I answered an add on craigslist listing "four old banjos- $150 each."



I called very early to leave a message and get my name in the mix. Well it's true that the early bird catches the worm, and he called me a couple of minutes later.



I met with him and this is what I got...



Stewart and Bauer "Monogram" Grade 2. At first sight it looked in remarkably good condition. A couple of days later when I had a chance to mess with it I noticed one issue.



I… Continue

I finally had a formal music lesson, the first in my life (that I can recall). The best part is that it was with none other than Clarke Buehling.



We had exchanged info at the opening of the America Banjo Museum. He was in Ft Worth for Thanksgiving. So we got together, had lunch, then went to our "old west" town.



He is a true gentlemen.



Scales and accompaniment, along with discussion of historically informed performance was the agenda. He listened to where I was… Continue

In this journey (obsession) of historic banjo playing, I have turned to reading all of the period literature on the subject that I could find. An observation I made is that it seems most banjoists had a version of "Home, Sweet Home with Tremolo." I had read the instructions for how to play it, listened to Ossman and Eps, but really did not give it much mind.



Then, from Trapdoor's recommendation, I bought Douglas Back's The Banjo Goes Highbrow (if you don't have this get it… Continue