Sunday, July 20, 2008
Some of you may remember that I instigated the purchase of a banjo for my brother's most recent birthday. The whole family chipped in and we got him a nice starter banjo from Gold Tone. (It's a great little banjo, by the way.) He'd coveted my banjo from the moment my wife gave me one, so I thought that he, being the musical one in the family, should have his own.
He's vastly more talented than I am, but much more impatient, and unbeholden to any format, style, technique or dogma. He loves his banjo, but he's just as likely to play slide guitar riffs and walk the blues ladder as he is to pick out banjo licks. I promised him that I'd shame him into banjo discipline by posting something about him here, so here it is: Brother, practice your rolls.
And yet, it seems to me that banjo is one of those instruments that just begs to be explored, and that lends itself more to personal style than just about any other instrument I can think of. There are so many guitarists and guitars out there, it's hard to carve out personal space anymore, but with banjo, all the coolest players are here, and worldwide that's what? 20,000 banjo players?
So rather than chastise my brother publically, my kudos go to all of you out there who are exploring new territory on banjos. Playing for fun is the only way to go. So, as has often happened over the years, I've learned something from my younger brother.
Cheers,
Kevin
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Playing Since: 2005
Experience Level: Novice
Interests:
[Jamming]
Occupation: Marketing
My Instruments:
Epiphone MB 200;
Deering Vega Old Tyme Wonder;
Mastercraft auction beater
Favorite Bands/Musicians:
Pete Seeger, Bela Fleck, Union Station, Dave Matthews, Zucchero, Toots and the Maytals, Joan Armatrading, Beethoven, Be Good Tanyas, Eric Clapton
Classified Rating: not rated
Rate this Member
Profile Info:
Visible to: Public
Created 11/2/2006
Last Visit 4/12/2014
Ex German teacher, ex ESL teacher, linguistically gifted, musically challenged. Banjo birthday Oct. 05 forced me to give up my air banjo and actually learn something. Weekend pancake maker extraordinaire.
'Used Yates Grand Banjo' 5 hrs
'Help Identify? ' 7 hrs
