Recapping a No Good, Awful 2020: A Glory-Beaming Year in Review

Tradition states that I provide a summary of my banjo and fiddle playing over the past year. Give you a glimpse at how I did regarding my goals. What I learned. The things I did. The places I went. You know, the normal stuff. 

In a year that saw the worst global pandemic in more than a century, there's not much to say about the places I went. My goals went out the window. I changed course on what I had planned to learn. Nothing was normal. 

This year has been a rollercoaster. My motivation has risen and fallen on a week to week basis. Mostly, my aim has been to keep my daily streak going and just get to the end of the year. Goals be damned. 

Fourth Quarter Review

While I'm recapping 2020, this post also serves as my final quarterly report. Here are my previous 2020 quarterly reports: 

• First Quarter
• Second Quarter
• Third Quarter

The fourth quarter was highlighted by a virtual fiddle lesson with Michael Ismerio (not to be confused with the workshop I attended earlier this year) and lowlighted by a marked drop in playing time. I did, however, hit 400 consecutive days playing my instruments, which is bonkers. 

I've been slowly going through Ismerio's Online Fiddle Course since the end of July. The instructional videos have provided me some direction after losing my motivation. They have prompted me to record myself more often and interact with a private Facebook group associated with the course. 

A couple weeks ago, I decided to learn to play and sing "Little Sadie" on banjo. It's come along well, but still a work in progress. I wish I had the same interest in recording myself playing these banjo songs as I have playing fiddle, but alas I have not done so. 

This will be my seventh post of the quarter. I was most happy to report on the return of The Old-Time Herald and its revamped website. I also got an email to resume reviewing materials for the magazine after a long hiatus. 

Reviewing 2020

The story of this year is obviously the coronavirus wrecking everyone's plans. I'm tired of it. You're tired of it. Let's move on. The following is a quick recap of how I did on my goals. Spoiler alert: Not. Very. Well. 

Goal: Tunes and Songs

At the outset of this year, I planned to learn four fiddle tunes and four banjo songs. I got halfway through both lists, learning "Julianne Johnson" and "Soldier's Joy" (kinda) on fiddle and "John Hardy" and "John Henry" on banjo. Then, in July, I dropped all that. 

There are 40 lessons in Ismerio's Online Fiddle Course. I'm on the 10th video, having learned "Give Me a Chaw of Tobacco," "Old Corn Liquor," "Sail Away Ladies," "Jenny Run Away in the Mud in the Night," "Rabbit Where's Your Mammy," "Crow Little Rooster," "Chicken and Dumplings" and "Late for the Dance." You'll notice that's only eight tunes, but two of the videos focus on ornaments and techniques. It's obviously a lot more tunes than I typically learn in a year. I'm having a hard time keeping them all in my head, but I know this is the way many others have learned to play, so why not try it? 

On banjo, I didn't really change course so much as I just stopped worrying about my to-learn list. As I mentioned, I just started learning "Little Sadie." I feel like I need a book to learn from, mostly to have the lyrics in front of me. I can pick out the melody OK, but I need to really slow down to add the singing part. 

Goal: Playing Time

As I write this, I'm 43 hours away from hitting my fiddle playing time goal for the year and four hours from my banjo goal. I gave up on my fiddle goal months ago. For a while, I really thought I'd be able to catch up to my banjo playing goal, but the challenge became to too great. At least I kept up my streak. 

Goal: Maintenance

I had two maintenance goals for my instruments this year. I got one of them done. I replaced my banjo head, but I didn't get my backup bow rehaired. My fiddle also is way overdue for a string change. Maybe in 2021. I'm also not liking the sound of my banjo with the Fiberskyn head. I want to go back to a goatskin head, and maybe put on that last set of Chris Sands nylon strings I have been saving. Will they ever make those again?  

Goal: Blogging 

This will be my 31st post of the year, which surpasses my total from 2019. I had at least two posts in all but two months this year. I went kind of nuts in June with six posts. I would still like to be more consistent. One of my goals was to do more interviews, and I'm happy to say that I managed to include three new ones this year, with Laura Lewis of the Lake Erie Folk Festival, Patrick Sawyer of Pisgah Banjos and Greg Galbreath of Buckeye Banjos. 

I've also been trying to include more reviews, so here is a quick recap of those: 

• Allison de Groot and Tatiana Hargreaves concert
• Boulder Alpine Banjo Gig Bag
• Jake Blount's debut solo album
• New Lost City Ramblers biography
• Not Bad Illustration case sticker

One of the other topics I covered was the news that the Steve Martin Banjo Prize would continue, now under the stewardship of the FreshGrass Foundation. Of course, I also wrote about trying to make it through quarantine. One thing that got me through the last nine months is buying a bunch of records. I did a string of Vinyl Hunter posts in June, but haven't done one since. I figured you were probably sick of them. Maybe I'll do a quick post about the remaining albums I picked up since then. 

That about covers it. Thank you for sticking with me through the mayhem of 2020. I hope we can all get back to playing tunes together in person and finding a new sense of normal in 2021. I hope you have enjoyed the winter holidays. Please have a safe and healthy and — most of all — HAPPY New Year.