The Glory-Beaming Banjo

It may seem like a silly notion, but a new strap might be helping me play more banjo. For the longest time, I had a homemade strap fashioned from a leather belt blank, some grommets and leather shoelaces. It worked fine, but it was a royal pain in the you know what to put on and take off. For Christmas, I received a brown Neotech Slimline Strap , and I couldn't be happier. As shown in this video , the attachment loops have a quick connect clasp for easy installation. Also, when I'm sitting down to play, I can quickly remove the strap without removing the attachment loops. Furthermore, the leather is attractive, and the overall strap seems very sturdy. The memory foam padding provides a high level of comfort, especially compared to my DIY strap that had no padding whatsoever. However, the best thing about the strap is that I can stand up to play, and that new development has been a real boon to my playing time over the last month. Having an active 16-month at home, sit...

Welcome back, banjo nerds. I took a much-needed hiatus over the solstice celebration, and I return to you fresh as a daisy. But in the intervening weeks between my last post and this one, I've missed a few milestones. So, Happy New Year! Now, let's get back into the swing of things. Christmas marked three important anniversaries: Last year, I received the Brad Leftwich DVDs that I've been using to learn down-bow fiddling. In that time, I've made it through all of Lesson 1 and halfway through Lesson 2. The videos have greatly improved my bowing, though I know I still have a LONG WAY to go. I expect to finish Lesson 2 by June. By then I should have a nice repertory of tunes under my belt in various keys and tunings.  With that said, two years ago was when I bought my fiddle from my friend Guy and began this crazy journey. It's hard to believe it's been that long. The time has flown by, and it's been a heckuva challenge.  Finally, six years ago, I purch...