Banjo3 Blog

Alex Harwell Playing Ruebens Train

2008-07-29T20:41:00.000-07:00

I just found a cool video over at Banjo Hangout and I wanted to share it with you. I hate to say it, but I've really been neglecting my own banjo and I haven't been to any show in a long time. I decided to stop off at the Banjo Hangout to check out some videos and I came across this one that I thought was too cool not to post on my blog.

It is by a dude named Alex Harwell and he does a fantastic job playing Ruebens Train in clawhammer style. You gotta check it out.
Click Here For Video Now

You Tube video bar

2008-01-26T13:50:00.000-08:00

I just added the You Tube video on my blog. Be sure to check it on the left of my page. I like the first one about frailing the blues the best so far but I haven't even watched them all yet. Enjoy.

Pickin on the ol banjo

2008-01-16T21:54:00.000-08:00

I was pickin away on my old banjo
when my wife came in and said, "It's time to go."
I said "Darlin are ya talkin to me?
cause there's no place else I'd rather be.

Pickin takes away the stress of the day,
that is what I've always known.
I could pick till my fingers wear down to the bone
and even by myself I would never be alone.

I pick sometimes in the evening, sometimes in the middle of the night.
It don't matter when I'm pickin, it makes the wrong all right.
If I'm rich or poor it don't matter, the banjo just don't care.
It don't even matter to my ol banjo if I've lost all my hair.

The work day is long and I feel beat,
I'll play my banjo then I'll eat.
When I'm full I'll take a nap
With that banjo on my lap.

Since I have been a banjo picker
I've done most of my picking alone
That way when I'm playing
Folks won't moan and groan.

A lame attempt at poetry, by Bryan Dix, unless I eventually put it to music then it will be a lame attempt at writing a song. (:

Merry Christmas and all that

2007-12-27T00:56:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year etc, etc.

Yeah I have still been being very lame about posting to my banjo blog but I just have not had all that much going on from a music stand point. Oh cool, 5 pounds of possum just started playing as I started writing this. It's on 98.1 WBRF out of Galax, Va.

Anyway, I just wanted to check in and say once again that when I have more going on I will be posting about it. Happy Pickin!

I left the whole world hangin'!

2007-11-13T18:09:00.000-08:00

Wow. I did not mean to just stop posting to my beloved blog for a whole month but I sure did do it didn't I?

In the real world I own a solid surface countertop repair business and all of a sudden I found myself with no time to blog. When I did have the time my mind and body were so thankful to have the time that it never occured to me to sit down at the ol' email machine and type. Sorry about that.

Oh yeah, as for my trip to my grandmother's house, it was great. I got to see my Mom and Grandmother and my Uncle June(short for Junious). Of course the visit was too short but we got in a lot of good conversation and yes, I tortured them with my banjo. They seemed to really enjoy it but they are family so how would I know? Not really. When my grandmother smiles there is no doubt that it is for real and she did a lot of smiling and toe tapping.

I am going to try to post a little more regularly but I have to admit ahead of time that I may still be a little slack because I have a lot of work in my shcedule (thank goodness) and I don't have any more banjo excursions on the horizon. I'm sure something will pop up to post about thought.

To grandmothers house we go.

2007-09-15T16:10:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow I am going to my grandmothers house and I can't wait. I'll get a chance to my grandmother, my mom, at least one uncle and maybe more than that. I'm not sure who is going to be there but I never get to spend much time with them so I am looking forward to it.

I am going to take my banjo with me and if they don't act right then I just might play it while I'm there!

I've been trying to get in a lot of practice in the last few days so I won't be too terrible. Why is it that when I sit in a room be myself I can play half way descent but when I have even one person watching me I play like poo poo? I'm not really nervous or anything I just play bad. One day I'll shake that I guess.
Bluegrass CD's

The Three pickers. I met a fan today.

2007-09-13T17:05:00.000-07:00

Usually when I go to work as a solid surface countertop repair fabricator, the people are not usually Bluegrass musicfans and if we do have anything in common with each other it is usually not music. Don't get me wrong, I meet tons of great people all the time through my profession, just not all that many Bluegrass music fans.

Anyway, like I often do, I asked this guy if he happened to be a banjo player. I ask a lot of my customers that just in case I find one that is and maybe I can get them to teach me something or just pick one for me.

This guy said that he is not a banjo player but he did like bluegrass and had a chance to go see Ricky Skaggsand Doc Watsonand Earl Scruggs a few years back. He was fumbling around trying to remember what they called it and he said the "three tenors of bluegrass." I laughed my butt off and then explained that it was The Three Pickers

We talked it up for a while and I told him that I was within hours of being able to go to that show but my mom was coming to town and I didn't get to go. It was about a year later when I saw the concert on PBS and it was incredible and one of the best ever. I had no idea that it was the concert that I had missed until I was half way through the show and my wife blurted out that we were almost there. Oh well, whatcha gonna do?

Bluegrass CD's

Howdy Banjo Hangout Friends

2007-09-11T16:55:00.000-07:00

I posted about my Ralph Stanley concert experience on several different forums that I am a member of. On every single forum I either got comments like, "Ralph who?" or "Never heard of him."

But that isn't the case at all with my new friends over at The Banjo Hangout. These folks not only know who Ralph Stanley is but they have oodles and gobbs of respect and appreciation for him and his incredible music.

If you have never visited The Banjo Hangout and you are a banjo lover or bluegrass either one, yo owe it to yourself to go there. It is an amazing forum. You can set up a very cool blog, profile, upload mp3 files so other people can click on and listen to your banjo pickin. Not to mention all the great advice you get on playing, set up, equipment and just good conversation.

Bluegrass CD's

What do you mean, Who is Ralph Stanley?

2007-09-10T14:32:00.000-07:00

Oh man, I can't believe how many people there that have absolutely no clue who Ralph Stanley is. One of the most awesome, incredible musical artists of our lifetime and probably in forever.

Well, I could try to tout all of his amazing accomplishments here for you but I found a great article that says it better than I probably could.

Here is the link Who is Ralph Stanley?

My evening with Ralph Stanley and The Clinch Mountain Boys

2007-09-09T07:09:00.000-07:00

Last night was just incredible. I got to talk to Ralph Stanley and have my picture taken with him. What a down to earth guy he really is. He just talks to everybody like he already knows them and considers them a friend.

I'll admit that our conversation was very brief and limited because, what do you say to a legend like him? He has probably been given every compliment under the sun. I simply told him I was a huge fan and that it was an honor for me to be seeing him and getting my picture taken with him.

When the show started, the Clinch Mountain Boys,(that is the name of his band that I have forgatten to mention until now. Sorry guys.) took the stage alone without Ralph and began playing a couple of instrumentals. Blazing fast. It was great.

I wanted to take notes or at least remember what songs they played and in what order but my arms were full of cd's, pictures,camera,drinks so there was no room for notes. Plus, I was so awe struck that I couldn't have taken notes anyway.

Every song, whether it was a traditional bluegrass song, or instrumental, or a solo acapela done by Ralph Stanley was just done perfectly. More than once he had tears flowing in the crowd with some of the tradition filled songs that they played. The night was far from being a big cry fest though.

Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys have such chemistry on stage. His bass player, Jack Cooke has been with him for 38 years and the way these two guys joke around and tease each other on stage, it is infectious and the crowd becomes very loose and relaxed. You almost feel like you are up there with them because they make you feel so glad to be there.

The mandolin player is his 15 year old grandson, Nathan Stanley. This kid, at 15 years old has the demeanor of a 30 year old. He just acts so much more mature than his age would indicate. Sure, but can he play? They played an instrumental that really showcased what he can do on the mandolin and it nearly brought the house down. It's like he was born with that mandolin in his hand. They played 2 or 3 songs that Nathan had written himself. He has a great love for Jesus Christ and gospel music and the only music that he writes is gospel with the bluegrass flair.

Now, if you know anything about Ralph Stanley then you know he is a pioneer and one of the greatest banjo pickers of all time. Nearly every banjo picker today uses techniques that he developed back in the early, I think 1940's. Definitely before I was born he was already making music that I would grow to love.

Now that he getting on in years, I know he is in his 80's and I think he is about 85 but don't quote me on that, he doesn't play the banjo on stage anymore. The only way he does play is, he has to asked to play by the audience, and he will only play the claw hammer style that his mother taught him as a child. This is only because he has arthritis and can't do the 3 fingered picking as well as he would like.

Naturally, the audience went bonkers and wanted him to play a song so he graced us with a song played in the clawhammer style. It was great, the crowd came alive. The people sitting next to me were clapping so hard I thought their hands would bust open.

He has another guy playing banjo for him and name is Steve Sparkman. Ralph had the most glowing things to say about this banjo player when he was introducing him so right away you had great expectations out of this guy. Let me tell you, he delivered.

They played a great version of The Clinch Mountain Breakdown that really showed everybody what Steve Sparkman was capable of and he was quite capable of making his banjo tell you what you wanted to know.

His fiddle player, Dewey Brown is a guy from Graham, NC which is only about 20 or 30 minutes from where the show was in Greensboro. He was awsome too. They showcased his talent with several great fiddle tunes but the one that really showed him off was the last one he did which was The Orange Blossom Special.

The guitar player was a man named James Alan Shelton. I guess I don't have to tell you he was great too. He did a crosspicking style song that I can't remember the name of but it was really good.

There is a song on the country charts by Josh Turner called Me and God. Ralph Stanley sings backup on some of the chorus parts of the song. He has such a soulful and mesmerizing voice that lots of country artists, rock too for that matter as well as bluegrass and many other styles, often get him to sing just small parts of their songs just to add the extra awsomeness they needed to have their music really appreciated. Plus, they just love the man.

Anyway, Ralph did an acapela version of Me and God that really got the tears flowing in the auditorium. He also did some things from the soundtrack Oh Brother Where Art Though? He sang Oh Death. That is just haunting and beautiful when he sings acapela and that is one of my all time favorites by him. Of course they also played The Man Of Constant Sorrow and they closed the night with Angel Band.

It was incredible and I will always remember the great time that I got to spend with this living legend. It's no wonder he has recieved all the awards that he has gotten over the years.

Now I will apologize for my lousy dinosaur of a digital camera. I cleaned the heck out of it hoping to get some great pictures but I still have halos and bubbles in almost every picture. I hope to have a new camera by the time the next show that I can go to comes around. Anyway, here are the photos that I got from last night.

Now, after seeing these pictures on my blog they look awful so I will apologize for my non zooming 2 megapixel scratchy lense camera one more time. AGGGGHHHHGHGHGHGHHGHGHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!! I wanted great pictures of this show but I just have to be happy with the fact that I was able to go. Thank you Kelley for my birthday tickets!

Ralph Stanley.

Bluegrass CD's

Dr Ralph Stanley tonight!

2007-09-08T08:48:00.000-07:00

Oh man. I could hardly sit still thinking about tonight's concert with Ralph Stanley.
It's not till 7:30 tonight and that is only 7 hours away but I am ready to just bust open waiting till time to go.

Since my ultra crappy bank, BBandT has ripped me off this week to the tune of more than $300.00, (more on that later maybe, right now I am staying in a good mood)I couldn't afford to buy a new banjo head to have Dr.Ralph Stanley sign it for me. Instead I will just have him sign one of his cd's for me. One is all I will be able to get but I will be happy with that.

I'm also a huge Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver fan too. My wife said I should get him to draw mustaches on the faces of the guys in Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver and then sign the shirt for me. Of course this would be out of fun and not meanness because I am pretty sure that Dr.Ralph Stanley is also a fan and probably even pretty good friends with Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver.

Anyway, I can't wait till tonight!

Bluegrass CD's

Banjo practice. Use picks or not.

2007-09-06T23:59:00.001-07:00

So I practice my banjo right in my living room in my recliner most of the time. My wife is always in the same room trying to watch t.v.

Now, you probably know that a person who is practicing a musical instrument of any kind can do a lot of really annoying things. Especially to a person in the same room. By annoying I mean things like practicing scales over and over or strumming the same chords repeatedly. Or my personal favorite annoying thing that I do is I will be just pickin and stumble upon some cool new lick and just wear it out.

I try to do it again and again so I can drill it into memory. Usually if I do come up with a new lick and I think about going jumping up to record it then by the time I get my banjo in the room with my recorder then I forgot my new lick. For this reason, I just do it over and over.

One thing I do to make life more tolerable to anyone who has to be subjected to my playing and practicing is that I practice without my picks on. Just kind of bare knuckled pickin I call it.

This works great because you can still practice rolls and licks without it blasting all over the place. The sound is way more subdued and tolerable to other people in the room. My problem with that is, when I try to play something with my picks on so I get that beautiful banjo ring, I fell like I have banjo mittens on my fingers and I fall all over myself trying to play at the right speed.

So on one hand practicing without the picks is more considerate of others, but on the other hand if you are going to get used to playing with picks on you probably should practice with picks on.

2 days till Ralph Stanley

Yesterday sucked

2007-09-05T05:55:00.001-07:00

Yesterday sucked. I had to drive all the way down past Charlotte to go to work. I am a solid surface countertop repair man. I had a customer that wanted me to come there and repair some cracks in his countertop.

Normally, I call my customers the night before an appointment if the job is a long ways off. This time I forgot to call the night before. I called the customer in the morning when I was ready to leave. I didn't get an answer so I left him a message and told him I was going to hit the road and that I hoped he remembered our appointment because I had a long ride ahead of me.

Well, 2 hours and 100 miles later I arrived. Nobody's home. I knocked and knocked and called his home phone, mobile phone and walked over to his neighbors house to see if they knew how to reach him and they were not home either.

Some days if you show up and there's nobody home it might be okay. This time it sucked becaused I had to spend $50.00 in my gas guzzling work van to make the trip and I was counting on the money I was going to make so I could pay a couple of major important bills. Oh well, now I'll pay them later.

The cool part of it is that while I was standing there hot, real hot, tired and discouraged, I asked God to send me some more work because my work load was getting thin and my bills are not. Then, on the way home while I was stuck in traffic on 77N coming out of statesville, the phone rang and it was someone needing me to come there that afternoon and scope a new project that they wanted me to help them with. It's a pretty darn big job too.

So now, I'm going to go get ready for work. Come to think about it, I guess yesterday did not suck after all. "Perspective boy, I say keep it in perspective boy!"

Yikes! Careful what you wish for.

2007-09-03T22:00:00.000-07:00

Well earlier I threatened to put some sound files on the ol blog here. I finally figured out how to record my playing and next I am working on how to get it onto my site.

However, I have never heard myself play the banjo. I mean a recorded version. Well now I have and let me tell you, it ain't purty. I can only hope that it sounds better to those people that I subject to hearing it than it sounded to me.

Anyway, that just means that I have more work ahead of me and as you probably know, anything that you have to work for is usually appreciated more than free or simple. As much work as I am going to have to do, I will probably really appreciate myself when I'm done {: I just hope it isn't too painful for my audience!

By ya'll. Oh yeah, 4 days till Ralph Stanley

Bluegrass CD's

The Ballad of Jed Clampett

2007-09-02T20:04:00.000-07:00

I have been working on playing the theme song for the Beverly Hillbillies for a while now. It's about to drive me crazy. I can look right at the book and follow along with the song but it just isn't sounding quite right. My fault I know.

I'm going to keep playing it until I freak out or until my wife does. Whichever one comes first. Sometimes when I get fixated on a song, that is the only thing that goes through my head until something else takes its place. I try to play the song on the banjo and when I am not practicing it I am running through every note in my head. Let me tell ya bout a story bout a man named Jed, over and over and over. UUUUGGGHHHH!!!

I am going to go play some more now. Ya hear?

I'm working on getting mp3 files on here.

2007-09-02T18:33:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm trying to record some banjo tracks to put on the blog here but I don't know how. Somebody on http://www.banjohangout.org/forum/ told me about a website called Audacity that can convert some files online. I am going to try that out later tonight so maybe tomorrow you can be subjected to my pickin.

6 days left till Ralph Stanley!

I'm Going to Ralph!

2007-09-01T14:58:00.000-07:00

That's right! I'm going to go see Ralph Stanleyat The Carolina Theater in Greensboro next weekend. My wife got me tickets for my birthday and I can not wait.

I am going to take a new Gibson banjo head with me and ask him to sign it. I went to see him there about 4 years ago and he was just mezmerizing.(I don't know how to spell mezmerizing.) I couldn't believe he was just sitting in the lobby with his entire band just talking to people and signing stuff. EvenRalph Stanley II

This man is as famous as Elvis if you go by how many people have seen and heard his music around the whole world and he is just as down to earth as anybody I know. I can't hardly wait till next weekend but I guess I have to.

Pickin around

2007-08-30T19:18:00.000-07:00

I have been really getting into playing the banjo lately. I go through spells where I am too busy to play or for whatever reason maybe the urge just doesn't hit. Then all of a sudden, I can't play enough. I sit down as soon as I get in from work and pick up the banjo and play till I have to get up and do something else. Then, right back to picking.

When I do stop long enough to figure how to do it, I am going to put some short tracks of me attempting to play my banjo. I'm not great by any means but I can play some stuff and one of these days I will be a great player. I love it too much not to become one.

I am self taught and I don't know any body to learn from so I have been learning from a couple of books with tapes mostly. Plus, I have been picking around with my banjo for about 5 years I think and now I can play some simple songs by ear so that kind of helps but getting some playing knowledge from real experts can't be beat.

The first and best book that I have been learning from is the
Hal Leonard Earl Scruggs and the 5-String Banjo (Book & CD Package)

I have always bee an Earl Scruggs fan and I couldn't believe it when I found out that he had a banjo instruction course that I could learn from. I'll be sure to post if I make some remarkable progress or something.