When the BRC founder purchased his first banjo in 1960, there were no Bluegrass radio shows in his hometown near Albany, New York. To hear and learn banjo picking, he set his alarm clock for 2 AM to wake-up and listen to WWVA radio broadcasting over the nightly airwaves from Wheeling, West Virginia. Learning and re-learning to pick the banjo at any age is an unending lifelong journey. Playing music by ear is a talent that sounds very romantic, but it is also a disadvantage. Being a musician, like the BRC founder, who cannot read sheet music or tablature, is like being a poet who cannot write. The BRC founder’s day job is orthopedic hand surgery-which fortunately is not unlike rebuilding vintage banjos. Lucky him.
Banjos and hand surgery have a connection in this Banjo NewsLetter. Click here to read more BNL.
1 Comment
Dang! As a little kid in Brockton, MA I had the same problem. No bluegrass. Then I found WWVA in Wheeling, WV. They were selling gospel music “on them 45 RPM records. That’s the little record with the big hole in the middle!” I used to laugh myself to sleep over that.