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Top 5 Glory-Beaming Posts of 2020: Interviews, Tributes and the Pandemic

This has been a low production year. I can't see myself putting together a post that will top any of the posts that have already been published here in 2020. I'm always thankful for those of you who continue to visit this site and read my ramblings about banjo, fiddle and my adventures in old-time music. 

I'm all ready to reflect on what can be reflected upon and move on to 2021. The following are the top viewed posts of 2020. 

Sustainable Banjos: An Interview with Pisgah Banjos Founder Patrick Sawyer

By far the most popular post this year, this interview was published the week after I started working from home for what I thought would be a short-term period. I think Pisgah Banjos is making some of the best banjos available today. Patrick was a very interesting interview, and here's a belated congratulations, as he and his wife welcomed their son in August. 

5 Years, 5 Questions: Talking to Laura Lewis About the Lake Erie Folk Festival

Here we have an interview and preview of the last in-person festival I attended. With how things are going, I doubt they'll be able to host the sixth annual Lake Erie Festival in February next year. This little festival has become one of my favorite events, and something to look forward to during the frigid Northeast Ohio winters. 

RIP Mac Benford (1940-2020) and Clyde Davenport (1921-2020)

Serving as a harbinger for what this year would bring us, we lost two old-time legends in February. Mac Benford, the great banjo player for the Highwoods Stringband, and Clyde Davenport, the brilliant fiddler and banjo player, died over the same weekend. 

Virtual jam. 

Interview: Greg Galbreath on the New Standard Models from Buckeye Banjos

Buckeye Banjos closed its custom banjo order list a couple years ago. As banjo builder and proprietor Greg Galbreath caught up on his orders, he developed a series of standard models that he is now offering customers.  

Going Virtual: Old-Time Music in the Time of COVID-19

A sign of the times, this was how we adjusted to the pandemic. Online festivals, virtual workshops and jam sessions over Zoom. Will we get to meet in person in 2021? 

Thank you again for reading The Glory-Beaming Banjo. I'll have couple more "year in review" posts in the following weeks. I'm looking forward to 2021 for many reasons, but one is because it marks the 10-year anniversary of this blog. 


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