Had a great time, as usual, this year at the Lowell Banjo and Fiddle contest. It's great to come together every year and hear the progress and just generally enjoy the good company. There were some really cool things from my own perspective. A bunch of people were playing Will Fileding banjos. If you don't know will or haven't yet heard his beautifully crafted, great sounding open-back banjos, they are definitely worth the effort to see and hear.
Gordon Woods I think played one on his way to his win in the Oldtime Banjo category. Bennett Hammond played a fretless Fielding in his win in the Banjo Other category. Celeste Frey also has a Fileding that she competed with as well.
My favorite thing that happened this is year is that one of my students, 11 year-old Azeem Sultan, won an Honorable Mention in the Oldtime Banjo category. He and I worked together for an entire year on Cluck Old Hen in preparation for this day.
Congratulations, Azeem!!
also my undying admiration and gratitude to Alex Demas for putting this hog on the road for the past 29 years. Great job, once again Alex and thank you for the chili and tunes.
2 comments
on “Lowell 2008”
JMarshallP Says:
Friday, October 31, 2008 @9:46:51 AM
Hey Tim:
My wife and I really enjoyed Azeem and his whole joyful approach to playing his tune. Elisabeth told him (honestly) that he was her favorite player of the day. He was beaming.
Always enjoy your playing.
JMP
clawhammertim Says:
Friday, October 31, 2008 @11:29:03 AM
Azeem is a great kid. It was a big day for him and his family. so far he is the lone musician. It has been a joy working with him the last several years. he hopes to play with a fiddler for Lowell next year. He's learning Soldiers Joy for the solo piece.
Thanks for the comments!!
best,
tim
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