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Jamming

Our Pals to the South

June 27, 2014

Last weekend, the brew pub gang journeyed south again for our semi annual get together for a day  of pickin` and grinnin` with our Bluegrass buddies in Eldon. Newcomers to this  semiyearly jam session  wondered about specific travel directions to this unfamiliar little faming community  in the foothills of the Ozarks.IMG_0932 - Version 2

 

No Mapquest  or GPS would be required: drive due south to cross the Big Muddy (Missouri River) and proceed till you see the large roadside “Pickers Junction” sign. The next right turn will take you to  McD`s where the pickers convene in the activity room.

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How easy can it get? We had  a great day with the best pickin` pals in the Heartland.

Quiz: Check-out Gainor & Friends on a brief You Tube video clip and see if you can name that tune:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCCwdyig4uE

 

Answer: Whiskey Before Breakfast

G&F Band

The future of Bluegrass…..?

June 17, 2014

If youngsters do not pick-up the banner of Bluegrass, the music will die with us old timers.  The Gainor &  Friends  band recently performed again for the Safe Day for Kids festival at the Children`s Hospital, and we were blessed to have a young fiddler join us- for the third time. Her father is a banjo player and tinkerer not unlike the BRC founder.IMG_3583 - Version 2

Although a little camera shy, the young fiddler is unafraid to seamlessly leap into such Bluegrass classics like “Redwing” and the “Tennessee Waltz.”  She surprised  the  group  with a spirited up-tempo “Devil`s Dream” with which some of our veteran musicians could not keep pace.

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At the end of a sunny morning, we all took great comfort in the assurance that the future of Bluegrass is safe in the hands, fingers, heart, and soul of this little miss (click to enlarge).

 

P.S. Special thanks always to our musicians who travel from Eldon and Macon, Missouri, to  perform in Columbia with the G&F band  at these events for the kids and families.

BRC Events

Crossing the Wide Missouri

May 12, 2014

The lyrics to the University of Missouri alma mater were penned in 1895 by an unknown author at a time when riverboats still roamed the wide Missouri River. Banjo clubs were fashionable on colleges campuses in those days, and Old Mizzou had its own amalgamated “Glee, Banjo, and Mandolin Club” as seen in its 1895 yearbook called the ` Savitar `(photo reproduced with permission from MU Archives). savitar1894p082b (1)

Several years ago, the health-related schools on campus inaugurated a gala fund raising dinner each Spring, and the BRC founder has been invited on each occasion to be the ceremonial song leader  for the alma mater at the end of the evening.  As per tradition, the dinner guests stand for the school song, and this year the BRC founder  stepped to the microphone with a a banjo slung around his shoulder. He invoked the assembly to imagine that they were all together being ferried across the wide Missouri on board the paddle  wheeler “J.W. Spencer” that operated in the Jefferson City area in 1895. Here's a Health To Thee dinner at the Reynolds Alumni Center

 

 

The alma mater “Old Missouri” was sung to the strums of a riverboat banjo, and the crowd was all smiles at closure of the festive evening.

 

 

G&F Band

Our 2 best fans ever

April 11, 2014

The BRC founder`s band performed again this year at the annual gala dinner to benefit the Children`s Hospital.  It was a festive evening with many well-wishers and photographs, but the highlight for the musicians was getting to see our two best fans ever. These two little ladies both have hair the color of sunshine and bring us smiles and laughter.
CSC_0687 - Version 2With the Children`s Hospital mascot “TJ the Tiger” nestled at her feet, one of our favorites is serenaded by the band (click to enlarge).

Our other little favorite left us joyfully speechless when she arrived with a wash-off tattoo on her forearm announcing “I`m with the Band.”A`s arm tatto - Version 2                                               How do we deserve these precious admirers?

After the gig, the band  retreated to a nearby restaurant for its annual family meal together. Just between you and me, dear reader, I am the band`s third most devoted fan. These guys donate time and musicianship  every Sunday afternoon at the brewpub where all tips go to the Children`s Hospital.IMG_3519 - Version 2

 

How do I deserve these precious pickers?

 

 

News clipping:  http://www.columbiatribune.com/arts_life/pulse/pulse-shots-the-best-medicine/collection_96f81664-d26b-11e3-9875-0017a43b2370.html#image_1

 

 

Cell Perches & HVO

Plectrum and Tenor banjos and Pete

March 28, 2014

Although 5 string pickers are comfortable in their world of folk music or Bluegrass, in a rare quiet moment they might wonder: what is the difference between a plectrum and tenor banjo?  Both instruments have 4 strings, so why the puzzle?

To wit: The plectrum banjo has 22 frets, and the strings are tuned C-G-B-D not unlike the folksy C tuning of its 5 string cousin. An optional D-G-B-E  is called “Chicago tuning”. A staple in early jazz, this instrument is plucked with a flat pick, and the hyperkinetic Eddie Peabody is its most famous virtuoso. IMG_3470

The tenor banjo evolved just prior to the 1920`s as a dance band instrument, and it first bore 17 and later 19 frets. It is tuned in perfect 5ths  C-G-D-A like a viola or mandola. Popularized by Barney McKenna of the Dubliners, the  traditional Irish tuning of G-D-A-E is like a mandolin or violin. This allows the 4 stringer to mimic the fiddle in Celtic music. In the adjacent photo, the BRC founder chords a friendly busker`s tenor banjo by an 11th century church near Paris, France.

There are many other iterations of the banjo like the rediscovered cello banjo, the  bass and 6 string and long neck banjo, the banjo uke (banjolele), the banjo  mandolin, and the guitjo. A champion of the 5 string banjo and social justice, the revered and legendary Pete Seegar probably introduced more generations of pickers to the banjo than any other ambassador of the instrument. Thanks, Pete.

In a tribute to diverse picking styles, enjoy a Bluegrass rendition of `Cripple Creek` in the below link and watch the BRC founder (black T-shirt at 2:00 mins) clawhammer the tune with his ring finger- a trick taught to him by  his older brother decades ago.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_tIbrexWgM