jusrightbluegrass.com
Playing Since: 2001
Experience Level: Novice
Interests:
[Jamming] [Socializing] [Helping]
Gender: Male
Age: 58
My Instruments:
Goldtone OB-250
1926 TB1 conversion with Hatfield neck (walnut) and tone ring
Favorite Bands/Musicians:
Red Allen
Flatt & Scruggs
Stanley Bros
Jimmy Martin
L. W. Lambert
Lynwood Lunsford
Doug Dillard
Ron Stewart
Rhonda Vincent
Jerry Garcia
Classified Rating: (+4)
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Profile Info:
Visible to: Public
Created 9/17/2004
Last Visit 8/17/2015
I have always been the kind of person who has hobbies. When I took up playing the banjo in 2001, it was a new and fun hobby. I wasn't really sure I would even be able to do it, but it was something that I had been thinking of trying for a while so I said "what the heck". I made that decision on about September 12, 2001 because I realized that if you want to do something in life you better do it TODAY in case there isn't a tomorrow.
I got a banjo and taught myself a couple of tunes, and a year later a friend started taking me to a weekly jam session. I really had no business being there because I was flat out awful, but nobody ever said one discouraging thing to me. I was thrilled to be able to contribute to the making of music.
I met a good teacher at the jam, and ended up taking lessons from him for about a year. He taught me all kinds of good stuff, but I was kind of a slow learner and ended up stopping the lessons. It may sound weird, but stopping the lessons was one of the best things that happened, because I spent the next couple of years focusing on everything he taught me, rather than trying to digest any new information. In fact, I am still working on a lot of it. I know I have improved tremendously as a result of his help.
Somewhere along the way I met a bunch of wonderful people who love banjos and bluegrass music, and many of them are here on the Hangout. I can't say exactly when it happened, but at some point the banjo became much more than just a hobby to me. It changed my life. I know I may never be anything other than a novice picker, but the way that the banjo changed my life has nothing to do with how well I can or can't play... it has to do with the fact that I can make music with other people. I cannot begin to explain the joy that I feel when I am playing music with a group of bluegrass folks, except to say that it is like the feeling of being in love for the first time. No matter what might be wrong in my life or in the world, none of it matters when I'm playing in a jam. I absolutely love playing the banjo and associating with other people who play bluegrass!
'Ingenuity!' 1 hr
