The Glory-Beaming Banjo

Can you believe 2018 is drawing to a close? That means it's time for a heavy dose of navelgazing to see what's built up, what needs work and perhaps what needs to be cleaned out. Back in January, I dubbed this " A Second Year of Ward Jarvis ," building on the previous year's progress . My goals were to learn four Ward Jarvis tunes on fiddle, log 186 hours of practice and play my banjo more often. The tunes on this year's list were culled from my list of common Ohio tunes , as well as one carryover from 2017. Here are the tunes: Three Forks of Reedy Leather Britches Forked Deer Grey Eagle Fourth Quarter Highlights The Good:   "Grey Eagle," while still a work in progress, has come along nicely. I had the opportunity to play with some folks recently, and I gave my newest tune a try for the first time in a group setting. It didn't go half bad. There are still three and a half weeks to go this year, and I think by then it'll be do...

As the third quarter of the year comes to a close, it's time to move on to the next tune on my list for this Second Year of Ward Jarvis . But first, let's reflect on the progress made over the last three months. This quarter included a month off for a family vacation . While I was gone, I missed three great local festivals . And of course, I have fallen a bit behind the pace for my fiddle playing time goal for the year. However, I got to see some traditional Greek folk music at a village festival on the Island of Rhodes. It was difficult to knock off the rust that accumulated in my absence, but I'm back to my routine and making up for lost time. General Highlights Vacation ended my daily playing streak at 89 days on fiddle and 86 days on banjo. As soon as I returned, I launched a new streak that now stands at 27 days on both instruments. I've got my sights set on 100. It was nice to get another opportunity to write another review for the forthcoming issue o...

Last time, my quarterly progress report was late . It only makes sense that this one would be a couple days early. Besides, I couldn't think of anything better to write. So, there's that. These last three months have been full of highlights. I've continued to make good progress on my Second Year of Ward Jarvis, there have been concerts and reviews, and I started a daily playing streak that continues to this day. Let's explore these more deeply. General Highlights My ongoing streak  is the accomplishment I'm perhaps most proud of. Yesterday, I hit 50 days in a row of playing fiddle and 47 consecutive days of playing banjo. It was also rewarding to have  two reviews I wrote appear in the spring issue of  The Old-Time Herald . I reviewed Richard Jones-Bamman's book, Building New Banjos for an Old-Time World , and the Clarence Ashley album, Live and In Person: Greenwich Village 1963 . I'll be writing more reviews for the publication in upcoming issue...