As I continue my navel gazing, here's another installment of how I got addicted to the banjo ...
Some time around 2006, I eschewed all music without a banjo. My collegiate and post-graduate years seemed to have pointed toward this path, from developing more eclectic tastes to delving into the alt-country scene, but then I reached my tipping point toward full banjo addiction.
From 2006 on, I would be immersed in an in-depth exploration of banjo music and styles that would eventually lead to me buying my first banjo in 2008.
You could pretty much bet on hearing six albums that were on steady repeat on my CD player during this time. There was Old Crow Medicine Show's debut "O.C.M.S." (released in 2004), Avett Bros.' "Mignonette" (2004), Carolina Chocolate Drops' "Dona Got a Ramblin' Mind" (2006), Chatham County Line's "Speed of the Whippoorwill" (2006), Great Lake Swimmers' "Ongiara" (2007), and Gillian Welch's "Soul Journey" (2003).
In the last six years, I've attended concerts by all the above artists, except Welch, whom regrettably I missed when she was in town last fall.
Taking some advice to check out Dock Boggs and Roscoe Holcomb, I picked up the Smithsonian Folkways compilation "Classic Old-Time Music," which then led to my discovering the New Lost City Ramblers, Iron Mountain String Band, Tommy Jarrell, Wade Ward, George Pegram, and on and on. I was mesmerized by the driving rhythms of those tunes on that album. It was electrifying.
Two work trips between 2006 and 2007 would prove instrumental in my discovery of banjo music. During a trip to Tucson, Ariz., I stumbled into a used record store and found an LP of Flatt & Scruggs, which pretty much dominated my turntable for the next year. It was the one bluegrass album that I fell in love with. On another trip to Charlotte, N.C., I would witness the fiddling of David Bass, which turned me into a bumbling fanboy after the concert telling the band they needed come play in Cleveland.
Live shows have always been a catalyst for me to discover new musicians. I would much rather spend $10 to $20 to see a group perform before buying an that I might only play once if I don't like it. That's how I became obsessed with the high-energy sound of the banjo and how I started to discover the old-time community.
Ten Memorable Live Performances:
Some time around 2006, I eschewed all music without a banjo. My collegiate and post-graduate years seemed to have pointed toward this path, from developing more eclectic tastes to delving into the alt-country scene, but then I reached my tipping point toward full banjo addiction.
From 2006 on, I would be immersed in an in-depth exploration of banjo music and styles that would eventually lead to me buying my first banjo in 2008.
You could pretty much bet on hearing six albums that were on steady repeat on my CD player during this time. There was Old Crow Medicine Show's debut "O.C.M.S." (released in 2004), Avett Bros.' "Mignonette" (2004), Carolina Chocolate Drops' "Dona Got a Ramblin' Mind" (2006), Chatham County Line's "Speed of the Whippoorwill" (2006), Great Lake Swimmers' "Ongiara" (2007), and Gillian Welch's "Soul Journey" (2003).
In the last six years, I've attended concerts by all the above artists, except Welch, whom regrettably I missed when she was in town last fall.
Taking some advice to check out Dock Boggs and Roscoe Holcomb, I picked up the Smithsonian Folkways compilation "Classic Old-Time Music," which then led to my discovering the New Lost City Ramblers, Iron Mountain String Band, Tommy Jarrell, Wade Ward, George Pegram, and on and on. I was mesmerized by the driving rhythms of those tunes on that album. It was electrifying.
Two work trips between 2006 and 2007 would prove instrumental in my discovery of banjo music. During a trip to Tucson, Ariz., I stumbled into a used record store and found an LP of Flatt & Scruggs, which pretty much dominated my turntable for the next year. It was the one bluegrass album that I fell in love with. On another trip to Charlotte, N.C., I would witness the fiddling of David Bass, which turned me into a bumbling fanboy after the concert telling the band they needed come play in Cleveland.
Live shows have always been a catalyst for me to discover new musicians. I would much rather spend $10 to $20 to see a group perform before buying an that I might only play once if I don't like it. That's how I became obsessed with the high-energy sound of the banjo and how I started to discover the old-time community.
Ten Memorable Live Performances:
- Seeing Split Lip Rayfield during Kirk Rundstrom's final tour before he died
- Seeing the Hackensaw Boys before Jimmy Stelling left the band to build banjos
- Seeing the Morgantown Rounders open for the Avett Bros.
- Seeing the Carolina Chocolate Drops at the Kent Stage before the lineup change
- Seeing the Beachland Ballroom Barn Dance III with Mark Olitsky, the Hiram Rapids Stumblers, the Waxwings Stringband, and One Dollar Hat, among other local groups
- Seeing the Dust Busters on three separate occasions, most recently with John Cohen
- Seeing Jay Ungar and family at the G.A.R. Hall in Peninsula, Ohio
- Seeing Doug Unger perform and talk about his banjos at the Raccoon County Music Festival
- Seeing the Forge Mountain Diggers with David Bass, as mentioned above
- Seeing the Haints play in a nearby park cabin
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