The Glory-Beaming Banjo

This is not a new book, but I finally read it during this pandemic. Originally published in 2010 by the University of Illinois Press , Ray Allen's Gone to the Country: The New Lost City Ramblers & The Folk Music Revival is a biography that looks at the history of the band and its impact on the folk revival period and continuing legacy through an academic lens. Allen paints a portrait of a band that rode the wave of the commercial folk revival of the 1950s and '60s and weathered the storms of scant financial gains, public perception and personal conflicts to leave a lasting legacy that has influenced legions of old-time musicians since their inception in 1958. John Cohen, Tom Paley and Mike Seeger — the original lineup of the band — first played together on a radio show in Washington, D.C., in May 1958. After that performance, Cohen took the initiative and spoke to Folkways Records founder Moe Asch about making a recording and then to Izzy Young of the Folklore Center

Things have really gone downhill this quarter. My progress over the first three months was strong. In the last three months, however, my playing time has slowly dwindled to the point that after June was over, I was 10 hours behind on my goal progress on fiddle and one hour behind on banjo. I'm still playing every day, but only the bare minimum to keep my streak going. Although, I am excited to have reached 200 days in a row . Otherwise, my motivation and enthusiasm is lacking, and I'm just not excited about the music. With jams and festivals cancelled, there's nothing to pull me out of this malaise. As I reported back in May, I attended a couple of workshops and a virtual jam, but otherwise I'm feeling very disconnected from my old-time community. My to-learn list hasn't inspired much joy, and I'm just not sure what to do about my current state of affairs. I've thought about taking some lessons, but I find it difficult to follow along through video