I was raised by a pack of wolves, deep in the forests of Nawthern Alabama...

Ok, perhaps not. I'm told we were a "normal" family...if having an airplane in your garage (sometimes running the engine in the front yard) is normal. We did finish restoring it (a J-3C Piper Cub) and I soloed in it, etc.

I'm an engineering type, working on spare parts for Helicopter stuff, 8 to 5, weekdays. My wife, the inimitable Miz Diane also works with the Helicopter groups, albeit in the contracting and acquisitions end.

I have been playing the banjo since 1979, when I was taught "Cripple Creek" (Scruggs Style) by my now longtime friend, Patrick Camp. Although I started out on the Bluegrass end of things, one of the first tunes I learnt was an 1877 arrangement of "Spanish Fandango" published in "Banjo Newsletter" in the late 1970's. It was another 10 yrs before I attempted another Classic Banjo tune (or even knew what one was).

In 1992, I attended the "Tennessee Banjo Institute" in Lebanon, TN...meeting the likes of Clarke Buehling, Bill Morris, Chris Sands and Eli Kaufman...and listening to them play Classic Banjo. Their performances (and the cassettes I purchased from them) led me down the crooked path of the Classic banjo from then until now.

I have a lot of hobbies...but most have gone by the wayside for Banjo stuff. I have been collecting Banjo Sheet music since the 1980's and have scads of it stashed in boxes in my "music room", along with quite a few banjos...some vintage, some new, some 4-string, mostly 5-string, some are just banjos I got for a song.

I have been actively procuring the materials and equipment to produce my own banjos when I retire. I recently purchased the estate of a local luthier who specialized in producing somewhat illicit reproductions of a well-known banjo manufacturer. Lots of tools and bits and a huge pile of great wood. I've been woodworking since I was a kid and I've started several banjos...discovering my great talent is not finishing projects. ;-)

I have recently adopted the motto of John Steinbeck: Ad Astra Per Alas Porci. Seems to fit me!

===Marc