good karma from you hangout members and i just want to keep ya'll updated.

Lets see where it start....this past saturday i returned to Cincinnati to look at a couple of apartments, and it wasn't going well. Seeing as i have the mark of "banished Cain"upon me from my eviction last year, and the fact that i've not worked in over 2 years, i had a lot of potential, what would be landlords looking down there nose's at me.....even with my friend and quite credible and prestigious attorney , Dan Rosenthal along as a character reference, it didn't look good.

At the last minute, i decided to go see Carol,(dan's wife) down that the pawn shop she helps her brother Doug, the owner, and also good friend of mine operate.

They knew a man who had some places in Covington Ky, right up the street from the pawn shop, and they texted him, and he came in to see me.....long story, short, i am going to be moving to Covington Ky either this coming weekend or first of next week.
I would have moved this weekend, but......there are things constantly popping up for the good right now, and i am acting on them as fast as i can.

First....i went for my orientation at Zanesville today, did the paper work, and went for drug screen and road test....i didn't run over anything or anybody with the truck so....i can still drive....that is a big plus when driving a 18 wheeler.

Unfortunately, my truck isn't ready yet, so i am for sure not going to be working this week, and since i have to be back up here by monday for my PeT Scan, and my apartment i can move into it any time and here's the other good news that just drooped in my lap about 20 minutes ago.....i am going to play a gig with Vernon McIntyre this weekend in Confluence Pa, and since i'm not driving yet, i can really use the money...so good things are happening on the banjo front too.!

Since Vernon has to come within 2 miles of this motel, i think i'm just going to buy three extra days....heres my reasoning.....i am supposed to be out of here by friday noon....i go to Covington Ky find a motel friday night...supposed to meet my landlord saturday, give him rent, get keys to an apartment i have to move what little i got into....but i would need to drive a hour to meet vernon, and travel to pa going with in 2 miles of where i am at right now and i have to be back here on monday....common sense dictates that save some gas and where and tear on the car and buy three more days here have vernon pick me up here saturday on the way to Pa because i-70 runs 2 miles past this place....go to pa for the gig and come back here on sunday, get sleep pack up early monday morning and go up to the Bing Center and get my pet scan, then head down to Kentucky and make medicine with my landlord.....anybody see and flys in this tuna?

Wow, i am not used to having this much good decision making, happening in my life, not after the last year.
I had a small cry at the terminal today....the boss had a nine month old pug that reminds me so much of my Bernidine.....his name is duke, and he would not leave me alone,,,,,he knew i needed loving and i just ate the attention up, dogs know dog people and he was a real sweetie.

I'm looking forward to working the gig with vernon, it's been a few years since i've done a show with him, and the timing is good, and as i said, i can use the money, and probably when Robert has trouble making some of the road trips, if it's on a weekend and i don't have to head out too early....i'll work more shows with Vernon.

Ok guys, the next big thing for me is the pet scan next monday....ya'll keep sending those good thoughts my way, i really feel them.
Once i get resettled i will invest in a device to record and post more vids own, so hopefully that isn't too far off.

Ok gang, time for bed, i have to go to the library tomorrow and watch some online classes for the job.....safety videos, mostly...but good things that drivers need to reflect on now and again.

Ok, y'all have a gooderin
Warp!

From Greylock to Bean Blossom - Posted - 10/05/2019:  19:18:53

Warp,
You playing in Oxford Ohio on Oct 12 with Vernon McIntyre?
ken

warpdrive - Posted - 10/05/2019:  19:33:59

Saturday, October 5th, 2019, 9:29 pm Urbancrest Ohio, ....

Good evening to one all!

Well, ole warp, and i do mean "old warp" as in i feel so ancient, i am flat slap dad wore out. And stand by my statement of "the road is a young person's game!

Vernon McIntyre and band picked me up at about 2:30 yesterday afternoon, and according to the map/gps/ it was only supposed to be 4 hrs from Grove City to Confluence Pa. but it took us at least 6, arriving at mr JerrY Yeager's house, on the outskirts of Confluence(beautiful country and hills and mountains) we arrived about 10pm, said our pleasantries , got our instruments out, and started running though the set list for satrurdays sets!
We ran through several songs, up until after midnight, then decided that we were just to tired to go anymore, and besides....we had to be up at 6-7 am the next morning to wake up , do morning ablations, eat breakfast, clean up, change into stage ware, and the favorite thing for a band to do.....set up equipment! All by 10 am for there after, because our 1st set started at 11am,

The weather was beautiful, the temps in the upper 60's to low 70's and confluence pa and the surrounding boroughors are one of the most beautiful parts of the United States, i've ever seen, really, i don't know why they don't get more press for how pretty there mountains are, just gorgeous .

The crowd was very attentive and gave us great support , the tent was full all the time and sound was good.
this being my first gig out with vernon in at least 10 years, i was rusty, no so much in my speed, but not playing clean enough like i did years ago when i was younger, and there was some hand cramping from gripping the neck like a ball bat, and clawing at the strings like they were bailing wire,. My hands are extremely sore right now, just because of being amped up and over noting and squeezing the neck so hard, you just do it, because to play clean and precise and sound good the notes must be noted clean and that means, when you haven't played at a stage level with a band that is used to a driving Jimmy Martin band/Flatt and Scruggs band, you playing hard driving music that isn't easy to stay with and it is "work" no other way to put it.....it is work to play at a hard driving traditional bluegrass level, and my ass is dragging!
I am out of shape to play the road....at least for right now, and it is nothing more than practice a few times with the band, get the timing back, everybody on the same page, listeneing to wear the beat is at, but it is a job, to be in sync with everybody on the stage at once and it will wear you out if your doing it right!

We played three sets, and for the most part, i had moments of "hey, this sounds pretty good, i'm driving it, tone is good, note separation is good, and then something would all of a sudden get henke and i'd find myself missing strings and the hand cramping up....bottom line.....just plain ole age rust.....not the speed mind you, i'm the fastest 59 year old on the planet, but my noting i was not happy with on more complicated songs like Dear Ole Dixie, and Farewell Blues. and i think some this had to do with , i've not picked standing up in some years, not at this level, so my finger string striking would miss some strings.....again....just plain old careless rust, that can be overcome by show level practices with a band....that's all you do.
I should feel good that 95% of my abilities are still road worthy, and that what i need to work on, doesn't require anything more than repetitive roll, and back up lick practice and playing in the keys that i'm not familiar with the fret markers those are the worst mistakes i was making, but only because i've not practiced in Bd and B especially doing advanced back up.....so i've got a lot of wood shedding to do,

I'm out of shape for standing for Three hrs, with a heavy banjo hanging around my neck, my stomach feels like i did crunches all weekend, and my back is shot, i can hardly pull my pants up.....all this from one little gig......Damn i am old!

Tomorrow, i have wash my road laundry, and pre pack the Trailblazer with most of my belongings in my hotel room and get down to a skeleton wardrobe, get up monday morning, go to the bing for my scans, come back and check out....then its down to covington Ky and my new....barren apartment.

I figure the first night, i will be sleeping on the dog beds that i brought for
bernidine and andy in the back of the car, we slept on them living in the car, so i can put them on the floor of the apartment, and a sleeping bag on those. I have tp and paper towels and cleaning things for the bathroom, and my coffee pot, i will have to wait till tuedsay to get my microwave from Dan and Carol's garage , then assess what i need for necessities , but it's going to be slow. I probably can find a use aero bed on craigslist, and some used furniture like a couch and chair, maybe a small kitchen table.....i really don't know, and most of this stuff is just going to have to wait until i draw a paycheck or two!

Then thursday, i will come back up here to columbus and get the results from my pet scan......yeah.....i have no idea what to think.....in someways.....i don't feel any worse.....and in some ways.....i don't feel any better, i personally think it will be good news but not great news, but no need to borrow trouble, it is what it is, and i will face the results with dignity and courage, and then decide what is next!

Ok gang....i am so tired, and i am ready to veg out and have so much to do tomorrow , obtw....i don't know what my internet situation will be like in covington ky, so there probably will be a lapse in my posting till i can figure it out. y'all, hang in there with me, i'm going need people to bounce ideas off of, and i don't know anyone in Covington Ky.

Ok gang, getting sleepy.
Y'all have a gooderin

warp!

warpdrive - Posted - 10/09/2019:  08:34:24

Wednesday, Oct, 9th, 9:38 AM, Cincinnati, Ohio, The West End!

Good Morning To One And All!

Whew.....i tell ya, just when i think things could not get more complex and full of surprises and turns of events, life waves it magic wand and "BAM".. lets see how you deal with this!

After my quick trip with Vernon McIntyre and band to Confluence Pa, i started trying to nail down the living conditions in my new apartment to be in Covington, Ky.
My potential new landlord had originally told me....he doubted that i was used to living in the conditions that he was providing....meaning that there were to be some " Issue's" with the apartment.
I was aware that there were only 2 plugin's in the whole apartment, and there was no stove....no problem...i live out of a microwave anyhow, and no air....no problem, it's fall, and not that hot, and i could get by with a fan if so needed.

As my potential move drew closer....and i talked with the landlord, i found out that the plumbing in the bathroom only half worked, and he didn't really intend to put money into the place to make it more like what a apartment was supposed to be!
As i "quiz'd and inquired more while on the phone with him sunday afternoon i also found out that there was no refrigerator , and the best he was intending to do was find me a "mini fridge"....and only 2 electric outlets in the whole apartment then it dawned on me.....

"warp" this guy is pouring water down your back, and telling you it's raining outside", and just offering you a flop room for his benefit and income generation"!

Right away i got on the laptop and started hunting something in my price range and i had to move quick....i was less than 12 hrs away from check out in the extended stay and for the foreseeable future....going to be homeless again.
I had money saved up for rent and deposits, and although i dont need to be living in the "Waldorf Astoria" i think i could and should do better than a flop room and a here it is take it or leave it situation,...give me the money room!

I found a place on craigslist in Cincinnati, that is geared toward my situation, a second chance type of housing, where if you got the money, they move you in regardless of credit rating and past evictions or anything else, ability to make rent is all they care about because they know the people like me....basically staring over in life....most times don't have a lot of saved money and great income, and should not be held at gun point by Landlords who are judgmental about credit rating, and how a renter has lived there life!

the gentleman on the phone when i called explained the apartment to me, and it had all my basic requirements and best of all.....i could cover the monthly rent with plenty of room to spare......we both were happy about our phone conversations and after i explained to him....by past life and current situation...he says to me....... " you sound like exactly the type of renter that we are doing this housing for", and i told him if i could get away soon enough on monday morning after my pet scan, i would be down to move in, if i liked what i saw.....he said.."call me when you are on you way!

I pre-packed sunday night, and when i left for my pet scan monday morning, i had all my belongings in the Trailblazer, i only needed to come back to check out with the paperwork!

I arrived at my now new home right at noon on monday, I know this area, although i've not lived in this part of town, and in many ways, it is a lot like Vernon's old store on vine street when i first came to Cincinnati back in january of 04, where i lived in his living room for 8 months above this store in Elmwood Place!

My apartment is old, and my many peoples standards....probably would not consider it an option for living. The building is over 100 years old, and , there is plaster missing on the walls that the brick shows through and i am on the second floor with windows in the bathroom and one in the living room that opens up toward the street below. the floor is plastic tile with many broken tile and many missing but for the most part.....is clean enough. My door entrance to the apartment is a solid office style door like you would see on a old gas station restroom door....but it has 2 dead bolt locks and i don't think a police battering ram could knock it down.....but this is the inner city and potential "pilferer's must be deterred when possible!
The apartment is 2 huge rooms with the bathroom off the end of the living room, as a whole, the apartment is bigger than what me and the babies lived in on the east side of town! I have stayed in older dwellings like this as a younger man, and for me, there is a throw back to the turn of the last century, older days charm to it
and i am comfortable in the "inner city...urban environment" I've always marched to the beat of a different banjo picker.....something my family never embraced or understood....but ole warp feels right at home thus far! As i am sitting here in the family center in the adjacent building to my apartment building, all the patrons are friendly and are smiling at me in a welcoming fashion....but you yet to know the reason why.....just wait....the best is yet to come.

After i gave the apartment my thumbs up, i went to the ATM and withdrew the remainder of what i needed for security deposit and rent....i came back with the "cash on the barrel head" and got my receipt from the landlord and commenced to moving in!
There are 18 steps up to my second floor apartment, and they are either going to kill me or cure me, and i am still quit sore from all the trips up and down, but no worse for wear!
Monday afternoon and early evening was busy, and i had to go out and find the local family dollar and buy bathroom amenities and a shower curtain, but my bathroom is nice and clean and my water is nice and hot, and tuesday, the fix it man....mike....at my request, installed a old time medicine cabinet right over my bathroom sink....not that I'm shaving again....i have a nice short beard going again and it's getting good reviews....so i'am going to keep it for a while, but the fact is the owner of the building is really trying to make this place better and is putting money into it....and the inner city community....and i can get behind and support the endeavor....i live here now and either your "on board, or overboard"!
I went to bed, on the floor with a nice pallet bed i made from the dog beds that me and the babies slept on in the trailblazer a few nights, blankets on top of the beds for support and a good sleeping bag and more quilts for me.....and the memories of my past and all i've been through this past year....russelling around in my brain as i dosed off.
Tuesday i woke with many things on my mind that i needed to accomplish on the day,
I needed to get food in the fridge and get my microwave from dan and carol, and unpack some more from the SUV. I took a hot shower, and made myself presentable, and headed to the old coffee shop and got some coffee for my mr coffee, contacted carol and got the ok to come by and get my microwave.
I was also scheduled to do a meet and greet with my new boss and go by the terminal to meet the lady who will be dispatching me when i start....hopefully next week! The meeting with boss and dispatch all went well!

I bought groceries for the fridge and microwave, and more toiletries , and learned my way around the inner city more as i drove back, and like the other area's of Cincinnati, i can navigate well now! I'd better, i'd be a poor excuse of a truck driver if i couldn't!

I got everything put away with in reason tuesday afternoon, and went out and explored the surrounding areas, there is a nice fenced in park right across the street with new mulch and benches and some playground equipment for the kids and adequate shade over the benches. The street front in front of the park is where i park my SUV with the other tenants vehicles! Now i already had in my mind...a plan to "introduce myself" to the neighborhood when i got the time, and long about 6:30 last night.....the west end neighborhood got there first introduction to Mr, Kevin D..."warp drive" Hendrix!
I grabbed my banjo and headed over to the one of the park benches in the fenced in park across the street from my apartment building, all with in eyesight of other apartment buildings and kids and adults and cars of the neighborhood passing by, and i didn't hold back....i tuned up, and went at it as if i was on stage picking for a bluegrass audience!

I hadn't been picking 5 minutes when my next door neighbor...bobby come around the corner with his box supper, he works for himself doing odd jobs around the inner city....as many of these people do....Bobby stopped dead in his tracks and looked though the fence at me and says....." i never would have figured this about you....i knew i heard a banjo....man you can hear that thing ringing all the up on the next corner....you are gooooood man!
Bobby waved and proceeded in the apartment building to go upstairs, and i continued to pick....many people passing by in cars sticking there arms out the windows and waving to give thumbs up and all smiling, the same for the passers by on foot, and i was figuring on this reception, i've never encountered a bad reception anywhere i have lived....my banjo is a real ice breaker, and i guess it doest hurt that i can pick.....just a little!

Bobby hadn't been gone more than 5 minutes, when out the entrance of the apartment building he came....box supper in hand....and through the fence entrance to the park and sat right down on the bench next to me......he says to me...." man, i gots to sit hear and listen to this.....your fingers are magic, and that banjo makes me feel something deep down in my soul....bobby would stand up and try dancing a bit and shaking and shaping his fingers and singing things to himself as if he was "possessed by some sort of spirt, i'd get to laughing so hard, id miss licks and notes....not that he would have noticed, he was "gone" and in his own little world all due to my banjo picking!

In between tuning, bobby would talk and he said..."you know, i'm originally from Alabama, and your playing is taking me right back to the swamps i grew up in man i can't explain why i like that sound so much," he went on marveling at my playing and trying to find understanding why he loved this sound so much,but admittedly , had not listened to it a lot.....so i proceeded to tell him of the banjo's "lineage" and how many hundreds of years ago, his people brought it to this country....he did not know this....and felt that made sense of why he felt a kin to this sound!

I continued playing till right about dusk....many people were sitting outside on there stoops, just listening....and as i was putting the banjo away, i told bobby that i thought the people sitting outside and there kids really enjoyed it.....Bobby says.....
"you didn't see all the people that were lined up out side the fence behind you across the park....man there were at least 25 stopped and looking in watching you!
Bobby said to me...."man, there is a rhythm in your hands that moves me, and we(meaning his ethnicity) knows something about natural rhythm....I thanked him for the compliment, and that is something i always strive for, a good natural hand rhythm! , but even my grandfather told me that had the rhythm of the old ethnic musicians he grew up watching, so who am i to argue with so many positive opinions?!

Needless to say....the park concert was and has been one of the highlights of moving in and re-aquinting myself with life, and the City of Cincinnati!

Tomorrow i will journey back to my Oncology Appointment, and discuss the results of my Pet Scan with Dr, Saul.....i am nervous gang..... i hope for good news but not expecting great news, and for now, i can only hope for hope, and trust and go by my feeling good enough to try to re-establish my self in life and the pursuit of
happiness. I need more good "karma" and for this continuance in good and positive breaks.

Till later,
Y'all have a gooderin
Warp!

From Greylock to Bean Blossom - Posted - 10/09/2019:  09:06:04

• 


• Look forward to hearing more from you tomorrow Warp.


• ken

chuckv97 - Posted - 10/09/2019:  10:00:31

Wow,, love that “pickin’ in the park” story, Kevin. Keep on keepin’ on.

Bob Murphy - Posted - 10/10/2019:  20:53:18

Warp
I know what you are feeling about scan anxiety! It’s bad! Stay positive, I will keep positive thought for you! What a great picking story too!

Bob

From Greylock to Bean Blossom - Posted - 10/11/2019:  19:18:56

GOOD NEWS FROM WARP - FULL REMISSION!
Here is what I heard from Warp today:
"Having trouble posting due to bad internet connection here........

In full remission.....post it if you want....when i get better
connectivity, i will post on my thread"
ken

Mooooo - Posted - 10/11/2019:  20:34:12

Full remission, that's the best news! Thanks Ken.

Congratulations Warp! Enjoy your newfound lease on life. Good luck in your job and with your apartment too. Sounds like things are really coming together for you. Good luck.

jlsorbit - Posted - 10/12/2019:  05:03:01

Great news, Warp!

warpdrive - Posted - 10/12/2019:  10:36:46

Saturday, October 12th, 12:57 pm, Luckman Coffee, Cincinnati Ohio,

Good Afternoon,

Well, to say the least, it's been a whirlwind of a week for ole warp, and although on a happy note....my remission of my cancer news takes the front page headlines, there has been a hiccup in my job start.....but, lets concentrate on the steak, and not the beans!

I have limited access to wifi in my apartment, and this is the 4th time i've tried to respond and post my remission news and life status, so i came over to my coffee shop haunt and am using there wifi.

A big thank you to all the hangout members. You have all been a big support in my treatment and recovery/ healing process, and i could not have done it without you, and i hope to one day be able to pay it forward.

I am still living out of suitcases, and until the job and paycheck process gets into full swing, i will be continuing this same daily life process, my apartment is sound, and clean, and my rent is paid, and i should always be able to pay it, even if i'm not working yet, and i have food, and the ability to stay, warm and clean, so i have come along way in this week, and i should not understate that, so the hiccup in my job, is just that....a hiccup......you wonder "whatz up with the job?.....here goes

I've been driving semi's for 12 years off and on and i've only driven a straight 10 speed or split 10 as there sometimes called. The transmission in the truck i was to leave for Chicago in , early Monday morning, was a "super 10" speed, and is a whole different shifting process to what i am used to, in short, i made the decision this morning, to forgo my maiden voyage in the "different shift pattern truck" simply because it is too much of a leaning curve, and still be safe.
If i was just going across town, or even to one of the lesser, cities of Indy, or lexington, or Columbus....no problem....but Chicago is "Godzilla" and i can't teach my brain at this stage of just getting back into trucking, to un-learn the only shift pattern i know, and relearn a different and more complex shift pattern in 36 hrs or less, so i made the "safe" and i think wise decision and told my young boss this morning, and he agreed whole heartedly with me, and he has local trucks that i am familiar with....safely....with other companies, and i will go and see them on monday....so this delay should not be more than a couple of weeks tops....inconvenient...yes, life altering? not after all i've been through, i stand by my safety first in trucking, that is why companies still want me, and the right job is just around the corner, i just want to make sure that i didn't survive stage 4 cancer...thus far....only to die in a semi truck accident that i could have prevented by not making a bad decision based on money!

Life around the apartment is challenging, and sometimes wonders never cease to amaze me, but the inner city community of the "West End" has embraced me and my banjo playing, and i may run for mayor.....if they ever have a local election!

Speaking of my banjo, i lowered the action some on the Hatfield a couple of days ago, and i really like it......here's why.
I have a strong right hand, and so i've always tended to run my action a bit higher than most, to accommodate light strings and my heavy hand, but since i'm playing almost daily, i've started to finesse the sound out of it now, rather than mash the sound out, and the lower action is much more pleasurable, so that they say is that!

Well, i am not sure what else to post about, i guess i could tell you about the cockroach i had in the center of my big kitchen floor this morning.....it was a big as a house cat....and it didn't move when i turned on the light, it just watched me plug in my coffee pot, and when i went to the refrigerator to pull out my microwave sausage gravy pot pies i eat.....the roach says......
" you better be reaching for two of those, one aint gonna feed us both"!

Till later
y'all have a gooderin
Warp!

chuckv97 - Posted - 10/12/2019:  11:46:07

Hey Warp,, good news on the remission front,,A-1!
That’s a wise move not goin’ to the big Windy with an unfamiliar tranny. I’ve never had a super 10, but checking the YouTube vid it looks like re-programming the brain. Good luck going forward.

jlsorbit - Posted - 10/13/2019:  04:44:14

Smart move Warp.

Bob Murphy - Posted - 10/14/2019:  08:30:49

Congrats on beating lymphoma! Now you can focus on picking! We are all happy for you.

Bob

warpdrive - Posted - 10/17/2019:  11:16:23

Thursday, Oct 17th, 1: 28 pm, The Seven Hills Neighborhood Center, Cincinnati, Oh

Good Afternoon.

Not a whole lot of anything big happening that i've not already posted about....
the job front is still good, i hope to be working by next week, if not, me and by big cock roach, the size of a house cat, will be fighting over the food, if i don't post after a couple of weeks....you will know who won!

Well, in my "time o plenty" to waste, i have decided to "expand" my banjo endeavors and am " attempting" to learn "Claw hammer" banjo!
Don't worry, you won't have to expect any videos from me on that discipline of banjo playing anytime soon, in fact, i am not sure i can learn it, i just can't quite thinking like a three finger banjo player, and i want to cheat, and instead of using all down strokes, i keep up sweeping with my middle finger some.

I looked at quite a few claw hammer video's on youtube, and decided i liked David Holts videos the best, and i've always liked his style of claw hammer, and have followed his career since the "fire on the Mountain shows, back in the 80's!

The good thing about re-learning a new banjo style, when you live by yourself , and in a sparsely populated building as i do, you don't have much worry of it getting on anybody's last nerve, so i pretty much can practice when and as long as i want it, but it is a lot more work i am finding out, playing claw hammer, at least the right hand portion, of course to left hand....to me...is almost the same.

The frustrating part of the right hand....besides using your whole wrist and fore arm , in the up and down motioning , is getting used to using the index finger for stroking down on the sound out strings, this is where i want to cheat and put my thumb where it's not supposed to be, or my middle finger as well, needless to say, i feel bewildered and befuddled by this, and only hope that it will start coming more naturally for me soon, i guess just like with three finger.....it's gonna take some woodshedding!

I can do slow...alternating third and fourth string...bum diddy's and i even go as far as to try my hand at simple melodies like ....little birdie, or my favorite by the Carolina Chocolate Drops...ole corn liquor, but when it gets to sounding like i know what i'm doing....that's when i realize i'm doing something wrong....meaning, i don't have the years left to start a bunch of wrong habits like i did when i was a young Scruggs want to be..... so in some ways, i'm not cutting myself as much slack as it did years ago, but i've always wanted to be as proficient on claw hammer as i am three fingers, i just hope I've not bitten off all i can chew, and five yards more!

Well, i hope by this time next week i am driving, and i hope to have some furniture in the apartment, i went to St vincent de paul yesterday and put in for a chest of drawers and a kitchen table and maybe a small sofa, and asked about help freighting it up the 18 steps to my apartment.....my hulk strength has not returned as of yet, and i am feeling my years to say the least, 15 years ago, i could still carry 250 lbs up steps like where i live now......age is a tuff task master, and out of the many things that this last bout with cancer took from me, this is the first time that i've had to deal with a great loss of my once greatest super power...my strength, oh how i miss the independene of not having to ask for help lifting something heavy, but, time marches on, and so shall I !

Ok gang, that's about all i got for this outing, i am still contemplating , if the weather is nice....going to the Findley Market, up the street and see how i do playing, or busking this Saturday, i have regulars that watch me in the park, that say i'd do good in tips if i go there, and if it makes me enough money, and keeps me from fighting with my giant " house cat sized" cockroach over the food....what he don't know i have won't hurt him!

Till next time,
Y'all have a gooderin
Warp!

arnie fleischer - Posted - 10/17/2019:  11:30:28

Kevin, I did the reverse. I started out my banjo playing life in the early '60s as an old time player, playing clawhammer, melodic clawhammer, and old time 2 and 3 finger styles. Did that for over 10 years, playing solo in coffeehouses, before going over to the dark side in 1973 when I bought my first resonator banjo, a new Baldwin Ode C that I still own (although my bass player borrowed it five or six years ago and I haven't seen it since). I've forgotten all the complex melodic stuff I once knew but I can still drop thumb frail.

It's all about rhythm, something you already understand better than most.

And really, it's okay to use your middle finger if your index doesn't work out.

Now tell me, how many arguments is that statement going to start?

From Greylock to Bean Blossom - Posted - 10/18/2019:  04:29:07

Warp, I have to tell you that i do not envy you driving the Chicago route. To me, the highways are crazy up there and the way the people drive there compounds it. My first trip up there, I had just moved north from Mississippi..I had to take a van of tennis players to a tournament. One of they boys was from Chicago and in going thru interchanges (where signaling turns is a Chicago lost art), I asked the kid, "how do you drive up here". His response was roll down the window, put the hand out, give the middle finger and go where you want to. Chicago!
And I don't like driving that north south routes in the winter. A little snow and the strong west east winds over the flat land can cause snow piles on spots of the highway. I have sat on I-69 too many times in the winter with the highway stopped and the car motor running to stay warm. Warp, from where you are, you should be trying to get routes that start off by crossing the Ohio River! Good luck!
ken

warpdrive - Posted - 10/21/2019:  09:26:52

Monday, Oct, 21st, 11:10 am, Seven Hills Neighborhood Community Center, The West End.....

Good Morning,

Well, the wheels on the bus may move "round and round", but the wheels of progress.....the move at a snails pace.

It constantly amazes me how no good deed goes "un-punished"! I thought i was doing the right thing, the safely conscious thing, when i decided to not take the strange to me shift pattern truck to Chicago.
Now that decision, seems as though it's turned around to bite me right in the butt, and i am in a seemingly being held up over "red tape" obstacles , that are keeping me from starting with the same owner operator, but different company that he has trucks assigned to, and they desperately need drivers now, for freight (doing intermodal rail work") but are holding me up due to documentation like, i've got no paper social security card, then they still have to drug screen me, and wait for former employers to verify that i worked for them and then i must watch a days worth of safety videos, they way things look from where i am at.....i will be lucky to be working by the first week of november....."MEANWHILE BACK AT THE RANCH"!
I continue to hold off "ole Pete, my pet cockroach the size of a house cat" with scraps of my pot pies and other goodies.....don't read this wrong, were not broke or starving....he's just insistent that i get different crumbs for him to munch on, and i tell him he's being kind of picky for a cockroach!

So.....this past Saturday, i did something, that i've never done....with intention, in all my instrument playing life.....i went to "Findley Market" here in Cincinnati, and i did, what to me, is kind of....this is just for me.....to me, its just short of "begging" but, i cleaned up, and put my "single act" preforming attire on, and i "BUSKED"!

Findley Market is real hot spot for busking and is so big with the thousands of people that pass through there on the weekends, the management has set sign up sheets with one hour windows, and let me tell you....THEY CONTROL IT WITH A IRON FIST!
The maximum amount of hours you can busk is three hrs, and you can't do that consecutively , there are three spots, and you have to move on to another spot after each hour, and there is "hostile competition " with the other buskers that have been doing it for years....i will speak to you about that in a moment!

I showed up early....i had called the Cincinnati Police department on friday, to make sure i didn't need anything in the way of a permit, and i had talked to management that told me....when you show up, just register at the info booth!

The early worm gets eaten by the bird, so i got there about 9:15 am, and it was still a bit "brisk" with the outside temperature, i'd say upper 40's but headed for a high of 70.....that came later in the afternoon, i probably preformed in a max of 65 degrees or so, but was only chilled when i went to the south side before the sun was at it' high point!

I was dressed in nice overalls with a plaid shirt and my " freshly re-shaped, Black Beaver Stetson, looking somewhat like "Leroy Troy" but older' as i've said before, i am accustomed to working as a single, and i know how to "sell it"!

Let me touch...just a bit on my take, and again, this is just my take, on "Busking"

It is the "apitimy of foolishness" for anybody to think that they just need to sit with there instrument and open case, and people "should" as they pass by....throw money in your case...tip jar....whatever....just because your sitting there, looking like the "back end of hard luck" and i whole heartedly "DEPISE" this representation of busking, and i think it gives busking a bad name and is just short of....as i said earlier of "BEGGING"!

I started working as a single act, at different venues as a teenager in high school.
As my ole buddy Ken Hydinger will tell you and maybe some of you can tell from my videos and those that know me from my younger road days,

" I HAVE A LARGE PERSONALITY"
I genuinely love entraining and i like it that people like to listen to me talk, and that they think i am somewhat of a good banjo picker, and quite frankly, with my experiences from life, and the road, and the 50 or more different jobs i've held over the years.....i come armed with vast amounts of different ammunition i can use in my abilities to engage prospective passers by.....basically, what i am trying to say is, if it comes down to a person who just sits there, and holds there instrument and just quietly strums, and sings in a whisper, and doesn't "work it", following me will be like " following a bulldozer with a soup ladle "!

I had more than a couple of " permanent resident buskers" who came to me to lay down the rules, and how they had been there for years....ya da, yada, ya da" these are they types that watch your case and how much money is going into said case and in my case, was one of my old hats,!
These are the type of individuals that believe that anytime you go over your limit on minutes at the said spot your busing at , you are stealing from them....in other words, the spot was more important than your said talent.....and i proved that "WRONG"! it is about "Talent" and these "resident buskers" have been doing this so long, they believe they are "entitled " to the tips and and have quit working it, and preforming for it, just like another job, and it should be looked upon , just like that " THIS IS YOUR JOB, ......IT IS YOUR JOB TO PREFORM IN A WAY THAT THE PEOPLE WANT TO PUT MONEY IN YOUR HAT, ANYTHING LESS....IS BEGGING!

I won't disclose how much money i made....lets just say....i am pleased, and its not truck driving good money, but it is certainly....fast food wage money, especially for three hrs work, and i will do it again....providing the weather cooperates!

I had many vendors put tips in my hat, and even the management said i was a breath of fresh air, and invited me back anytime, some of the vendors went as far as to ask my background, and i told them of working Branson and the road, and that preforming in these environments was second nature to me.....but make no mistake friends....."i worked it, just like i was being paid by a band leader or my old employer and booker...D.A. Callaway....at Silver Dollar City, and my hands were sore and hurt after doing this , and i stayed true to charater, and this has served me well over the years, and i hope for years to come!

Ok guys....just a bit of what is going on in my life as far as i've come to date. I guess i need to head up to the Social Security office and see about getting my new card, that i've just found out will be 10-14 days out, so if this new company wants all the i's dotted and the t's crossed, i'm looking at least that long before i drive a big truck, it's not enough that I'm ready to work....no...now a days, you must wait till the employer says your ready to work.....when did the tail start wagging the dog?

Till next time
Y'all have a gooderin
Warp!

BanjoLink - Posted - 10/21/2019:  13:48:55

Warp .... you are a fresh of breath air and I love your posts. Congratulations of your latest medical report and again, you have no idea (or maybe you do) how many people you don't know are pulling for you. LOL ..... hopefully the ones you do know are pulling for you too. It is funny what you said about busking, as I have put many a dollar in a case or hat for someone who I thought was attempting to entertain me. The others are almost like some of the street people that approach you for a hand-out. There is a huge difference.

Keep up the posts when you get a chance and hopefully the red tape and other obstacles to your work will be out of the way soon.

From Greylock to Bean Blossom - Posted - 10/21/2019:  13:56:27

Warp, I have a different take on busking. First, as you say, most are not that good, but when you run into someone that can really make good music it is like finding a diamond in the midst of a normal day. It is a bright spot and a respite from the normalities of life and very much appreciated on my part. What did Earl say? It is like writing home for $5 and getting $10.
Ken

warpdrive - Posted - 10/22/2019:  11:33:41

Ken,

I remember "Earl" talking about that writing home for 5 and getting 10, but i don't have the book handy, i was just wondering what he was referring to, that was my only reason for ever having the book was his notes and stories from childhood and his thoughts on banjos, and banjo picking in general.

As far as my busking goes......i can only hope, and i continue to endeavor to be worthy of the tips that are bestowed upon me, and if my picking doesn't sound good enough to merit a tip......that's on me, as i said, i don't expect to be tipped just for sitting there holding and attempting.

Warp!

warpdrive - Posted - 10/28/2019:  12:53:32

Monday, Oct, 28th, 2:33 pm, The West End, Seven Hills Community Center, Cincinnati, Oh,

Good Afternoon.

As you can see, by the fact that it's middle of the afternoon, and i am banging away on a laptop, instead of shifting gears on a Semi Truck, i still ain't working at my chosen career....or maybe that is something i should discuss with a few of ya'll who follow me here on the hangout!

Barriers and roadblocks keep popping up in front of me, creating a resistance to my endeavoring to get back to gainful employment as a truck driver, this time, its my tracked up work record....in partly due to my three battles with my Cancer, and really, there is nothing i can say or do, that is going to change opinions that my resume will say about me.....i've worked as much at different jobs as i have as a truck driver, and when i was too sick to pass dot physicals and drug screens, i worked at non driving jobs.....something the transportation industry frowns upon, but i can and did play the hand i was dealt at the time, right, wrong, or indifferent, that has been my life, but to quote "Chief Dan George" from "The Outlaw Josey Wales...." i endeavor to persevere "!

Ok, lets talk about "BUSKING"! and what ole warp has learned in the two weekends he has done it.....yes, i busked again this past Sunday and once again, was happy with my tips for 3 hrs work!

First and foremost, i will talk about my Hatfield Howitzer of a banjo. Now i know i don't have it set up like many of you ...."tone technicians " and really, i don't care.

I gave up many years ago, trying to get the same sound and tone as Earl, or Sonny, or JD, or fill in the blank with your favorite legends, i'm tried to chasing everybody's else's opinions of what a banjo should sound like....life is too short!

You can spend countless hrs , days, weeks and months that turn into years, obsessing about tone and weather or not it makes another banjo picker drool over the sound your getting, and i'm sick to death of all conversations along that line, you either talk about it sitting on the sidelines, or you holster up ,and get in the fight, i have chose the latter of the two, and i am getting results from people who gladly drop money in my hat, and could care less that i sound like any of the above mentioned legends....in fact, i'm sure 90% of the people who tip me, have never heard of any of the banjo legends....with exception to the mighty Earl!

One thing i've observed in the two times I've busked in the market is that the people seem to like the drop C tuning. Songs like, Soldier's Joy, and Home Sweet Home, get people to bouncing and stepping out, and the same with the Scruggs classic from live recordings ...."you'll never stop me from dreaming" i play that at warp speed and and really emphasize the low c note with a double bounce, they really like that one a lot.
The d tuner tunes are something that draws a lot of questions and people seem fascinated by the twisting of keys in the middle of songs, so i preform them all, and i mean all right down to the double c tuning for "bear tracks"!

Then of course, there is the home run at bats....The Beverly Hillbillies, and Dooley, and sometimes , salty dog, is recognized , but not as much as the hillbillies and what people call "that song the hillbillies on Andy Griffith sang....meaning dooley!
If i ever start doing "dueling banjos" again, and play both parts as i used to do, that will complete the trifecta i think....maybe add "man of constant sorrow"?

Here is my outtake on busking......it is honorable when done from a "if you like what i am playing....please tip me" I do this for rent, or food, or gas................
I Can't get on board with some of what i see going on, in the name of busking, especially when i know that more than a few of the buskers i am competing with up there, are doing it for drug money, and down right " pan handling" i'm sorry, i've been lower than low, several times in my life, and I didn't fall to that course of life.....Thank goodness for discipline!

Many of the people who tip me, probably don't know a thing about Bluegrass, they just know that they like the sound of the banjo, and the way i am playing it, and i firmly believe that the bulk of who i preform for....would be off put by bluegrass, and i know from experience that you don't have to like or love bluegrass to like the sound and tone of a banjo and i would not want to play this environment as a bluegrass band,....no, i think working this venue as a single is the way to go!

If the weather is cooperative again this weekend, i will go to the market again, i know many of the vendors were excited to see me return and wanted me to play close to there booths and i was also tipped again by vendors.
I want to believe my suscess with this....thus far, is due to my sincerity and the fact i am trying to turn out a professional product performance , and i am grateful for every tip that goes in my hat, and i say thank you to each and every tipper!
Then again, i'm probably over thinking this, and you could put a "cigar store indian" out there with a banjo around its neck and a record playing along side it, and the people would put tips in it's hat.....only time will tell!

Till next time,
Y'all have a gooderin
Warp!

Laurence Diehl - Posted - 10/28/2019:  13:04:51

Thanks for the update warp - I have done a little busking in my time and it felt like the hardest work I ever did! harder than laying carpet...
But our dear departed Dave Hum demonstrated what an honorable profession it can be, as he was "taking the music to the people". I hope the driving gig comes through for you soon!
L

chuckv97 - Posted - 10/28/2019:  13:53:18

Keep up the busking, Warp. It’s an honorable profession,,, been around for centuries. People need to hear the banjo and all it can do in the hands of a master.

BanjoLink - Posted - 10/28/2019:  16:04:26

quote:

---

Originally posted by warpdrive

Monday, Oct, 28th, 2:33 pm, The West End, Seven Hills Community Center, Cincinnati, Oh,



Good Afternoon.



As you can see, by the fact that it's middle of the afternoon, and i am banging away on a laptop, instead of shifting gears on a Semi Truck, i still ain't working .......I

Indian" out there with a banjo around its neck and a record playing along side it, and the people would put tips in it's hat.....only time will tell!



Till next time,

Y'all have a gooderin

Warp!

---

Warp ..... you keep going up on my "admiration" scale.  Your insight into to everything bluegrass (or really banjo) and the real world is something everyone should read ..... lots of great lessons for the unwashed!

Mooooo - Posted - 11/13/2019:  15:05:45

What's going on Kevin, it's about time for a Warpdate on your doings and hijinx.

warpdrive - Posted - 11/14/2019:  07:50:47

Thursday, Nov, 14, Seven Hills, Community Center, Cincinnati, Oh, The West End...9:38 am........

Good Morning To All,

Well, per usual with me, things are certainly staying consistent with life not going they way i plan for it to go....but that is what is supposed to make it fun...right?

So the big news in my life....now hold what you got....Ole warp has been drug into the 21st century.....yep....in order for me to go to work for this new trucking company.....i will start driving on monday the 18th, i had to have a "Smart Phone"!
so this past veterans day, on monday the 11th....through verizon....i am now on a plan with my new....basic....samsung smart phone, that will do everything i need for it to do with my job hauling "amazon" 53' trailers to and from Hebron Ky!

I have been avoiding this move for years, and have admittedly tagged myself as the last of the "upright walking cavemen".
I don't like the social down fall of our ability to not converse as we once did, before all this " instant social, you know where i am and what I'm doing right now, and btw...here's a photo of me right now"!
I just can't get on board with all that....but, as i am finding out, these smart phones in certain disciplines of trucking, as i am about to embark upon, they are a necessary tool now.....not so much in shifting gears, but the paper work aspect, or " lack there of" associated with the job!

That being said......there is a "HUGE" learning curve for a 59 year old goat like me, who has basically survived life with nothing more than a 5 year old 3g flip phone on a pay as you go basis.....no internet, only basic caveman textings and no ability to send or receive a decent photo, it's like "rip van winkle" waking up after a 100 year sleep.

The techs at the verizon store down loaded my Amazon app i will need for my job, that was a invite from my trucking company, and i will probably go up there later today or tomorrow and we will set and fill out the necessaries associated with the app and my truck so all will be kosher with the company and how much the load is paying my owner, Dave and me!

This past monday , Dave...my boss/owner of the truck took me down here only a mile or so from my apartment here on the west side, and i took command of the 2006 Volvo day cab that i will be driving for this job.
This is the third "red volvo" truck i've driven for various trucking companies, my first back in 07, when i was being trained was a brand new 2006 road tractor, and then my first issued to me truck was a 2002 red volvo and a couple of years ago, i was driving a 07 red volvo for a private contractor in northern ky, so i am right at home with this 06 day cab and its as easy to drive to me as my SUV!

My hopes for the smart phone....when i get just a bit more familiar with it....is to use the video portion of the camera and make some banjo videos and through Mike Moo....do as we once did, get some more banjo videos posted here on the hangout.
I will have to figure out how this will effect my data plan that is associated with my phone, and how much i can send.....so we are a few days out on this, and i will probably check with the techs at the verizon store and see what they say.
I am not wanting to do anything that is going to increase my monthly bill anymore than i need, and if this does work out, i am sure these will be short quick videos, nothing more than a song , but nobody needs to hear more than one song at a time from me anyway!

On the banjo front...... i have been going one day a weekend now for a month now up to Findley Market and busking.
The weather has turned "sharply cold" and i am careful not to expose myself to the elements to much....it's downright painful picking in upper 30.s to low 40 degree temps, so i scan the local weather radar to see forecasted highs and what days will be most pleasant seeing as how were outside without much cover.

This past Sunday i only netted about 75.00 for my three hrs of picking, so i was under my goal of 100.00 each time i busk.
I am really catching a lot of flack from the other buskers, they don't like my ability to generate the amount of tips from my playing, and the aggressiveness involved with getting a good slot on the 3.. "pre ordained" busking positions at the market, has become down right" adversarial", and could get hostile if higher powers don't intervene soon.
The way the busking situation is being ran right now, it's just destine to turn violent one day.....not so much by me, but because of me, and i am at odds with myself as to how to handle this!
Right now, my income from the busking has been keeping me "afloat" and i probably will be lucky if by Thanksgiving, i draw pay from my new "aforementioned " job, so i am going to continue doing this, until the job income cancels out my need to busk, and then i can do it at a more " because i want to" basis! and not a need to because i must basis.
The early "winter like" temp changes has really made my life in the apartment interesting...to say the least!

My "house cat sized cockroach...Pete" is not much of a warm snuggler , and really, is no good for giving warmth, either in radiant heat or love, he just waits for his crumbs.
I have only 2 space heaters for heat, one large one and one small ceramic one, and at night i put each one on each side of my bed...up close as i can without worrying about catching fire and i sleep under several heavy blankets and quilts, and during the day, i sit with a heavy blanket wrapped around me.
Hopefully, with one of the first .....potential paychecks.....i will invest in a space heater that will bring better comfort to my campsite with walls i call my apartment!
I know there are better space heaters than what i have....but they cost a pretty penny, and you can't purchase those on busking tips!

Our "Green Acres" style of living in the building is just that ....a contestant battle of who is running to many amps for the over burdened electric wiring in this 100 year old....should have been bull dozed 50 years ago....dwelling we inhabit.
The sounds of foot steps..."clunking up and down the stairs" to the basement to throw the breaker box switch in apartments goes on all day and night, it really is trial and error in each apartment so one is constantly plugging in and un-plugging all day until bedtime!
I would be happy to see normal november or even december temps return soon!

Ok gang, i've rattled and rambled on long enough, and your about as up to speed on my life as i am, and hopefully your warmer.
For the most part, i feel good....i am staying active, but there is a touch of arthritis developing in my left hand, so i am feeling the effects in how i note the strings and have some diminished functioning, so i am keeping an eye on that. I may have to go to some sort of analgesic warming cream before i play in the cold temps, but i guess i should be thankful....its not in my right hand where the thumb and fingers are doing the heavy lifting huh?

Until next time,
Y'all have a gooderin
Warp!

From Greylock to Bean Blossom - Posted - 11/16/2019:  12:37:15

Warp,
Are there any coffee houses, indoor malls, restaurants you can gig at a night or two a week in the winter? And I will say going to Hebron KY sounds a lot better than going to Bang Bang city Illinois.
Tell the would be buskers to get some lessons and learn to play or send them out to get a banjo!
Good luck with those nuts.
ken

warpdrive - Posted - 11/28/2019:  05:03:47

Thursday Nov, 28th, 7:30 am, My Apartment, The West End, Cincinnati, Oh.....

Good Morning, and...HAPPY THANKSGIVING..!

first and foremost.....Yes, ole warp is driving now.....here's how it unfolded...

This last friday night, on November 22nd, my friend Ron Simmons, who runs the Appalachian Festival....he talked me into going down to Willis Music in Florence Ky, for the monthly jam.....i used to go all the time....but haven't been since leaving Cincinnati when me and the fur kids became homeless back in 2018 and before i got sick again.
I told ron that if he would pick me up...not wanting to losing my parking spot here in the projects upon returning...i would go....ron relented and picked me up lated friday afternoon.
I was scheduled to start on Sun morning....hauling trailers for Amazon...contracted through my company Gilco up in Sharonville Oh, but......along about 6pm friday night, my dispatch calls and ask if i can could start on Saturday morning at 4:30 am, it seems that the scheduled driver was layed over in Indy, and would not be able to cover the trailer.....so i got my "baptism by fire" early last Saturday Morning at 4:30 am.....acturally it was earlier, i have to make time to get up, and drive 20 miles to my tractor, and then 40 plus miles back south to Hebron Ky, where the Amazon warehouses are located.....there are several of them!

The Jamming at the monthly Willis Music jam was just so so for me....my mind was occupied by going through the steps of my upcoming start back to work driving and using a tool( the smart phone and app) that i've never used before....let me tell you, the cave man discovering fire has nothing on me!

These first few days of driving have been good, at times and a bit "taxing" because of the "hurry up and wait" associated with Amazon, but i am enjoying getting back into trucking, and have adapted quite well to my "now bluetooth atmosphere" that i seem to live in when in my truck, i still operate with a safety first mind set, so sometimes dispatch has to go on hold until i can get the truck needs taken care of , it is interesting to say the least!

For today, Thanksgiving....i am scheduled to do a run starting at 10:30 this morning, pretty much local stuff and i should be finished by about 6:30 or so this evening and on the way home, once i get back in my car.....i will stop off at the home of Dan and Carol Rosenthal, for some Thanksgiving, this is something i am accustomed to, as they have been my Cincinnati family now for many of the past years, but this year does come with a lot of sadness for me, and i know many of you are probably tired of hearing me say this..... i just really miss my fur babies, and as hard as i try to move on with my life without them.....they are forever on my mind, and i just don't know how anybody can move past losing your partners that were most of your life and what you really were living for.....i guess i just need more time!

Ok gang....my old buddy Ken Hydinger(greaylock to bean blosssom) called me last night, and we had a good chat, and hope to be able to get together this winter some, once i get good and established, here in the projects, and kind of get a feel of a consistent schedule with my work life.
I had a good day yesterday of picking the ole Hatfield, and my hands felt pretty good too, not much soreness, so i think the days off from practicing for busking have helped.
I hope to try a video again real soon as i become more acquainted with my smart phone, and figure out just how much i can send, once i record something!

Ok gang, time to start cleaning up and prepare for my work day.....
to everybody on the Hangout....

HAPPY THANKSGIVING...
y'all have a gooderin
Warp!

From Greylock to Bean Blossom - Posted - 11/28/2019:  05:10:49

Warp,
Happy Thanksgiving to you. You are in our thoughts and prayers. Be safe on the highway.
ken