The Glory-Beaming Banjo

July 2 is exactly the midpoint of the year, with 182 days preceding and 182 days to follow. It seems like a good time to reassess my goals for 2025. In years past, I would post my goals in January. This year, I didn't even bother doing that. I figured you probably get tired of constantly hearing how I'm behind on my playing goals, so guess what?  I'm behind on my playing goals this year.  I totally missed two months of playing, not playing at all in March and May. However, I started to get back into a groove in June. I'm hoping to use that momentum for second half push to get back to playing music regularly.  I typically set three playing time goals each year: a primary goal, a minimum goal and a stretch goal. I was hoping to reach 100 hours of combined playing this year, with a minimum goal of beating last year's total of 85 hours and a stretch goal of 124 hours.  Having missed two whole months and topping out at a combined 5.5 hours in February, the only goal ...

Look, I'm well aware that I haven't been posting much. I feel like I've been stuck in a rut ... a month's long rut. Awhile back I saw a link to a banjo podcast with an interview with Cleveland-base banjo player Mark Olitsky , and I finally got around to listening to it today. And now, I want to make sure you all have a chance to hear it. The interview was posted in September 2024, so this isn't exactly breaking news. But with all the news that's been breaking lately, I think some old news would do us some good.  I've recommended the podcast Get Up in the Cool before. Host Cameron DeWitt always seems to find some great guests to interview. And last September, he interviewed Olitsky on the subject of "Changing as a Musician."  If you've read this blog for any amount of time, you would know of my appreciation for Olitsky's banjo prowess. I did my own interview with the man I called "The Banjo Wizard of Cleveland" back in 2011. It r...