From Greylock to Bean Blossom - Posted - 01/11/2021:  07:26:17

Hard to get Earl's jump, strut, and jive, snap crackle and pop timing isn't it?

Skaggs and company

youtube.com/watch?v=6Ve6AKTAiSw

Monroe and Earl

youtube.com/watch?v=tyQr0zGdNdA

Ken

Edited by - From Greylock to Bean Blossom on 01/11/2021 07:28:25

Eric A - Posted - 01/11/2021:  07:27:24

quote:

---

Originally posted by Ks_5-picker

I watch reruns of the Marty Stuart shows on RFD channel. I just think he’s a treasure.

Glad to hear from ya Warp,I’m ready for spring myself.

---

We had tickets to Marty Stuart last April, but...covid....  :(

From Greylock to Bean Blossom - Posted - 01/11/2021:  07:32:48

More STRUT:

Man the opening notes and timing GRAB you.

you gotta be careful you who cover.

youtube.com/watch?v=o5zjGlHo-UM

ken

Ks_5-picker - Posted - 01/11/2021:  08:14:04

Notice how Kenny holds a long note at the beginning of both his breaks? As if he’s not sure if the banjo will start one.
The way Kenny never takes his eyes off Monroe,I think he never really knows for sure what Bill might do next. ;)

warpdrive - Posted - 01/11/2021:  10:42:58

I will just make a quick comment about kenny baker
..." HE WAS HIS OWN MAN "
that was one old coal miner that even bill couldnt ride heard on...and i learned this from private conversations.
He played the way he felt, or he didn't play at all.

Warp!

Eric A - Posted - 01/11/2021:  10:52:58

quote:

---

Originally posted by warpdrive

I will just make a quick comment about kenny baker

..." HE WAS HIS OWN MAN "

that was one old coal miner that even bill couldnt ride heard on...and i learned this from private conversations.

He played the way he felt, or he didn't play at all.



Warp!

---

I think I read somewhere that one time Kenny Baker walked right off stage in the middle of a set.  Didn't talk to Bill for years after.

warpdrive - Posted - 01/11/2021:  11:05:17

That is absolutely true.

Warp!

BanjoLink - Posted - 01/11/2021:  12:51:48

quote:

---

Originally posted by warpdrive

I will just make a quick comment about kenny baker

..." HE WAS HIS OWN MAN "

that was one old coal miner that even bill couldnt ride heard on...and i learned this from private conversations.

He played the way he felt, or he didn't play at all.



Warp!

---

Kenny seemed like a no-nonsense guy.  I would think that Bill needed at least one guy like that in his band.  Kenny was extremely smooth and everything he did seemed to fit ...... didn't get any better.

warpdrive - Posted - 01/11/2021:  14:17:20

Kennys touch and tone is still regarded as the bench mark all aspiring fiddlers try for..just as banjo pickers chase earl...yeah..its safe to say baker pulled the sweetest tone...uncle josh called him mr velvet...and rightfully so
You could have filled his fiddle with live mice and it still would not have squeeked

His touch..his touch.his touch, it was just incredible, every note were it needed to be..nothing more, nothing less..your ears just smiled when that tone came at you, almost made you want to apologize to him for not paying him on the spot for the pleasure he brought to your ears...i grew up with and got to play professionally with many good fiddlers...but never have i heard his equal on tone.
There are other good fiddlers that are fancier and more exuberant with there shuffle bow and double stops..but none ever drawed a bow with sweeter tone than kenny baker.

Warp!

warpdrive - Posted - 03/14/2021:  10:07:05

Sunday March 14th, The West End, Cincinnati Oh...

Hey ! How are y'all?

Well i hope everybody is as thrilled as me with the arrival of spring, and warmer weather.
It wont be too long until the temps are warm enough to pick outdoors, and for me. that means heading out to the local walking parks to sit and pick...and watch the parade of people and pets.

I see the most amazing sites at the local parks and the most endearing animals and on occasion...get a few bucks thrown into my banjo case too...but im really there just to pick and be thankful for my life and good health.

Speaking of good health....since my last post on this thread...i have become employed at " The Lords Gym " here in Cincinnati.
I did not seek the position, but rather the position sought me.
This organization works to help men who struggle with addiction, and have come from incarnation, by offering treatment through housing and ministry...the program last a couple of years...and its something i believe in haveing had a prescription medication problem as a younger man.
I am the staff custodian but having a background in weight lifting and crowd control...and just having a good read on people..and being a positive influence...i am called upon to make sure the lesser weight lifing savy individuals dont drop a loaded heavy barbell across there necks...and i offer personal life experience to those who at times are struggling with the rigors of the discipline of the program.

The guys are great, and the enviorment is ministry first..gym second.
This job lets me give back, and stay in shape, while making a few bucks, and the way i look at it is...id be there anyway, and i was already being ask my advise in the weight trainning dept, so when they approached me for the open custodial position, and having good experience in this, and only being 5 blocks from my apartment...it was a no brainer.
On the banjo front, im picking several hrs a week, and am as good a shape on the banjo as i am in my personal health...
Rumor has it that the jams are going to be open soon, and im already getting offers to attend...we will see, i must admit i just hate having to break for slow traffic and seldom get to drive at my natural speed...or as ive imparted to you people on several occasions...
" i aint ready to play old man grass yet!"
So i will get a dozen emails now asking.. Warp..what did you mean by " old man grass"?...
I will tell you exactly what i mean...
I kick off, and play,and maintain, the tempo of the original recorded tunes that a jam might ask me to play...and if you cant pick and maintain that speed...then dont ask me to participate.

I am 60..going on 18 when it comes to my ability, and i wont apologize because my picking hasnt aged with me,
I work very diligently at maintaining my skill set, and i have little tolerence for those that drag the beat and want to re-set the parameters that flatt and scruggs, and bill monroe, and jimmy martin set with there recorded material...for me...jamming at less than recorded speeds is like running with concrete boots on...i aint gonna do it..PERIOD!

I see various postings of things that just make me scratch my head and say "huh"...everything from banjos for sale as a prewar that the only thing prewar is the rim...but the rest is new parts...but in the posters eyes..its prewar because the rim is orginial...
And the love of people learning scruggs style banjo from people who never ever in there carrer ever sounded close to earl scruggs...but they have a new book or method that teaches you how to play and sound like earl...
dont any of you ever ask the question or wonder..if this person is such an authority on how to play scruggs...why dont they sound like scruggs

I can list a half dozen pickers i know that can and often do sound like earl when there trying too...and 3 dozen or so that teach earl...and never did and still dont ever sound like earl...

I see people asking about correct tabs about earl songs and people posting the tabs saying they are correct...but no posting there learned earl tab as to tell if they learned it or not...whats that about?

Im gonna clue yall in on something...
Earl did not read or write tab, and his book is not a representation of his picking..especially his picking before the Beverly hillbillies era .
Foggy mt breakdown was a afterthought at best until the release of bonnie and Clyde.

I dont know any banjo pickers of any prominence that learned from earls book, but there are alot of teachers out there that recomend the book...as ive said....they dont play or sound earl.....but the teach it....still a head scratcher for me.

Ok guys....all of this is meant as good humor...and not to be taken too seriously, for after all....it is only a banjo!

Yall have a gooderin,

Warp!

ceemonster - Posted - 03/14/2021:  18:27:25

Well, it's great to know you're kicking!

I'll bet if you pasted the 2nd half of this post up in the Bluegrass Playing Advice forum here, you'd have a few others a-kicking!

warpdrive - Posted - 03/14/2021:  18:42:05

Thanks for the thought cee
I stand by my statments..

All the scruggs teachers believe that Scruggs style is about notes, and that can be partly true, but mostly earl is about hand speed timming, and phrasing, his attack his notes are useless unless you play them like he did.

Warp!

From Greylock to Bean Blossom - Posted - 03/15/2021:  06:19:59

Warp,
Good to hear that you are in a position you feel good about. And it sounds like a position where great good is done. Congratulations on what you are doing to help others.
It is also good that the Hatfield is singing so well.
Ken

warpdrive - Posted - 03/15/2021:  07:10:24

Ken
The hatfield is doing great..i am going to need the frets dressed soon.
Yes the new job is a blessing and its nice to hear the feedback i get from the higher ups and those in the program i give life experience advise to...this gym is deeper than the weights one sees through the window.

Warp!

From Greylock to Bean Blossom - Posted - 03/15/2021:  18:11:01

quote:

---

Originally posted by warpdrive

Ken

The hatfield is doing great..i am going to need the frets dressed soon.

Yes the new job is a blessing and its nice to hear the feedback i get from the higher ups and those in the program i give life experience advise to...this gym is deeper than the weights one sees through the window.



Warp!

---

Where you gonnna get the frets dressed at? Maybe we take a trip to Arthurs in a couple months like before?

ken

warpdrive - Posted - 03/15/2021:  18:44:22

Yeah.
Id be up for that.

Warp!

From Greylock to Bean Blossom - Posted - 03/15/2021:  18:58:48

quote:

---

Originally posted by warpdrive

Yeah.

Id be up for that.



Warp!

---

Great!! I got to mend up a bit more from some surgery and hope in a month or so I am ready to head south. lets stay in touch on it. I got so much covid cabin fever I am dying to get out.

Ken

warpdrive - Posted - 03/15/2021:  19:04:01

Same here ken
Will be in touch

bill53 - Posted - 03/26/2021:  09:05:49

i agree with you my 27 gibson is stock except for the neck who ever had it played it hard

warpdrive - Posted - 04/05/2021:  13:48:10

Monday, April 5th, west end community Cincinnati

Hey and howdy to all, and happy belated Easter.

Well ole warp had a busy easter holiday.
Good Friday morning i packed up the trailblazer and pointed it toward the south and went home to arkansas to visit my mom.

My sister came up from the woodlands Texas so we had a mini family gathering along with my nephew...nice weather and a good time had by one and all.

On the way back to cincinnati i swung by arthur Hatfields place and dropped the banjo off for some much needed
PMCS ( PRIMARY MAINTENANCE CHECKS AND SERVICES)
IVE put in for new stainless steel frets and im having the neck reshaped to like a blackjack shape and speed necked.
It will probably take 3 weeks or so, arthur is really swamped...but i can borrow a. Banjo from vernon mcintyre if i need one.

So we're getting close to the start of festivil season, im curious to hear if things are progressing in a manner that is going to be virus compliant,
Not that it bothers me, but it worries the hell out of alot of folks, and that in itself is not great for business.

I know we had to cancel the Appalachian festival again this year and the musicians are feeling the pinch and depend greatly on bar gigs that have been knocked out of commission, hopfully we will get back on track soon.

I got my first shot a couple of weeks ago...i get my second on the 12th of this month, i will be glad to get er over with.

I heard a fantastic arrangement of the late 70's rock band Supertramp's "
Take the long way home..
Alan bibey and company just killed it.
I love it when that kind of music gets a bluegrass spin.

Ok guys, im tired and looking forward to a early bed time, back to the gym tomorrow.

Tall take care
Have a gooderin

Warp!

BanjoLink - Posted - 04/05/2021:  20:42:09

Warp ..... just for your peace of mind, you are good to go with the first shot. You definitely want to get the second one, but my buddy who worked for Pfizer (and now Moderna) told me two months ago that the first shot would do the trick. It has now been confirmed by the scientist that the first shot is highly effective. Still be careful and follow the procedures, but feel confident you are protected.

warpdrive - Posted - 04/06/2021:  04:29:12

Thanks John
It was my understanding that the first shot is like 70% effective?..
But yeah...i get all my shots each year...

You know doctors didn't become doctors because they couldnt cut it as banjo pickers..

Warp!

From Greylock to Bean Blossom - Posted - 04/06/2021:  04:43:23

Warp,
You have not posted a recording in a long time. How is your equipment for doing that?
ken

BanjoLink - Posted - 04/06/2021:  06:20:56

quote:

---

Originally posted by warpdrive

Thanks John

It was my understanding that the first shot is like 70% effective?..

But yeah...i get all my shots each year...



You know doctors didn't become doctors because they couldnt cut it as banjo pickers..



Warp!

---

10-4 Warp!  Talking about banjo picking doctors, we haven't heard from Silvio on the Hangout in ages!

flyingsquirrelinlay - Posted - 04/06/2021:  06:35:26

Warp, SO nice to read one of your newsy, folksy bulletins. Keep on pickin'. Dave

warpdrive - Posted - 04/06/2021:  06:51:57

Ken
Right now with the hatfield in arthurs shop im picking air banjo...but i am going to be updating and getting new laptop soon so i hope to start posting again...
Truthfully i don't know if i will have anything other than my understanding of bluegrass and scruggs based on 48 years of picking...
Maybe i can start a sub thread that follows up on some of the things i see posted and call it...
THIS IS WHAT THEY MEANT FOR IT TO SOUND LIKE...

of course im joking about being critical of some of the experts postings..but ive come along way since healing up from the chemo effects and wouldnt mind posting a better account of my picking since last year...even if it means taking some of my own medicine ...

Never let it be said that ole warp can dish it out but not take it...
Ken, you just get that knee of yours in shape so we can go to arthurs in a few weeks when Arthur is done giving Serena her face lift.

Warp!

From Greylock to Bean Blossom - Posted - 04/06/2021:  13:28:39

Warp,
My knee is good enough to get to Arthur's. Just give me an excuse. Plus I have had two covid vaccine shots and am so ready to get on the f'n road for bluegrass and banjo!! Just let me know when Serena is ready to take you on again after you just wore her down!
ken

warpdrive - Posted - 04/06/2021:  13:39:20

Ken
When i was talking to arthur on the phone yesterday ( i just dropped it off didnt see him..he was in town and i couldnt. Wait)

Arthur told me i had at least 4 frets that were wore into the fret board and needed replaced...
I told him jim yarboro told me i was the hardest on frets of any banjo picker he knew and he regularly dressed my frets back in the day 2 times a year.

Warp!

From Greylock to Bean Blossom - Posted - 04/06/2021:  13:45:34

Warp, are you going to get a harder fret?
ken

warpdrive - Posted - 04/06/2021:  14:20:06

Ken
I ask arthur to give stainless steel a shot...he said he has never used it before in the fact you need special snips to cut it...we'll see if he can do it.

Warp!

From Greylock to Bean Blossom - Posted - 04/07/2021:  05:20:45

quote:

---

Originally posted by warpdrive

Ken

I ask arthur to give stainless steel a shot...he said he has never used it before in the fact you need special snips to cut it...we'll see if he can do it.



Warp!

---

I am looking forward to hearing you play your banjo as you talked earlier about how it improved. I thought it sounded pretty great at Arthur's.

ken

RB-1 - Posted - 04/11/2021:  02:44:46

Hi Kevin,

I put on stainless about two years ago and still no signs of wear whatsoever.

I noticed a small change in sound, however.

But all for the better as my old RB-1 could do with a bit of extra brightness and sustain (it still is one of the dryest banjo's I'd ever experienced).

That's about all the advice I can share.

Of course I don't do anywhere near as many hours on the instrument as you do, not in the least as I keep switching around from mandolin through guitar to dobro and back to banjo again. Works best in the duo with my wife Elly.

This past year (no gigs anyway) I've added fiddle into the equation too and I've learned more on that than in the 40 years before.....

We've started our 4 piece band rehearsals on line and in spite of 100+ miles distance, it's working for us....

warpdrive - Posted - 04/11/2021:  04:05:41

Good to hear from you Bruno.
Ive played stainless frets on other banjos, and i like the brighter tone they give, plus the fact they wont wear as fast.

Warp!

warpdrive - Posted - 05/06/2021:  17:25:26

Thursday may 6,
The West End Community
Cincinnati...6:51 pm

Good evening yall
Hope everbody is doing well and starting to maybe see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Well after being separated from my hatfield since the day after easter, i received word a couple of days ago from arthur that he has the new stainless steel frets installed, and the neck has been speed necked and he wants to wait till i get down there to give her a good feel up before he bolts her back up to the pot.

So this comming tuesday, bareing any acts of god intervention, myself and ken hydinger will meet up once again in louisville, and make a pilgrimage down to arthurs to reunite with Serena.

I suspect that ken will charge me his usual travel fee, which is to sit in his back seat and pick his banjos all the way to arthurs, something im always glad to do....but old warp has a HUGE SURPRISE...
ive been cheating on Serena with another banjo....thats right gang....another bombshell came into my life over the last two weeks and i was as shocked to have the opportunity to make her a Hendrix family member as you will be....heres the story..

As you all know my comming to cincinnati is through my having worked with vernon mcintyre....and since ive been banjoless for over a month and a half...ive been going to vernons store on a regular basis and playing his new acquisitions and private collection not normally up for sale.
Vernon has more quality banjos in one store than any place i know of....and in case you dont know it...he has the 2 most embellish banjos that greg rich built under his rk company..
Not to mention some great pre wars both flat heads and archtops..he seems to have his finger on the banjo pluse
And in the last 10 days he purchased and sold the Super 500 bowtie that was the gold guitar inlayed 500 pattern that was on the internet a couple of years back...a pretty nice sounding and playing ax, ..i could have enjoyed it had not i fell hard for a recent one of a kind banjo that he had been having me put through it paces and we were jamming several times a week.

I caught myself going up to vernons everyday to play this banjo..hopfully some of y'all know what its like when you cant shake off the sound of a banjo that has you bewitched
And even worse..a banjo you want, and have the money for....BUT....THE BANJO AINT FOR SALE.

Gang, it's one thing to want a banjo from a person that really doesnt want to sell...

But it is a whole other proposition to get another professional banjo picker/ collector to decide to at least give you first dibs when they do decide.
I dont want to say he owed me one...so lets say our 25 year friendship and the fact ive never bought a banjo from him...and i gave him a very respectable profit.

I recently had a small windfall and ive always said i would put another banjo in my life when the right one came along at the right time...and being without a banjo.
It was the right time...and the banjo had a second suiter that would give an insane amount for it...i would not be able to compeate in a biding war....as amazing as the banjo looked...its sound is even more spectacular and the other suiter felt as i did..

Before vernon could say what he wanted when he said to both me and the other buyer 2 saturdays ago while we were jamming...he closed the store on saturday afternoon and we all left for home.

I could not sleep that night and already had made my mind up to what i had to do...

The next morning...2 sundays ago...i called vernon at home and said.."vern...what you say you meet me down at your store later and i give you....xxxx.oo for that banjo?
Vern said..kev you want that banjo that bad?...i said yeah vern...i aint geting no younger and this is one i cant pass up, and i pick the hell out of it...vern said kev...if i was still picking banjo this would be the one...u said yeah yeah...is it mine or not?

Ok gang here is the specs...
And yes i expect some snarky remarks because of how ive bad mouthed the manufacturer in other threads as well as this one..
Made Dec..2001
Gibson
RB-3-Wreath
Gold plated
Custom engraved armrest
Double hump tailpiece

I never thought i would ever own another mahogany banjo...let alone a gibson..this was a custom order and i know the man that had it made and i have the warranty paper from the build...to everbodys knowledge..its the only factory 3 wreath in gold that gibson did..what got me was the sweet tone this thing has..
And as i was telling jim Britton..its as heavy as a top tension.
The plating seems heavier than most and it looks great with the double hump tailpiece.
Hopfully tuesday i can get some pics and vids up of both the hatfield and the gibson.
The former owner is known to some of the collector community..i consider myself the second owner seeing as vernon only had just bought it the day i first played it.
In case your wondering..
Gibson usa stamped tone ring...kulesh according to jim britton.
So now i have 2 totally different sounding banjos..i love that one makes me play it different from the other.

So no one will ask..
I gave high demand market value plus for a one of a kind custom factory orginal gibson

AND I DONT REGRET IT...
It plays like a telecaster..my ears are still not sure of what there hearing being used to straight grain maple..and as you might guess...i cant put it down.
Ok gang...time to relax..
Ask all the questions you want...
Till next time
Yall have a gooderin,
Warp!

Keith Harper - Posted - 05/07/2021:  04:25:02

Awesome, Warp!!
I wish I was making that trip to Arthur's with you and Ken.

Aradobanjo - Posted - 05/07/2021:  06:52:38

Hello,



Congratulations on your new banjo. In previous posts, gold plating was just bling. Banjos are one of the few places two timing is permissible.



Now it is too heavy. You can be just like Earl and scrape all of gold but the tone ring. That was his money maker. Enjoy your trip to Arthur’s. Are you ready to put stainless on this new one?

Edited by - Aradobanjo on 05/07/2021 06:53:33

warpdrive - Posted - 05/07/2021:  07:12:36

Nah john

This new banjo has hardly been played at all...im going to stay original factory specs for a while....maybe some time down the road i might have it speed necked...but being one of a kind...i think in case some day if sombody comes along and loves it more than i do...it will help keeping it original

Warp!

BanjoLink - Posted - 05/07/2021:  08:12:43

Congrats Warp ..... don't think Serena will mind at all! All of my girls seem to get along pretty well!

ceemonster - Posted - 05/11/2021:  14:22:39

Hope we get to hear the new arrival and the spiffed-up Serena one day . . .

warpdrive - Posted - 05/11/2021:  18:05:16

Cee
As i discussed with Ken today
I hope to start posting again soon...speaking of ken...

What a great day myself and ken hydinger( greylock to beanblossom ) had today down at arthur hatfields.

Serena and her new neck and stainless steel teeth are slicker than greesed lighting on a down hill go.
Since arthur had the neck off her...it will be a few days for the neck to settle back in against the pot...i notice that she had droped a bit in the tone i like from her...but with a 1/4 turn on each nut..and she starting barking...she really does have a wicked bite but ad i said she will take a few days to aclimate to her neck being back on...man is she fast with no finish on her back...and the stainless gives her a bit more crack than i remembered...as ken noticed both my banjos have different voices...and that is the way it should be....speaking of which kens mahogany hatfield is a damn good sounding banjo in its own right...and i enjoyed putting it through its paces on the way down....i tell you gang
You cant beat a day of good friendship...like minded conversations..oh yeah
BANJOS!...GREAT SOUNDING BANJOS.

OK GANG, we had a large day and i hope to debut the new acquisition before too long.

Till next time
Yall have a gooderin,
Warp!

From Greylock to Bean Blossom - Posted - 05/11/2021:  19:04:55

Kevin and I had a great trip to Arthur’s. Kevin left Cincy at 8am and I left Bloomington at 7:30. We met at Sam’s Club in Louisville and took my van to Glasgow Ky. At first Kevin and I talked a bit. He showed me some letters from the Chief Sonny Osborne in which Sonny talked to Kevin about the difference between being good and great. Thru the trip Kevin talked a lot about Sonny, how he admired him, Sonny’s very unique skills, and many things he learned from him. Kevin has the greatest respect in the world for Sonny.



Then after 20 minutes talking, Warp pulled out by mahogany Hatfield and played it the rest of the way to Arthur’s. Man, what a great sounding banjo I have. Too bad I play so bad, but I am at the stage in life that I can be very short on skills and still have the best of equipment. Eat your heart out youngsters.



Arthur did 3 things to Kevin’s straight grain maple banjo. He thinned the neck, turned if from a finished neck to a speed neck, and re-fretted the banjo. Before polishing the neck Arthur wanted to make sure it felt good to Kevin and it did. Then Warp played it a lot and made sure that the strings were the right height. Let me tell you, it sounded good. That banjo has an ATTITUDE and speaks right up! Kevin also played his newly purchased Gibson and what a contrast in sounds. Two great banjos and one great afternoon. Then Arthur did a little set up work on my banjo and put some rail road spikes into a $200 2 pound banjo I bought. I got a custom Hatfield T-shirt



While there another good player, Chase (ole mind can’t remember the last name. came in with his banjo. He plays with a band that is playing Rosine this year. He said he comes to Arthur’s to get strings and talk to Arthur. He and Kevin were trading banjo’s around and it was fun to hear.



Also, Arthur had an old either Vega or White Lady open back with a hoop instead of a tone ring that he put a resonator on and a neck on. He has it sold to a gentleman at a very reasonable price. That banjo sounded great and was very light.

Great people, great subject, Great day.

Ken

bill53 - Posted - 07/25/2021:  12:29:32

i saw your video at arthurs man i think ill sell my banjos wow your good

warpdrive - Posted - 07/25/2021:  13:29:27

That is so very kind of you to say that...but im not that good...
In fact in the grand scheme of banjo picking...im barely average, and after 48 yrs of picking i should be much much better, but you cant make a silk purse out of a sow's ear...
Again, thank you.

Dont sell your banjo cause you hear somebody that you might think is good.
Id of quit along time ago if i gave up everytime i heard somebody that could pick good.

As bela said.." It's only a banjo".

Warp!

bill53 - Posted - 07/27/2021:  08:46:06

talk about modest the guy I got my prewar from is a guy in franklin ky he has a music store i started describing a banjo that earl was playing he said thats the one he had when I played with him onstage at the grand old oprey ive known him for years and he never said a thing , Don used to have a music store in nashville a long time ago i didn know he was a member of the g rand ole oprey,,Don is good on the banjo I mean good but hes better on the fiddle he let me play a fiddle made in 1865 wow it sounded old valued at 20 grand

country frank - Posted - 08/09/2021:  04:32:59

Kevin, great playing - I just saw this blog - I don't post as much these days with the kids getting big and the job weighing me down [not moaning though].

It's funny when you hear someone on the HO play well after reading their posts for years, your right hand is unstoppable and your delivery is top notch - wish I could do the same but alas its not to be.

Stay safe and all the very best from London.

warpdrive - Posted - 08/09/2021:  05:00:17

Hello frank
Thank you so much for the kind compliment all the way from London.

I will tell you a little know secert about the hangout,
And that is its chalked full of good banjo pickers.
There are not as many ex road players on here as years ago...but a few that still lurk in the shadows.

The internet and websites are full of musicians that are dying to be famous....not me.
I just post about my life and road expeirences, and little tid bits of wisdom i picked up wilst getting to be around really really great banjo pickers that i wasn't even worthy to carry there empty banjo cases.

The big thing that in my opnion that gets lost in translation by the latest wiz kid to post there better and faster way to banjo picking excellence is this....
" ITS GOING TO TAKE ALOT OF TIME"!... LIKE A SECOND JOB AMOUNT OF TIME..
but that doesn't sell likes and clicks.
Granted, there are some that are more gifted and can progress much faster...some in half the time of your average person...and when i was young probably fell into that catagory...but i still lived with this banjo around my neck.
Really, there are no short cuts.
Thanks again for your kind words Frank, and best to you and yours across the pond in London.

Warp!

BanjoLink - Posted - 08/09/2021:  13:04:38

quote:

---

Originally posted by warpdrive

Hello frank

Thank you so much for the kind compliment all the way from London.



I will tell you a little know secert about the hangout,

And that is its chalked full of good banjo pickers.

There are not as many ex road players on here as years ago...but a few that still lurk in the shadows.



The internet and websites are full of musicians that are dying to be famous....not me.

I just post about my life and road expeirences, and little tid bits of wisdom i picked up wilst getting to be around really really great banjo pickers that i wasn't even worthy to carry there empty banjo cases.



The big thing that in my opnion that gets lost in translation by the latest wiz kid to post there better and faster way to banjo picking excellence is this....

" ITS GOING TO TAKE ALOT OF TIME"!... LIKE A SECOND JOB AMOUNT OF TIME..

but that doesn't sell likes and clicks.

Granted, there are some that are more gifted and can progress much faster...some in half the time of your average person...and when i was young probably fell into that catagory...but i still lived with this banjo around my neck.

Really, there are no short cuts.

Thanks again for your kind words Frank, and best to you and yours across the pond in London.



Warp!

---

Kevin .... it is the subtle things that can't really be explained that some of the young pickers don't seem to understand.  Technically, they may be great, but that is not what makes a great picker.  I once stayed up to abpout 2:00 in the morning talking to Dick Smith about the small things that make a difference in picking, playing mandolin, and playing with a band.  I don't remember exactly how he put it, but he mentioned that if you think you are playing with the bass or can hear the bass at a certain point, that you are a fraction of a beat off.  It was something that I would have never thought of in a million years.  He also mentioned the difference between picking "at" a string or "through" a string.  He compared it to a boxer who is punching at an opponents head rather than trying to punch through the opponents head.

warpdrive - Posted - 08/09/2021:  13:35:29

That boxing analogy as well as picking through the string are both spot on.
The really great boxers dont even realize they have knocked an adversary out or off there feet because they were concentrating on trying to hit the target good or well and not so much how hard they hit it...the head just happen to get in the way.

Good banjo players have a pocket that they can slide into with other musicians.
Thats why the good musicians run in packs
And seldom do they need a click track to keep them together, its really fun when its effortless.

Warp!

warpdrive - Posted - 08/10/2021:  20:24:44

Hey gang
Just wanted to say hey from Arkansas,
I came down for my mom's 82nd tomorrow on the 11th.
On the way down I stopped in riddleton tn to visit a long lost banjo picker from my road days,
A one JIM BRITTON.
We hadn't seen each other in 25 yrs, and we both thought we hadn't aged more than a year or two.
Let me tell y'all right now...
Jim runs a CANDY STORE for banjo pickers,... I'm serious, I've never seen so many quality banjos hanging in one shop all of them set up in tune ready to play.
It was overwhelming and I couldn't do it....to many good banjos in one room for me.
There will be a familiar banjo of association coming up for sale soon.
I will not spoil the fun.

Warp