The Glory-Beaming Banjo

Give Me the Banjo , an 82-minute TV documentary resulting from The Banjo Project , will air at 9 p.m. eastern, Friday, Nov. 4 on PBS. The program is narrated by Steve Martin and features a musical score by three-finger player Tony Trischka. Culling its name from the very same Mark Twain passage that this blog takes its title,  Give Me the Banjo  details the history of America's quintessential musical instrument. The film includes commentary from such banjo luminaries as Pete Seeger, Earl Scruggs, Mike Seeger, the Carolina Chocolate Drops, Ralph Stanley, Abigail Washburn, and many more. Check out the trailer: The Banjo Project is producing a DVD that will include many scenes that were omitted from the PBS program. These extra scenes are also available at the project's website. Glory-Beaming Banjo will have its DVR set to record and report back with a review.  Square Dance Tonight in Euclid, Ohio In other news, Mark Olitsky will be playing for a square d...

Squeezed tightly into the G.A.R. Hall in Peninsula, Ohio, on a Thursday evening, a crowd of more than 140 people sang and swayed along to the music of Jay Ungar and Molly Mason , backed by their family band of Ruthy Ungar Merenda and Mike Merenda (formerly of the Mammals ). The sold out event  on Sept. 29 was billed as "Music of the Civil War and Beyond," and featured a variety of fiddle tunes, stringband music, ballads, marches, folk songs and original music. The quartet kickstarted the evening with a rendition of "Fly Around My Little Miss," with Jay and Ruthy on fiddle, Molly and guitar, and Mike on banjo. The rollicking dance tune got the audience grooving in their seats. If it weren't for all the chairs, an impromptu square dance would have broken out for sure. Jay Ungar and Molly Mason (center), with Mike and Ruthy Merenda at the G.A.R. Hall in Peninsula, Ohio, Sept. 29. After the crowd broke out into song during Stephen Fosters "Hard Time...