Northern Banjo Boy

Thanks Harry

2012-02-14T13:39:00.003-08:00

Hi, Found your blog last night and thought I would write to say that I found it quite inspiring. I have not really explored the whole log as I can only connect to the net for a while in the evening when I visit my friend and I have not tried to save any pages yet to see if they still work when saved.

I bought a banjo a long time ago when I lived in Glasgow and tried to play bluegrass style but failed. I could not pick out the melody. I now live in northern Scotland and "found" my banjo again a few weeks ago and started to play again but this time in clawhammer style. I then found Patrick Costello's web pages and have become hooked again. If only the Internet had been available when I first started everything would have been so easy. The young generation are so very fortunate to have such a tool at their command I hope they appreciate it and use it. Thanks for taking the trouble to write your blog and sharing your experience with everyone.

Harry

Harry - Many thanks, its always nice to get feedback. i followed a similar route into playing banjo, but was fortunate enough to find Patrick's site just as I was getting disillusioned with bluegrass/three finger style. The hardest aprt is getting through the mechanical phase when everything sounds forced, with enough practice the strange frailing technique becomes second nature. i remember the day it happened and I watched my hand 'play' of its own accord. I ran around the house telling everyone and they were suitably underwhelmed!

Keep at it,

Andy

now with added cowbell!

2012-02-08T07:56:00.001-08:00

More Cowbell (mp3)

Posted via email from Strikes a Chord

3 Track Recording on my i Phone

2012-02-05T13:32:00.000-08:00

BTDOM irigk 3 trac (mp3)
I recorded this on my phone this evening. Using Amplitube on my i phone which includes multi-track recording - as a FREE app!!

Uncle Dave Macon

2012-02-01T00:50:00.000-08:00

This one's for Carl - I think we need us one of them dance powered organ thingy-bobs!

Brian Harris - Knocking on Heaven's Door

2012-01-28T13:27:00.000-08:00

Brian Harris at Osmuconarora sent this cover version of Dylan's Knocking on Heaven's Door.
Good song and nice editing.

Big River

2012-01-27T13:00:00.000-08:00

The man himself.

Big River

2012-01-27T12:56:00.000-08:00

Talking with the Charmers about songs we should cover at the next practice.
My suggestion, Johnny Cash Big River.
Big River (mp3)

The Alice Charmers - Media Centre

2012-01-26T07:28:00.000-08:00

Un-beknowns to me The Alice Charmers have a media centre (sort of!)
http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Alice-Charmers/140323736076696?sk=wall&filter=1

Oh, its all digital over here!

200 Hundred Today - Great North Strum

2012-01-22T10:28:00.000-08:00

Happy 200th Great North Strum.

Ace of Spades - PB Guttenburg

2012-01-22T10:10:00.000-08:00

Jodie and the Lost Boys - plus NBB

2012-01-22T09:51:00.000-08:00

This is what happens when you work with amateurs and banjo players - or in my case both! Thanks to Jodie and the Lost Boys, you may never work again, but I loved it!

Meqnine - Touchiat Zidane Banjo Solo

2012-01-13T13:47:00.000-08:00

Touchiat Zidane Banjo Solo (mp3)
I've been thinking about new stuff for the blog this year and one of the irregular posts I think I'll be doing is 'Banjo Highlights of Audio Boo'!

Audio Boo is the sound equivalent of YouTube and its got loads of banjo related material, so maybe once in a while I'll feature some. The first of these is, Meqnine, an Algerian who posts banjo solos which I'm quite taken with. I don't really have any idea of the cultural context for this music but that whats great about music is that it's a universal language and you don't need to know - it helps, but you don't need to know. So if anyone can fill me in on Algerian banjo music I'd love to hear from you.

There is a element of the banjo which is quite primitive and the 'drum on a stick' links instruments like the cumbus, akonting and shamisen, although the music they produce is far from primitive. It's the great thing about the internet its out there you just have to find it.

Wrecked'97 on the iRig

2012-01-11T12:52:00.000-08:00

wrecked"97 (mp3)
I borrowed Charlie's leccy guitar and plugged it in for some iRig fun.
It's a bit of a train wreck but I love this little box!

Fairytale of New York - or more like Nightmare on in North Yorkshire

2012-01-08T14:26:00.000-08:00

New Year's Eve parties don't you 'em! This was probably the worst song of the night but the crowd loved it!

The Savanna Lion Snores Tonite - PB Guttenburg

2012-01-04T13:04:00.000-08:00

Here is the sound of a male of the Northern type sleeping off a hard day's night.
Nose Flute-Carl Dalton
Sound Recordist- Andy Dalton
Remix and Improvised Keyboards etc.-Sampleman

White Horse Turnaround

2012-01-02T09:39:00.000-08:00

Using Amplitube and recording on the I phone I've been working on a tune that's been in my head for a while. Think I've turned a corner with it, it's called 'White Horse Turnaround' inspired by Clayton Walter's 'Brushy Mountain Run'.

White Horse Turnaround (mp3)

iRig and Amplitube

2012-01-01T10:00:00.000-08:00

I picked up an i Rig while out shopping for a drum stool for Tom and I like this little gadget. It plugs into you pick up and i-phone and it makes a compact effects and 4 track recording unit.

I haven't had chance to do a lot with it yet but here's a sample. I added a bit of reverb and it has a good quality recorder.

Happy When it Rains (mp3)

Whiskey in the Jar & Pickin' and Grinnin'

2011-12-29T10:40:00.000-08:00

I've been working on some of the old blog pages on which the audio doesn't work no more, and this one was one of the most popular. So I've added newer versions of the audio and you can find the restored original post with Patrick Costello's workshop for Whiskey in the Jar Here and the tab Here.

Whiskey in the Jar (mp3)

Pickin and Grinnin is a great practice tune for working on drop thumbing and here is the tab.

Pickin" and grinnin (mp3)

Snores

2011-12-29T07:46:00.000-08:00

Snores (mp3)
Tonight I've had to share a hotel room and bed with my brother. Usually he makes lovely sounds on the guitar, but here he is on the nose flute! It's one o clock and I don't think I'll ever get to sleep!!!!

Clayton Walter - Brushy Mountain Run

2011-12-27T15:41:00.000-08:00

Clayton Walter - Brushy Mountain Run (mp3)

Clayton writes;

Merry Xmas to you and yours!
Here's a short clip of my tune "Brushy Mountain Run". I wrote this when I was staying with family in Kentucky and there was a guy who broke out of Brushy Mountain state prison and the cops were on the chase. He got grassed by his wife and got chucked back in. That was back before they shut the place down; I presume he was moved elsewhere. In any case, I apologise for the shortness of the track, but I'm not much of a recorder; I just make short run-throughs to document my playing.
Thanks again, and good holidays! Clayton

Killer Cortez

2011-12-22T10:41:00.000-08:00

killer cortez (mp3)
Carl's new Fender Amp is adding loads to his playing. this effect and the percusive way he plays sounds like he has someone on the high hat and cymbals playing backing.

Hot Like That - Kenny Vaughan

2011-12-19T11:46:00.000-08:00

Carl just sent me a link to 'Hot Like That' by Kenn Vaughan.

Apple Scrumptious

2011-12-16T09:28:00.000-08:00

Apple scrumptious (mp3)
This probably the best version of this song that we've done and Carl's mandolin playing makes it

Merry Xmas

2011-12-13T10:49:00.001-08:00

Happy When it Rains

2011-12-11T14:07:00.000-08:00

Only happy when it rains (mp3)

All this old audio made me want to work on something new.

We Wish You a Merry Xmas!

2011-12-11T04:16:00.000-08:00

We Wish You a Merry Xmas (mp3)
Another bit of recovered audio. This one got me 'removed' from the Daily Frail! I don't know if Patrick got worried about copyright or something but first he posted it and then it was gone! He usually has a well developed sense of humour! hey ho!

Blasts from the Past - Stan Gee

2011-12-08T02:37:00.000-08:00

This has been one of my favourite bits of audio from the last few years.
At the end of a music lesson I asked master Stan Gee to play something for the blog. He was playing his old Gibson banjo which has fantastic bass tones.
Gospel Ship (mp3)

First Post

2011-12-06T06:14:00.000-08:00

After realising that I've just posted my 500th blog entry it made me yearn for the old days and all the audio that doesn't work anymore on the blog. Not for its intrinsic artistic value but for my own record of how far I've come in fours years. I tracked back until I could find some working audio and was pleased with some of the stuff such a Napoleon Crossing the Rhine, to the extent that I thought 'why aren't I playing this anymore?'. So I am now!

Here are two of the earliest things I've been able to recover. A version of 'Goin Down That Road Feeling Bad', and something I don't recognise. GDTRFB was the first tune in which I thought OK this frailing thing could work! I think I'm going to spend some time in January trying to recover a few more, but don't worry I won't share them all!

Goin Down That Road Feeling Bad (mp3)

first audio recording on banjo in 2008 (mp3)

500th Post!

2011-12-05T09:05:00.000-08:00

Wow hadn't even realised I'd got to this milestone, and rather appropriately it's Cripple Creek! Maybe it feel like 500 versions of Cripple Creek....

Coal Creek March

2011-12-01T12:28:00.001-08:00

Coal Creek March - Jez Turner

2011-11-28T10:38:00.000-08:00

I'm lovin this version of Coal Creek March by Jez Turner. Having a go at the tab too.
Thanks Jez and ( Banjo Hangout)
Coal Creek March (straight run!) (mp3)

Here's the link to the tab. Tab

Curtis Eller - Friday 25th Nov Sun Inn, Stockton

2011-11-26T14:24:00.000-08:00

I have never seen a live performance quite like this one. Eller comes on like a force of nature and his raw, fiery and often funny songs are delivered with demonic glee. His skeletal banjo tunes were backed up by a raw, punky band setting which let let him play from the heart, floor, walls and at one point perched on a window ledge behind curtains. Curtis Eller deserves a bigger following than witnessed last night's gig at the Sun Inn in Stockton because he is the hardest working man in the world of dark, twisted, banjo-fuelled, 1920s punk, channelling the spirit of Buster Keaton! Unique.

Curtis Eller - Friday 25th Nov Sun Inn, Stockton

2011-11-24T05:53:00.000-08:00

Curtis Eller is New York City's angriest yodelling banjo player. He started his show business career as a juggler and acrobat, but has since turned to the banjo because that's where the money is. Mr. Eller and his band 'The American Circus' have performed at funerals, horse races, burlesque shows and vaudeville revues. His biggest musical influences are Buster Keaton, Stephen Foster and Abraham Lincoln. Yodelling and some strong language can be expected.
See more info at curtiseller.com

Zombie Land

2011-11-19T02:47:00.001-08:00

In a post zombie apocalypse world you gotta carry a banjo.

Credit to the Nation

2011-11-17T14:20:00.000-08:00

Channelling Billy Bragg tonight and out popped a righteous protest tune.
Credit to the Nation (mp3)

The Road

2011-11-17T09:46:00.000-08:00

A bit of vid from Mark at Great North Strum of a version of The Road at a recent practice where I finally got the chords right!!

Billy Bragg and King Blues - Which Side Are You On?

2011-11-17T09:41:00.000-08:00

Great gig at Teesside Uni last night at the Left Field In Motion Tour. This was the finale Bill and King Blues reworking his classic song. It's not my video (thanks to grapplingpunk) apologies for the sound quality - but seeing as how it only happened 24 hours ago and was filmed on a phone! not bad.

Moo Sha Mee by Carl Dalton

2011-11-09T12:43:00.000-08:00

mooshame instr (mp3)
Love this little tune. Carl's got some equally amusing titles and tunes on his Audio Boo page. http://audioboo.fm/CarlDalton

Mountain Dew

2011-11-01T14:21:00.000-07:00

the mountain dew (mp3)

Carl's been working up some new tunes on his AudioBoo page http://audioboo.fm/CarlDalton
This is a version of a folk melody that he's posted which I particularly like.

Inside I'm Out There - Chris Knott

2011-10-29T03:45:00.000-07:00

Inside i'm out there by oldmanknott

Chris is the originator of Strikes a Chord an open forum blog where you can post music, comments and share - it doesn't have to be folk - in fact we could do with some metal, occasionally.

Drop by, leave some sounds.

Apple Scrumpy

2011-10-28T05:30:00.000-07:00

Apple Scrumpy (band version) (mp3)
Here's some recoverable audio from last nights practice as we worked on 'Apple Scrumpy'.
Not quite there yet, as Mark has to cope with singing my lyrics.
To paraphrase Harrison Ford while speaking to George Lucas, " writing this sh**'s easy, but you try saying it!".

I'm Only Happy When it Rains-boo!

2011-10-27T08:58:00.000-07:00

I"m only happy when it rainsboo (mp3)

Hard Times: Pokey LaFarge

2011-10-26T05:05:00.000-07:00

Pokey LaFarge & The South City Three "Hard Times Come and Go" from Filipe Bessa on Vimeo.

PB Guttenburg: Wall St Riches to Rags Rag

2011-10-19T15:01:00.001-07:00

Wall Street Riches To Rags Rag by Brian Harris Listen on Posterous

Posted via email from Northern Banjo Boy on posterous

99% Rag - Old Man Knott

2011-10-19T08:40:00.000-07:00

The99%Rag (mp3)

We seem to have struck a chord here http://strikesachord.posterous.com/
Chris and PB are picking up that Great Depression vibe.

Don't Let the Banker Get Your Dough

2011-10-18T11:52:00.000-07:00

PB Guttenburg's greatest tune....

Go Lewdite

2011-10-18T11:46:00.003-07:00

I haven't dropped in on Lewdite for a while but the guy speaks sense and plays from the heart.

Apple Scrumpy

2011-10-17T13:03:00.001-07:00

First run through of the innuendo laden ripe fruit tune!

Posted via email from Strikes a Chord

Off the Leash

2011-10-16T03:25:00.001-07:00

We let Carl of the leash for three minutes at the last practice and this is the result.

Apple Scrumpy

2011-10-16T03:20:00.000-07:00

However you cut it songs about cider always sound like the Wurzels.

Shady Grove

2011-10-14T11:21:00.000-07:00

Shady Grove (mp3)

This is the last audio from last night as I managed to delete the rest while trying to save it!!!!!!

The Road

2011-10-14T11:09:00.000-07:00

The Road (mp3)

A sample from last night's practice.

White Trash Stewie

2011-10-13T09:36:00.001-07:00

Curtis Eller: Sweat Shop Fire

2011-10-06T01:19:00.001-07:00

Anthologies 11 : Curtis Eller - 'Sweatshop Fire' from Anthologies on Vimeo.

Apple Scrumpy(pumpy)

2011-10-03T13:23:00.000-07:00

The 15 gallons of Old Grumble Belly are bubbling away happily in the cider shed after this years mammoth cider making day - we could have made 150 gallons but there's just not enough hours in the day.

We've also been getting a bit fruity with the tunes lately (see previous posts) and Carl feels we should have a cider song for the set (but not that one!), so here goes... Apple Scrumpy
Apple Scrumpy (mp3)
Verse
G Sit beneath this apple tree C with me sweet Ida Red,
G Sit beneath this apple tree with D7 me sweet Lilibet,
G Sit beneath this apple tree and C drink some apple crush,
G Irish Peach, D7 my sweet Maiden's G Blush.
Chorus
D Lets make apple scrumpy, G lets make love tonight,
D lets make apple scrumpy, G till the morning light
D Lets make apple scrumpy, G right here on the ground,
D Take a swig, feels alright, take you time, it'll last all night.

Murder Ballad

2011-09-25T15:01:00.000-07:00

Murder ballad (mp3)

Murder Ballad - key of F

Intro F,Bb,F,C,F,Bb,C,Bb,F

C F
Lying in a shady grove staring at the sun,
C F
Lyin in a shady grove with my true chosen one,
C F
Lyin in my true loves arms, sleep my dear she said,
Bb C Bb F
Sleep tonight and dream the dreams of the dead

Lyin in my lovers arms I long to kiss her lips,
Lyin in my lovers arms her knife between my ribs,
Lyin in a shady grove staring at the night,
Sleep she said and feel the kiss that bites

Lyin in a shady grove my face turned form the sun,
Buried in a shallow grave for all the things I've done,
lyin in a shady grove I see her lips so red,
I'll sleep tonight, I'll sleep the sleep of the dead.

Doc Brown's The Third (and final)

2011-09-24T00:42:00.000-07:00

Doc Brown's Part Deux

2011-09-24T00:40:00.000-07:00

The Alice Charmers at Doc Brown's

2011-09-23T07:06:00.000-07:00

Footage of last night's gig at Doc Brown's, thanks to the wonders of modern technology and The Great North Strum. Also well done Mark on drums first gig and heroics with the sticks.

Alice Charmers at Doc Browns

2011-09-22T08:19:00.000-07:00

The Alice Charmers play Doc Brown's in Middlesbrough tonight.
It's the first time we've played with a full band and hopefully it'll go better than the first time which due to technical muppetry was a bit shambolic.

Fingers crossed!

Rolling Sideways - Hope & Social

2011-09-21T01:03:00.000-07:00

New video from one of my festival favourites at this year's Deer Shed Festival.

New Song - Possibly?

2011-09-18T06:45:00.000-07:00

I just give a shit about your heart (mp3)
Help! I've got this bloody tune in my head and its doing my napper in.
I need a cunning linguist to add some words, or a brave charmer to tell me its rubbish and forget about it.
It goes (surprise surprise)

verse G (with the harmonic d note 2nd string 3rd fret sounded), D, G(d), D, G(d),D, G(open), Em, A, D
'I just give a shit about your heart' goes over the Em, A, D
Chorus A, G, A, G, A, G, Em, A, D

I think it should be a list type song, of all the things this guy does care about and then the romantic pay off 'I just give a shit about your heart'

Little Birdie

2011-09-16T12:50:00.000-07:00

Little Birdie (mp3)

I've been watching a few videos of this song and loads of people seem to thrash this one out, but it seemed better at a more sedate pace for me. This version by Pete Seeger is great, check out the length of the neck on that bad boy banjo.

Squeeze Me!

2011-09-13T13:03:00.000-07:00

I was listening to the Who the other day and remembered the banjo break in Squeeze Box, so I thought why not?Squeeze box (mp3)

The Road

2011-09-11T14:30:00.000-07:00

This is the first run through of a new song by Mark 'The Road'.
The Road (mp3)

Cripple Creek

2011-09-11T14:27:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I've posted a version of this tune, but the other night we tried with just two banjos and it sounded OK - better than its sounded with the whole gang.
cripple creek (mp3)

The National - Bloodbuzz Ohio

2011-09-11T14:10:00.000-07:00

Another winner from Leeds Festival. Wasn't too sure that they were great outdoor festival fodder but the music was great. I'd love to see em in a hall.

Pulp - Leeds Fest

2011-09-02T06:37:00.000-07:00

Been a busy summer and it was all rounded off with a trip to Leeds Festival. Apart from Pulp nailing it on the Sunday night, my most memorable experience was walking through the campsite on Sunday night on the way home - It was like a scene from Apocalypse Now.

Soft Fruit Medley

2011-08-25T12:29:00.000-07:00

or 'I like my fruit with fur on.'
I can't believe we've started writing about fruit!
check out The Great North Strum

August Plums

2011-08-25T12:16:00.000-07:00

Been away for nearly a month and in that time my plums have ripened - ooh er! In fact we've got so much soft fruit we don't know what to do with it - jam, chutney, pickle, compote, frozen, crumble...

I've also had two weeks with no banjo so to celebrate the return of the banjo, I've written a tune to my plums!

It won't be to Mark's taste though as he famously told me 'I like fur on my fruit!'. Well mate you've never tasted my plums.

August Plums (mp3)

Deer Shed Festival 2011

2011-07-30T13:22:00.000-07:00

Here's a couple of photos of me and the gang at the festival.

I am Kloot 'Northern Skies' Deer Shed 2011

2011-07-30T13:05:00.000-07:00

http://www.iamkloot.com/

Admiral Fallow 'Dead Against Smoking' Deer Shed 2011

2011-07-30T12:56:00.000-07:00

and for Alesa...
http://admiralfallow.com/

Red Red Rose/3am Eternal/Call me Al. Hope and Social live at Deershed 2011

2011-07-25T08:52:00.000-07:00

Mark at Great North Strum got some great footage of Hope and Social at the festival. I only saw a couple of bands as I was buzzing around like a blue arsed fly, but Go Team, Frankie and the Heart Strings and Admiral Fallow were my top picks alongside these guys. Thanks Mark.

Mandolin

2011-07-19T12:53:00.000-07:00

I borrowed my brothers Stagg mandolin after being consigned to third banjo on our ongoing quest to find a band set up for 'Foggy Mountain Breakdown'. And I quite like it.

There are some remarkably simple chords G, D, C, F and some horrible ones - most of the rest, except Em.

So the plan is keep it simple and keep it in G or C, so here's Soldier's Joy in D!

Soldiers joy (mp3)

The Deer Shed Calls

2011-07-14T11:33:00.000-07:00

Posting might get few and far between in the next week or so as I'm working over at the Deer Shed Festival.

It's the second year and its doubled in size since last time around - 5,000 happy campers we hope.

So unless I see you in a field in Yorkshire... here's some Go Team! so you know what you are missing.

DBTF

2011-07-13T13:21:00.001-07:00

DBTF (mp3)

GNS

2011-07-13T13:14:00.003-07:00

Great North Strum (mp3)

Jamboree

2011-07-13T13:12:00.000-07:00

Jamboree (mp3)

Best one of the night.

Blitzkrieg Swing

2011-07-13T13:10:00.000-07:00

Blitzkrieg Bop (mp3)

Three of the best from last nights practice. Its was the first for a month and probably the last till Sept - Good or bad? you decide.

Blitzkrieg Bob

2011-07-10T13:49:00.000-07:00

'Zachary Lucky - Giants of the Forest - Episode Nine'

2011-07-09T05:59:00.001-07:00

I thought you would enjoy this video I picked up Twitter

Zachary Lucky - Giants of the Forest - Episode Nine from Amazing Factory Productions Inc. on Vimeo.

Hey Ho, Bandido!

2011-07-07T14:10:00.000-07:00

Blitzkrieg bop (mp3)
This does sound a bit bit like a Mariachi version of a Ramones song.

Waiting on a Sunny Day

2011-06-30T02:07:00.000-07:00

or Stand Back - Key Change

There's a bit of a lull with the Charmers at the moment - trying to get mick and keef in the studio at the same time is a nightmare! So I've been messing about with some stuff that we might do? i've always liked this Springsteen song so thought it was time to torture myself (and you) and sing an play. You might notice the subtle attempt to manage the key change in the middle...
It's in C and goes up to D.. chords C Am F C G repeat. awkward key change D Bm G D A E G D back to C
Waiting on a sunny day (mp3)

Happy 40th Birthday Mark

2011-06-24T00:05:00.000-07:00

A Bit More From the Hill

2011-06-23T23:58:00.000-07:00

Spancil hill (mp3)
After a slightly rambling instrumental version of Spancil Hill last night, we had a more focused go with vocals.

Ale Fellow Well Met

2011-06-23T13:57:00.000-07:00

Spancil hill (mp3)
I haven't played with Johnathan for ages but we always used to play Spancil Hill we're a bit rusty playing guitar and banjo but there's always room for improvement, and J turned up with ale so what's to complain about!

Just Like Aunt Bertha Used to Make it

2011-06-19T10:55:00.000-07:00

Well, maybe with another 40 years of practice!
After watching Aunt Bertha I realised she was playing this in G, but I've only ever found tab for Soldiers Joy in C or Double C. So I sat down with a pad and paper and two banjos, one in Double C and one in G and had a go at transposing it. It's the first time I've ever done this, so it took a while. I first started playing the melody note for note on the G tuned banjo, but this isn't right. So I worked out the notes for it in C and then moved them all up 4 steps and the notes are now in G. That's not quite the end of it as it's taken a bit of slight re-arranging to get a similar feel in G. The C tuning is so much lower that you don't quite get the same deep bass notes, but instead you get a much brighter rolling feel like Aunt Bertha gets. In G its also possible to play a version of the melody with fewer hammer-ons etc make it much simpler to learn.

I haven't been able to find any tab for Soldier's Joy in G so if I get chance I'll try and tab out my simplified version.
Soldier"s Joy in G (mp3)

The double C version though gives you more range to play the melody in at least two different ways within the first 5 frets and it has that cranky old time feel too.

Muttbunkey - My Kind of Morris

2011-06-17T00:53:00.000-07:00

The Muttbunkey dropped me a line the other day and on visiting his extensive folk archive on Youtube I've picked this dance performed at the Druids Arms, Loughborough as my favorite piece of Morris dancing for many a year.

Gid Tanner & The Skillet Lickers-Soldiers Joy-1929

2011-06-16T13:47:00.001-07:00

Soldier's Joy

2011-06-16T12:26:00.000-07:00

My new favouritestest song ever!
I've had time to tinker a bit with the tune and I think I'm getting the timings better.
there are also a load of different tabs for this on David's Clawhammer banjo site
Soldier"s Joy version 2 (mp3)

Bangin Away on the Big Dog...

2011-06-15T12:27:00.000-07:00

or Soldier's Joy
Soldiers Joy (mp3)
After looking at Aunt Bertha on You Tube I thought I'd better have a go at learning Soldier's Joy. I think the big bass sound on the Rutherford banjo suits it.

Make Your Own Banjo Part 7

2011-06-12T13:48:00.000-07:00

Listen!
Finally, after months of trying I think I've got it right. I spent about six hours today fitting, stringing, unfitting, refitting, restringing, rejigging etc etc, but I think I finally got the neck right. I had to cut a slot in the pot where there perch pole fits to the body and loosen the bolt and slide it up and down until the action came right. I then cut a small shim which fits behind the neck heel and a plug to fix the perch pole bolt in the correct place and suddenly she sounded sweet... as a nut!

She needed a bit more tweeking to get the final sound right, as a couple of the strings buzzed, but I recut the slots on the nut and once they were slightly wider bingo - no buzz. It's some relief to get it right at long last, mainly for all the effort Harry has put in. Every time we it and it was wrong I was gutted for him. He's really found a creative outlet for his carpentry skills and he's dead keen to make a second instrument as proof that it wasn't a fluke, so I felt pressure to get a set up that worked so he can crack on with #2.

I've always held Harry in high esteem because he, and lots of my older relatives, are so practical and capable, and its been a rare opportunity to work on something together as equals. His skills with wood and my (meagre) knowledge of the instrument and I think we've both got something special out of it. As my mate Mark said 'That is a real legacy, something to keep and cherish for ever'.

all I can say is that I've learned a real lesson too.
2 degrees is a mighty small angle but without it you are stuffed!

Make Your Own Banjo Part 6

2011-06-11T07:41:00.000-07:00

or The Esoteric Secrets of the Luthier
I haven't done any updates on the Rutherford banjo for a while. That's because we've been having a bit of a rethink. The original set up was made with the neck parallel to the head and this produced a loud banjo with a very high action. It also produced a neck which became progressively sharper as you played up it. Although harry and I were pleased with the first set up it obviously wasn't right. The problem was how to fix it?

We used Roger Siminoff's Constructing a 5-String Banjo: A Complete Technical Guide which is good and has a full set of plans, but there always seems to be something on which he goes a bit quiet - the angle of the neck. In his plans the heel is shown with a very slight angle at the point at which it meets the pot. Originally we thought this might be a mistake in the printing as this isn't mentioned anywhere in the book, at least not explicitly.

Not to run Siminoff's book down its great for getting all the components in the right order for building, you also need so advice on setting up, so I also bought How to Set Up the Best Sounding Banjo by Roger too! This book gives you the other half of the story, getting all the bits you made to fit together and make the right sound, but the crucial detail of the vital neck angle only shown in the plans and never mentioned is only mentioned in one paragraph in this otherwise excellent book!!!!

I spoke to friend who made a living as a luthier and he said something very telling, 'If we told you all the secrets you'd make it for yourself and I'd be out of business'. But at least with this little hint we knew where we were going wrong. The tricky part has been putting it right. Over the last few weeks we have reset the neck twice the first time we over compensated and the strings touched the frets - action too low. harry has since reset the neck again and hopefully this time it'll be right.

At the moment she's sitting here waiting to be reassembled and restrung - fingers crossed.

I wanna be... Aunt Bertha

2011-06-08T11:05:00.000-07:00

Brownie Mash-Up

2011-05-27T12:20:00.000-07:00

I'm making a set of prints based on the names of blues and folk musicians for a possible exhibition which will tour music festivals this summer. The idea is that each work has to fit into a CD case and these will be displayed in racks in the mini-caravan gallery just like in an old-timey CD shoppe!

No-one Needs a Weberman to Know Which Way the Wind Blows

2011-05-26T00:50:00.001-07:00

Hey N.B.B.-
Late last night I found this guy rummaging in the trash can outside the Cabin-guess who-Yep that pesky garbologist Alan Jules Weberman.So I laruppped him about the head with my banjo and wrote this song.
Thanks to Dylan,A.J. and Mark Davies for the inspiration.
Pee Bee

Although it says NBB on the player this is Pee Bee Guttenburg

Listen!

Posted via email from Northern Banjo Boy on posterous

Taxidermied Fox, Millennium Falcon and Banjo

2011-05-23T12:53:00.000-07:00

Aleas says,

'I'm a follower on your blog.
I just stumbled on this banjo video you may like if you haven't seen it before:

As people say, it isn't everyday you see a taxidermied fox, a millennium falcon, and a banjo at the same time.
Looking forward to reading/hearing more on your blog,
A.'

Aleas, you're right, those three don't come along often, and those kids are brilliant!

A few More from Thursday's Practice

2011-05-22T13:24:00.000-07:00

Listen!

Listen!

Look me in the Eye

2011-05-22T12:40:00.001-07:00

Listen!

Posted via email from Northern Banjo Boy on posterous