www.jlesites.com/stillriver
Playing Since: 1973
Experience Level: Purty Good
Interests:
[Jamming]
Occupation: none
Gender: Female
Age: 71
My Instruments:
banjo, guitar, piano
Classified Rating: not rated
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Profile Info:
Visible to: Public
Created 8/3/2007
Last Visit 3/23/2013
Learned to play 5-string in the early '70s on my grandfather's old Sears banjo. I took lessons for a few years at Campbell's Music in York County, PA, a great place to learn bluegrass. Lots of good banjo players in that area. In college, I played in a "all-girl" band called "Sugar in the Gourd, based in southeastern PA. It was a great experience - we got to play a lot of festivals, including Gettysburg, because we were a novelty act. I remember being on stage one night just before J.D. Crowe. While we were playing, I caught a glimpse of him backstage, and my right hand froze like a frightened crab for a little while! Totally embarrassing.
In the '80s I moved to the DC area, and played in a band called the Grim Pickers. The bluegrass scene there was great, with lots of pickin' parties, the Birchmere and the Indian Springs festival.
I later moved to the Boston area, and didn't play for many years due to work, family, etc. I started playing again about 5 years ago, when I found a local jam. After being away for so long, I had forgotten all of my memorized breaks, but it was a friendly jam, so I started improvising. Why did it take me so long! It opened up a whole new world to me, and I've really been enjoying playing since then. Now I look forward to getting a break instead of getting that nervous feeling in the pit of my stomach when my break's coming up.
I'm currently in a band called Still River, in the far west suburbs of Boston. We spend lots of time on arrangements and harmonies to try to create something unique with each tune. We don't play out a lot due to time constraints, but we have a great time when we do!
'Rock Banjo' 1 hr
'Gold plated banjos' 4 hrs
'No Mother or Dad' 6 hrs
