Bio

Ever too much Bluegrass? Never.

July 9, 2022

A couple of weeks ago, the BRC craftsman and spouse attended Bela Fleck`s spectacular touring  show “My Bluegrass Heart” which appeared at an outdoor amphitheater near the shores of the Missouri River just outside our capital of Jefferson City. The troupe included (left to right)) Jerry Douglas, Sam Bush, and premier banjoist Bela Fleck, and all three stars sequentially performed with their respective bands during the busy evening concert. Although the musicians were fresh from the clear mountain air of the Telluride Festival in Colorado, they were undaunted by a stifling mid Missouri summer heat wave and bugs fluttering throughout the stage lights.

The threesome of headliners united at the grand finale, and mandolinist Sam Bush led an enthralling quartet of fiddlers in a frenetic hoedown tune driven by the impeccable rhythms of veteran guitarist Bryan Sutton.

Despite the palpable humidity, it was a marvelous summer evening of energizing entertainment enjoyed by audience and musicians alike.

From the BRC: Can you ever have too much Bluegrass music? Nope.

 

Art Shows, Jamming

A Puma and Parting

June 25, 2022

For the summertime members-only show at the local community art gallery, the BRC craftsman fashioned a “Puma”  banjo for the exhibit. The open back instrument was decorated with laser-cut wood inlays of mostly birch. The truss rod cover was made of laminated maple. Although unknown in Missouri, the mountain panther is a solitary species that roams southern Florida and the remote regions of the Western US. Years ago, the BRC family lived a while in the wooded lake district of Florida where sightings of the furtive feline were rare but reported. Later, we resided twice in California- once overlooking the sea and once in the shadow of wilderness mountains where the big cat allegedly prowled, but only yipping coyotes were heard at night.

At the gala evening reception, curious art gallery visitors discover the Puma 5-stringer. The scientific name of this species of cougar is Puma concolor.

Last month, the yogurt shop in our capital city hosted its farewell Bluegrass jam session on the eve of the enterprise being sold to another vendor. Most of the musicians wore signature tie dye T-shirts which were a popular promotional item that the proprietors offered to faithful customers during our 6 year tenure of quarterly gigs at the main street snack bar.

From the BRC: Happy Trails to all and and thanks for the neighborly venue and free yogurt!

Art Shows, Bio, Cell Perches & HVO

On the Wings of Eagles

June 11, 2022

The 64th annual Art in the Park outdoor festival reconvened last weekend in our municipal lakeside green space after a two year covid hiatus. For its yearly Veteran`s Tent pavilion,  the BRC founder, who is a former USAF medical corps serviceman, submitted to the show an “Auric Eagle” banjo which was festooned with laser-cut wood inlays.

To further celebrate the reinstitution of the sprawling June fair and its exhibit honoring veterans, the BRC craftsman simultaneously fashioned the “Wings of Music Cell Perch.” This smartphone holder is ornamented with left-over fretboard decorations and was gifted to his son in Texas who grew-up a Bluegrass musician. Upon receipt, he messaged back to his dad, “Thanks, it’s beautiful!”

Our son`s Lone Star family resides in a home that houses three BRC banjos and a grandson who has an abiding interest in constructing vintage WW II fighter aircraft on his computer like the airborne P-51 Mustang seen below. This pastime invokes detailed conversations  between the Texas youngster and his grandfather who is a life-long student of military history and a wartime poster collector.

From the BRC: A special thank-you to the men and women serving in our Armed Forces.

 

 

 

 

Cell Perches & HVO, Jamming

Back among the Outback

May 28, 2022

In the sprawling Lake of the Ozarks countryside, a small village burger shop nestled in the foothills has hosted a mid week jam session for decades. Noontime featured a classic country music songfest, and bluegrass musicians stepped up for the afternoon hours. Eventually, the country pop jammers dwindled away, but the bluegrass pickers endure to this day. The pandemic, however, silenced all music at the eatery for nearly two years- until now. With the apparent waning of the covid infestation, the weekly acoustic jam session has happily revived. Customers enjoy the renewed live music scene while our clogger (striped shirt) tutors patrons` children and grandkids to dance to the festive rhythms.

To celebrate the long-awaited revival of this southern Missouri jam session, the BRC craftsman fashioned an “Ozark Wilderness Cell Perch” smartphone holder with leftover banjo fretboard inlays to portray the hilly outback that surrounds the rural village where the burger shop resides. The table top implement is decorated with flora and fauna images including the occasional bald eagle and bobcat that inhabit the nearby rugged Show-Me State countryside.

The cell perch is destined for a community end-of-summer “Scapes” art show which will be thematically focused on the world of escapes: landscapes, seascapes, and dreamscapes, etc..

From the BRC: Keep on picking,  no matter what.

 

Art Shows, Cell Perches & HVO

The Inside Story

May 14, 2022

For the theme of the Spring exhibit, the community art league challenged its members to “explore their own understanding of the interior: interior design, interior thoughts & feelings, interior to our bodies or minds or buildings and spaces, inner circles of trust and community, and more.”

For the BRC craftsman, who plays Bluegrass with picking pals, writes songs, and builds 5-stringers, identifying his interior life was a no-brainer: music. These invisible sonic waves that we call music enter our inner ears and are miraculously converted into audio perceptions that entertain, comfort, inspire, uplift, and not infrequently transport us by touching the heartstrings. The gift of hearing is a wondrous blessing which brings us a cosmos of music and its myriad genres of  style.

For the Interiors show, the BRC founder crafted the “Inside Bluegrass “banjo which featured laser cut wood inlays representing most of the principal stringed instruments heard in this unique acoustical style of folk music.

At the gala evening reception in the gallery, curious art enthusiasts closely study the open-back instrument.

Also recently constructed was a “Zodiac Cell Perch” smartphone holder which was decorated with celestial inlays left over from the “Not in the Stars” banjo that was built in the BRC workshop last year and exhibited in the “Hindsight is 20/20”  springtime show. It was gifted to the BRC craftsman`s daughter who had skillfully redesigned the BRC website format, inside and out, last year.

Upon receipt, she texted, “Ta-Da! Thank you, it`s gorgeous and just my style.” With the message, she included a photo of the grandkids on her smartphone taken while it was perched on the table top implement.

For more details on the materials used in the Zodiac Cell Perch, enter “retrospect ” in the search engine on the website home page to view the “In Retrospect” posting of May, 8, 2021, which features the aforementioned astrology-based banjo.

From the BRC: Hearing is believing, so listen-up and count your lucky stars.