Art Shows

Last weekend was a convergence of fact versus fake. Our university town was flooded with visitors attending the annual True/False Film Festival, and the Columbia Art League simultaneously presented its “Truth?” exhibition. Fearlessly entering the fray of this communal examination of reality, the intrepid BRC founder submitted his “Cadmus` Dragon” banjo to the juried art show. Amidst 80 works accepted in the competition, his 5-stringer was serendipitously hung in the gallery adjacent to his wife’s “Climate Change” oil painting as pictured below.

In Greek mythology, Cadmus was a dragon slayer who harvested the teeth of these fire-breathing monsters to plant them, and from these seedlings grew fierce warriors. So, what’s not to believe about this story?

Seeking respite from the study of fact versus fiction, local Bluegrass musicians clustered together at a nearby yogurt shop to jam on the eve of what proved to be a surprisingly bitter late winter storm that fell upon the Show-Me state with icy snow and sub zero temperatures- a grim realty check for all.

Not easily apparent in the group photo, the BRC founder is holding a small birthday cake made of a brownie festooned with Gummi worm candy which was warmly presented to him in a plastic cup by his fellow musicians. Truth be told, he has played the banjo now for 59 years and should be a better picker than he is- after all this time.

The local community art league opened its 2019 exhibition season with a competitive show entitled “Gluttony” as its theme. How does a banjo builder address this visceral subject when the available canvas is a 2 x 26 inch fretboard and peg head? Decades ago when the BRC founder and spouse lived in the Sunshine State, backwoods Floridian restauranteurs would speak fondly of “cooter” soup.  A nickname for turtle, these dishes were a delicacy in colonial times, and canned terrapin meat for stew or soup is still available online for those who have cultivated a palate for this historical entree.

Traditional cookbooks in the southeastern US still offer such recipes for the adventurous chef. Accordingly, the BRC workshop fashioned a banjo entitled “Soup de Jour” emblazoned with mother of pearl cooters on the peg head which were presumably destined for the  serving dish.

The fretboard featured terrapins swimming to and fro-  perhaps hoping to evade the stewpot?

A 16 inch snowfall postponed the exhibit`s opening reception, and the rescheduled gala was cancelled because of a subsequent wind-whipped winter storm with bitter temperatures. By happenstance, the gallery had its annual fund-raising  “Let Them Eat Art”  food fest showcasing local chefs at the end of the month. What overly indulgent event could serve more ideally as an occasion for the “Gluttony”  exhibits`s overdue awards ceremony? Eager patrons, albeit weary of winter, hungrily gathered at the festive culinary benefit and puzzled over the unlikely 5-string entry that was stationed among watercolor and oil paintings depicting a gustatory array of edibles. Turtle soup was not among the gourmet cuisine offered to the guests.

With his son on bass, the BRC founder avoided the risk of overindulgence on the banjo by setting down his 5 stringer and playing a rollicking harmonica tune on the blues harp at a recent Farmer`s Market. Tips were donated to the Children’s Hospital.

In a world conflicted by strife at every corner of the earth, even the smallest and humblest voice for reconciliation merits to be heard.  Hence, the BRC founder submitted his “Peacemaker” banjo to the community’s annual “Gift of Art” show which inaugurates the holiday season.

Ironically, the name for this 5-stringer is adapted from the single action Colt 45 six shooter that was a favorite among lawmen and outlaws in the Wild West. Music, however, is a universal language that brings people together. Below a soaring white dove, the peg head displays the international peace sign which also appears at the 5th and 22nd frets.

Fluttering doves descend the length of the fingerboard. The octave fret presents an ecclesiastical Latin PAX inscription (kiss of peace), a term derived from the Roman goddess of Peace.

For the eyes-only of the musician, an additional pair of CND peace emblems (Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament) are located on the heel of the neck, a signature site of mother of pearl inlay on BRC banjos.

Whatever small tool might bring harmony among peoples and amity among nations could be a useful instrument in a troubled world.  As originally sung by the International Childrens Choir in 1955, “Let their be Peace on Earth, and let it begin with me.”

Music makes the world a better place. Have a restful Thanksgiving holiday.

Our university hometown is nestled in the rolling terrain of the Heartland where the prairie meets the Ozarks. Boone County is named after the famous frontiersman Daniel Boone who moved his family to Missouri in 1799. During the 19th century, fleets of riverboats churned the waters of Big Muddy supporting the busy agricultural economy of the Missouri River Valley.

This month, the local city bank and community art league co-hosted their 59th Annual Boone County Art Show. Unintimidated by over 230 eclectic works of art submitted to the contest, the intrepid BRC founder entered his “Riverboat Gambler” 5-stringer into the exhibit, and his instrument  (no surprise here) was the only banjo in the mix.

To his delight, it sold the morning that the exhibit opened.

While stopping-by to see the show, a curious patron made a withdrawal from the bank for an evening planned at a nearby riverside casino . He noticed the Riverboat Gambler and inquired what `lucky` card was beneath the pair of dice on the peg head? The banjo guy advised, “It`s the Queen of Hearts, and she may break yours.”                                                   

Since 1995, the BRC founder`s band has been performing benefits for the local Children’s Hospital. Last month, our total donations to the Children’s Miracle Network surpassed $23K. Two-thirds of these tip monies have been collected at a family-friendly microbrewery where we have performed weekly since 2009.  Located just across the street from the art show, the brewpub was recently the site of a video project recorded by university journalism students.

Our community themed its end of summer “Arcana” art show on the Tarot card deck, a  psychic compendium of life issues and spiritual lessons referenced by fortune tellers.  Early last April, artists who dared to enter the contest were required to blindly draw a card from the mystical Tarot deck and then craft a work fashioned on the symbolism and message of that card. The BRC founder researched all 78 cards in the deck and decided to risk a leap into the field of contestants. He drew the “Hanged Man.” Not a death card, the hanged man is suspended upside-down by the ankle, so his bad habits and ill behaviors will fall away from him.

The subsequently constructed BRC banjo sported a peg head that features an inverted mother of pearl faun, a half-human mythical creature that is sympathetic to people but devious.

The fretboard displays doves fluttering away- like ill begotten misdeeds. The 5th fret space bears the Chinese character of Wisdom, and the 12th fret space contains the character for Peace.

In recent years, each BRC 5-stringer typically bear a signature mother of pearl inlay on the heel of the neck  for the eyes-only of the musician. At this prescribed site,  the “Tarotology of the Hanged Man” banjo presents a `Peace Dove` image in the hopes that mankind will someday learn to shed its selfish and hurtful behaviors.

So, what’s in the cards for you?