saveoldtimemusic.blogspot.com/
Interests:
[Socializing] [Helping]
Gender: Male
Age: 60
My Instruments:
5 string banjo ( claw hammer, old time two finger mixed lead) , 4 string
tenor banjo, tenor guitar, mandolin, mountain dulcimer, six string guitar
Favorite Bands/Musicians:
varied
Classified Rating: not rated
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Profile Info:
Visible to: Public
Created 6/9/2013
Last Visit 5/24/2015
I was introduced to Old Time Music at a very young age, as my Granny was an Old Time musician. While she was born and raised in Texas, her grandparents and their children brought Old Time with them on the wagons as they migrated from Tennessee to Texas in the 1800's and it was passed down to her. I also have relatives on my Dad's side in Georgia who are Old Time musicians as well as some who are Bluegrass musicians.
I am a Native Texan. After leaving my home community of Crawford, TX in 1981 and living in various places including Austin, TX and Indiana, I returned to Crawford and bought a home with my wife and family approximately a half mile from the home I grew up in, in 2006.
For well over 30 years I played mandolin and/or guitar in various bands including Bluegrass, Country, Old Time, and Gospel bands in Texas, Indiana, Kentucky, and Tennessee. During the 1980's I also had the good fortune to work in Austin, TX music scene with some of the biggest names in Country music, and Blues of that era.
I am also a luthier who up until recently being disabled by stage 4 cancer, built custom order period Mountain, gourd, tack head, other minstrel and old time style banjos for customers all over the United States to include banjos for Civil War re-enactors, Folk musicians, and Old Time musicians and educators. I also built other Folk instruments which were sold in a retail shop in Waco, TX and online.
After falling ill I was forced to pull the plug on my instrument business, closing the retail shop, as well the online shop and padlocking my work shop, which I still own along with all my tools and equipment in hopes that I will one day regain health and be able to resume business.
I was also forced to no longer be able to travel to play dates with the band, which I dearly miss , and am no longer able to make dates for lectures on Old Time and Folk music, which I also miss.
Only recently have I felt well enough to do anything other than sleep, and so in order to maintain sanity I have returned to song writing, also spending a lot of time playing Old Time two finger mix lead on some of my five string banjos, as well as drop thumb on my 4 string tenor banjo.
I have started an Old Time Music Blog called Preservation and Promotion OF Old Time Music at: http://saveoldtimemusic.blogspot.com/ ,and a G+ community called Collaboration For Preservation Of Old Time Music which is the only community on G+ totally dedicated to the genre of Old Time Music.
I have recently been approached by two publishing companies with offers to write for them on the subjects of Old Time and Americana music. Still haven't decided whether to take up the offers or not due to the fact with my illness and never knowing how I may feel at a given moment I am not sure it would be a good idea to saddle myself with publishing deadlines.
*****NOTE***** As of 3/26/15, should things continue as they are going now...I will resume taking a very limited amount of orders for mountain, tack head, and gourd banjos as of April 2015. Should this change I will note.
