MIDLANDS BANJO FEST..."Another Grand Day Out!"

[thereallyniceman]

Lynn and I are back from the Banjo Fest held on Saturday and apart from my ears still ringing after Howard Shepard's amazing Top of the Bill performance, things are getting back to normal!

The day was brilliantly organised and well presented, thanks to Keith Wilson and David Wade. For me the only thing letting it down was the beer being served at "The Hilton". I couldn't find any that I liked so had to resort to "Cold Carling" which was as it always is... very, very cold, fizzy and tasteless, but at least it is wet, contains alcohol and is refreshing.

;-)

There was even time for a picture for the local press:

Keith Wilson, thereallyniceman, Ray Bernard and David Wade.

Joking aside, it was great to meet people friends, players that I had only met online and many other folk who had made their way there. So there was plenty of time for pontificating on my part and many banjos to have a go on.

One highlight was that Russ Chandler let me have a play on his Clifford Essex Wood-hoop Special...."So what", I hear you say, "I thought you had one of your own?"

....  Well I do, but Russ's was the very banjo owned by William J Ball and  played in his later life. The banjo that he described as "anyone buying a higher grade Clifford Essex banjo is wasting their money".

There was general chit chat, much beer  lager drinking and I recommend the, very reasonable, bowl of chilli with chips!! 

At around 2.00pm the concert started and we were treated to a wide range of banjo playing styles. Classic Style featured well thanks to Claude Burvenich, Helmut Rheingans, Tom Ryan, Russ Chandler and on zither banjo David Wade.

Russ Chandler

David Wade

Claude Burvenich and Helmut Rheingans

Claude Burvenich and Tom Ryan

At the interval there was more time for pontificating, this time with John Croft, Ray Bernard and some fat bloke!

Other styles were well represented with some great playing by Roger Bower on plectrum banjo, "The Rondo trio", "Stained Glass Bluegrass", Tony Sullivan "Sully", "The Old Grey Dogs" (who played a spectacular session) and top of the bill Howard Shepard who is famous as "Shep" of the "Shep's Banjo Boys" who were regularly seen UK TV in the 1980's.

The Old Grey Dogs

Roger Bower

"Shep"  Howard Shepard

It was a great day for any banjophile. I am sure that David Wade will soon have the dates for next year's banjo festival...watch this space.

BUT the highlight of the day for Lynn was winning second prize in the Clifford Essex Music Co Ltd sponsored raffle.

£10 of banjo stings, so now I have to buy TWO new banjos for her to fit them them on.

Thank you to everyone who organised the bash and played for us.

[Jody Stecher]

Thanks for the Fest Report, Ian. I would have a had a great time there!  

[marc dalmasso]

THx  Ian , & me too , would have great time but  i had a gig as a sound engineer this saturday , October10

BTW , was a concert  ,by 3 English Young girls  , in Berre les alpes ( near Nice ) ; was fantastic  , amazing , vocals superb ; could speak only with the leader  girl from Liverpool , and with the one from Sheffield because the 3rd one has a cockney accent  & i didn 't understand anything ; lol

amazing too  , that this last girl has a father who is luthier & she plays banjo , she knows Rob Murch

Here 's a link of an old video ;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkh3o8hQ5oU

[David Wade]

Thanks for the write-up Ian, it was one of the best Rallies we've had at Hilton - shame we can't get more of our UK members out. Everything is booked for next year - 8th October so no excuses about not knowing the date!

The young lady in the video is Helmut's daughter - sitting on the right seventh picture down!

[Russ Chandler]

It was a great day with a really good atmosphere. I think mention should be made of Claude's rendition of Maple Leaf Rag with I thought was exceptional.

[David Wade]

Well said Russ, I agree with you, it was superb.

[Jackie Cook]

By your photos and description, it looks like you had a wonderful time. Thanks for sharing this great info, Ian!