The Glory-Beaming Banjo

It's been five months. That was when my son's school decided to transition to online learning for the remainder of the school year. That was when I started working from home full time. That was when the quarantine began.  I'm not telling you anything new. The COVID-19 pandemic has changed everything for everyone. Wearing masks, social distancing, staying home. Every day feels the same, like we're stuck in the movie Groundhog Day . Wake up. Find my son on the couch watching videos. Log in for work. Make coffee. Answer emails. Sit in on video conference calls. Complete tasks. Log out. Endure.  Wash. Rinse. Repeat.  My wife is unable to work from home. After being furloughed for about a month, she has returned to work. She wears a mask all day, but she also gets to interact with people face to face. I never thought I'd be jealous of being able to socialize at work.  I never truly knew the meaning of "ennui" until now. In fact, I didn't even know how to pr...

Maybe it's because I've been thinking of Spencer & Rains since my last post . Maybe it's just because I simply don't know many G tunes. But "Stumptown Stomp" has been on my mind recently. "Stumptown Stomp" comes from the playing of Eck Robertson , who many consider to be the first commercial country musician. He first recorded for Victor in 1922, with "Sally Gooden" and "Arkansaw Traveler" being the first two sides released. Between 1922 and 1930, Victor released a total of 16 sides of Robertson's fiddling. He wouldn't be recorded again until 1963, when Mike Seeger, John Cohen and Tracy Schwarz of the New Lost City Ramblers paid him a visit. Those recordings were later released in 1991 on County Records 202, Famous Cowboy Fiddler , which included Robertson's playing of "Stumptown Stomp." The tune seemed to bubble to the surface in my local old-time circles after it was included on Spencer & R...