Despite the proliferation of local music festivals, my banjo and fiddle playing time always seems to drop off during the summer. Perhaps it's having my son around all the time during the break or just the general glut of increased family activities, but I barely played music at all from May to July, and that includes attending a festival last month.
However, as August is coming to an end and as school has started back up, this month's tally exceeds my playing time for the last three months combined. Hopefully, that trend will continue as autumn approaches.
This year's event had to battle some serious thunderstorms in the area, but they were able to move a lot of the activities indoors. I played in a jam for a little while before attending a workshop dedicated to old-time music inside a barn as the rain poured down. Unfortunately, I had to cut my time short, but it was nice while it lasted.
Because my playing time has been so sporadic, I haven't really dedicated much effort toward learning new tunes recently. As I work back into a decent routine, I'm planning to get back to Michael Ismerio's online fiddle course.
New Harry Smith Biography
In case you weren't aware, there is a new biography on Harry Smith, the curator of the highly influential Anthology of American Folk Music. Released last week, Cosmic Scholar: The Life and Times of Harry Smith, by John Szwed, is the first comprehensive biography on Smith. I preordered a copy, and I'm looking forward to picking it up this weekend. I'll let you know how it goes.
Until next time, banjo friends! Thanks for stopping by.
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