G&F Band

Another Milestone & Thx

January 3, 2026

The arrival of the New Year is very special to the G&F Band, as we recently surpassed the $34K milestone of donations to the local Children`s Hospital. We began channeling our fees and tips solely to the local pediatric medical center in 1995, and many musicians have given their time and talent over the years to benefit this university institution.

The band has been performing Sunday afternoons at the Broadway Brewery since 2009, and more than three-fourths of all the aforesaid donations have been provided by the generous patrons of the brewpub. We thank the management of this family-friendly restaurant for graciously hosting the G&F musicians every Sunday afternoon for the last 17 years.

The Gainor and Friends band wishes a healthy and prosperous New Year to our weekly brewpub audiences and also to the faithful visitors to this Banjo Rehabilitation Center website.

From the BRC: Be Well in 2026.

Jamming

Holiday Hoedown

December 20, 2025

Out of town guests, former bandmates, and newcomers swelled the ranks of our recent Thursday evening weekly jam session. This occasioned a festive abundance of picking, spirited singing, and grinning. It was a warm gathering of fellowship and music despite the frigid weather outdoors. We at the Banjo Rehabilitation Center wish all our faithful readers a restful and joyful Holiday Season filled with music and friends.

From the BRC: See y`all in the New Year.

Art Shows

An Artist

November 29, 2025

A few weeks ago, the G&F jam band played a gig in the lobby of a local art gallery that was presenting a retrospective show of painter and art professor James Froese (1996-2012). The artist was a visual story-teller who worked through a variety of media.

The gallery was thronged with a stream of visitors who paused in the lobby to video our band and cheerfully request and sing-along with favorite gospel tunes.

The artist`s son (far left) plays banjo in our band and greeted the enthusiastic assemblage.

From the BRC: It was a delightful evening of mixed media.

Bio

The Sky is the Limit

November 15, 2025

A few weeks ago at daybreak, our neighbor across the lake photographed some sun-splashed cumulonimbus clouds that towered over the BRC domicile.As seen below, a reciprocal sunrise photo of our neighbor`s shoreline taken previously from our back deck was softly colorful and suggested a rosy and inviting day was in store. In the foreground, our dock serenely rests in still waters.

Assured by the above photo taken from our home that another lovely autumn day in the Heartland was likely unfolding, the BRC couple embarked on a long walk down a nature trail to the nearby lowland lakes in order to view the migratory birds.

Halfway on our journey, however, the overhead skies darkened and began to reverberate with menacing claps of thunder. Stinging wind-driven rain soon began to pelt us. We cell phoned our nearby daughter to please come and rescue her parents from this tempest, and her car soon appeared nearby to spirit us back to the shelter of our BRC home.

From the BRC: Have a restful  and sunny Thanksgiving.

Bio, G&F Band

Acclimation to Autumn, etc.

November 1, 2025

The landscape of the Ozarks has been repainted with the seasonal palette of Fall. The mighty herons and the diminutive albeit kinetic hummingbirds have fled south to distant climes. Terrapins, once plentiful along the BRC backyard shoreline while sunning themselves on our floating turtle ramp, have vanished into the deep protective waters of the lake for the coming winter. Festively-costumed children paraded through our neighborhood last night in search of Halloween candy.

While visiting our daughter`s family in Chicagoland recently, she took her Dad on a stroll along the nearby Des Plaines River to observe a solitary White Egret that had not yet fled Southward from the oncoming famous Chicago winter season.

Despite the sun-dappled waters of the meandering River, this magnificent snowy white avian will soon venture South to more temperate environs.

At the family-friendly brewpub for our weekly Sunday afternoon gig, the BRC craftsman recently filled-in on bass while our regular bassist was away for 2 weeks on a fishing trip. He holds his Martin BC-15E mahogany bass guitar (seen below) that he purchased in 2001 when the Martin Guitar Company first introduced an inaugural acoustic bass guitar line that featured an electric pick-up. The BRC musician mellows this four stringer`s tone with nylon strings and a sound hole cover, so it does not compete with the other unamplified acoustic instruments in the band. His bass is channeled through a small amplifier, so its sonic output does not overwhelm our singers.

It is the BRC craftsman`s longtime belief that: a band without a bass is a band without a heartbeat.

From the BRC:  Let the beat go on…..