Archives:

Vega Martin Stories

It`s A Wonder

January 16, 2021

From the BRC Mailbox:

Dear G.G. 

Thank you for the prompt and detailed photos of your Vega Martin Wonder banjo (Model VW-5 or sometimes Wonder-5) with serial number 1009. This instrument was manufactured in Nazareth, PA, per Workshop Order #2213 in mid 1974.  It features a metal tone ring, white fingerboard binding, a 10 ply rim, a 3-piece maple neck, pearl dots, a resonator with 4 section flanges, nickel-plated metal parts, and a shady mahogany finish. The suggested retail cost in the 1971 Vega Martin price list was $345 without case. The Wonder banjo line included a plectrum and tenor model in addition to the 5-stringer. 

In its early Boston beginnings, the Wonder banjo was an entry level instrument that featured a mahogany neck, rosewood fingerboard, a 5 ply maple rim, a metal tone rim, and resonator as described in a 1961 Vega  flyer. It sold for $195 back then. In the 1963 Vega catalogue, the Wonder was converted to a maple neck, with a blackwood fingerboard, and a 5 ply rim. Vega introduced its cousin the open-black  “Folk Wonder” model (FW-5) in 1966. In  the 1968 Vega catalogue, the Wonder line was upgraded with a 10 ply rim. C. F. Martin purchased the Vega brand in 1970, and the Wonder resonator banjo remained unchanged as did its less popular cousin the open back FW-5 model of which only 124 were made in Nazareth.  Both the resonator and open back models appeared in the 1972 Martin catalogue, but the folk style FW-5 production ended in 1976. It is absent from the catalogue of that year. In the 1976 Vega Martin catalogue, the resonator VW-5 instrument was upscaled with a brass tone ring and ebony fingerboard..

The Martin Company sold the Vega brand overseas to the Galaxy Conglomerate in 1979. Vega banjos were then marketed in the US by TMC (Targ & Dinner 20 Century Music Conglomerate), but a version of the Wonder line was not advertised in their catalogue. Galaxy went bankrupt in a few years, and the Vega brand was rescued in 1989 by Greg Deering who revitalized the Vega legacy. The Deering Company revived the Vega tradition of the open back Wonder line of 5-stringers with a nostalgic  “Little Wonder” model of yesteryear and a special “Old Time Wonder” banjo for clawhammer enthusiasts.

Thanks for your query to the BRC Mailbox. Be safe, be well, and keep on picking. Barry

G&F Band

Be It Resolved: 2021 Reaffirmations

January 1, 2021

For the dawning New Year, let us pause and renew our dedication to preserving the joy and tradition of Bluegrass music performed live with jam session friends. While acknowledging this calendar milestone, it is fitting to remind ourselves of two Gainor & Friends mirthful mottos as translated from the original Latin:

E bandito rehearsus unum dispersus ad infinitum. Which translated is, “The band that rehearses together disperses forever.” The local press found this maxim to be noteworthy.

Negatori musika populatum diminuendi versus bandito. Which translated is, “Play no music if the size of the audience is smaller than the band.”

 

Over the years, the G&F band members have faithfully adhered to the first above dictum but seldom to the second injunction. Many masked musicians have appeared on this website in pandemic era postings. In thanks for their unflagging dedication to Bluegrass music, they are featured here sans face coverings as seen in pre-covid photos. Together, we enter the New Year continuing as fellow travelers on a shared journey through the corona virus tunnel to emerge somewhere ahead into sunlit uplands. The G&F pickers look forward in 2021 to resuming Sunday afternoon jam sessions at the Broadway Brewery on behalf of the Children’s Hospital.

We also look forward in the coming months to reuniting with our Bluegrass pals in the activity room of a village burger shop in Eldon, Missouri, for weekly jams..

 

 

Alas, one year ago on New Year’s Eve, we cheerfully gigged at the local radio station not knowing the world was only only weeks away from the Covid-19 global pandemic. Better days now await us.

From the BRC: Be safe, be well, be together again soon.

CD songs, G&F Band

Home for the Holidays…

December 19, 2020

Hunkering down for the holidays? Anyone a stranger to sheltering in place? Readying for your next video call or zoom connection while hibernating?

Gainor & Friends have been performing benefit gigs for the Childrens Hospital weekly at the Broadway Brewery for more than a decade, but the pandemic has kept us off the bandstand for the last 9 months. Over the years, the family-friendly brewpub has hosted us most graciously. We initially performed in a cozy corner alcove by the steps descending down from the street to the front entrance. The acoustics there were surprisingly good.

During our Sunday afternoon jam sessions, the band has been treated to abundant left-over brunch snacks and take-home when it goes on break. Since our early beginnings in 1995, donations to the Children’s Hospital have exceeded $26K. With fingers crossed for luck, we hope to step-up on the bandstand once again sometime soon in 2021. Maybe, by Valentine`s Day or later…? Till then, we will all be “Hanging in the Air” while looking ahead for an off-ramp to exit from this pandemic alternate reality. Check-out the below sound file for a song with a lyrically suspended theme from the BRC founder`s second CD to benefit the Children`s Hospital. All music and vocals are by the author. Enjoy.


Hanging in the Air, copyright 2005

BTW, last month, the BRC website search engine hits topped 1.27M since our beginnings in April of 2011. We are grateful to all our faithful readers who visit us regularly. Have a restful and happy Holiday Season.

From the BRC: Be safe, be well, be joyful.

CD songs, G&F Band

At the Artisan

December 5, 2020

Over the years, the BRC founder`s band has donated all tips to the Children`s Hospital while calling themselves initially the “Bluegrass Jammers” and later the “Moonshyne Reunion.” When the music scene in McBaine dried-up, the BRC banjo-builder began to perform weekly solo gigs at the new Artisan coffee house near the University, a campus that bears the traditional nickname of Mizzou. As the months passed, fellow musicians increasingly began to join him each week on stage, and soon his solo act morphed into what became the “Gainor & Friends” band.

 

The G&F musicians would wear the Mizzou school colors of black and gold when jamming on the eve of a football game, and the band would perform on holidays in the lobby of the University Hospital to entertain patients, visitors, and staff.

At a benefit gig to collect donations for the Children`s Hospital, nurses join the G&F musicians onstage (above) waving small hand-held logos of the Children’s Miracle Network foundation. While regularly appearing at the Artisan, Gainor & Friends were pleasantly surprised one weekend to discover that they were ranked among the top eight live bands “to stalk” in town per an article (below) in the entertainment section of the local newspaper.

During the jam band’s tenure at the coffee house, the BRC banjo-builder compiled and produced his third and final CD for the Children`s Hospital entitled “Bonesetter`s Best & Bonuses.”

On the disc is one of his favorite self-styled country tunes “Broken Angel” in which the author performs all vocals and music including the keyboard parts. Enjoy the below sound file (Copyright 2006).

 

From the BRC: be safe, be well, and follow hygiene rules.

Bio

Panoply on the Peninsula

November 21, 2020

Years ago when recently enjoined as a bridegroom and relocating to Florida, the BRC founder and his young wife (pre-nuptial photo right) departed New England motoring south to the Sunshine State and its rich culture of Southeastern traditional music. In addition to his banjo and guitar, he stuffed his cameras and dark room equipment into their Volkswagen bug for the journey.

Concerts and Bluegrass festivals abounded around the university town of Gainesville, and live performances by Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys, Mac Wiseman, Jim & Jesse and the Virginia Boys, Don Reno, the McLain Family, Ralph Stanley & the Clinch Mountain Boys, the Earl Scruggs Revue, Doc and Merle Watson, the Nashville Grass, and the Dillards were attended by the newlyweds. It was the home of the Orange Blossom Special.

When vacationing, the young couple camped along the shores of the Florida Keys and admired the playful dolphins in the surf. They visited the Everglades National Park to learn about its ecosystem, wildlife, and indigenous people.

In a storage room in their house, the BRC banjo-builder constructed a dark room to develop his photo essays of musicians like the above side walk trio entertaining at a street festival in the sleepy Gulf coast fishing village of Cedar Key while three somnolent canines doze at their feet.

Busy with medical training and starting a family with his spouse, his music and songwriting a took a back seat to the hobby of photographing their youngsters as the kids grew-up.

There are several species of dolphins that ply the coastal waters of Florida. They are intelligent, social creatures that form pods of 2-3 adults and groups sometimes up to 15. Dolphins are warm-blooded mammals that phonate a “signature whistle’ to communicate and use “clicking” like sonar to facilitate navigation. Pods have complex social structures that manifest cooperative hunting strategies. Dolphin populations are threatened by commercial fishing, propeller strikes, and oil spills.

For the community art league`s annual winter Gift of Art Show, the BRC founder submitted his “Dolphin Songs” banjo. This 5-stringer was originally fashioned for the yearly Boone County Bank gala art exhibit which was cancelled this autumn because of the pandemic. Note the paua abalone treble clefs in the truss rod cover and fretboard.

The BRC banjo was prominently displayed among a field of 80 works including pastel, watercolor and oil paintings, bronze, wood, and metal works, and an array of photographic imagery.

From the BRC: Have a restful Thanksgiving weekend. Be safe, wear a mask, keep on picking.