General

My buddy Tim from the band Shred Kelly sent me this video of his band and him playing the custom banjo I built for him.




Thanks Tim!

I have updated my main site with some recent builds. There are 2 new banjos to view over at Latest Builds Page I've also added some videos and sound files to some of the older builds so check those out as well.

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Well I'm back from my adventures at Clifftop 2010, I had a really great time. I met a lot of great people, saw some old friends and had more then a few great jam sessions. I had a ton of people stop by my booth and admire my banjos and pick a bit, it was truly a great time.

Here are a couple of pics of my booth set up, with some fellers hanging around playing some.








Here's a video of Jimmy Costa playing Old Mother Flanagan on my Chestnut banjo.


I've also spent some time these last couple of weeks updating my website, trying to make it easier to navigate and too get all my latest builds shown with plenty of images and sound files. I still have a little bit of work to to do, but I think its much better then it was before!

Take care everyone.

I have noticed quite a bit of traffic to my blog lately, which is good. I would like to ask y'all a question though. What would you like to see here? I know it's not the most active blog going and I would like to make a greater contribution to the blogosphere. So I'm looking for ideas about what topics interest those who follow this and other builder blogs?

I have covered much of the different construction techniques I use, but could go more in depth if that interest people. I've also thought about doing a series of post on my favorite tools I use. I certainly will cover all of my latest builds once they are complete, but what else?

If you have any ideas or suggestions I would love to here them, post in the comments section or head over to the contact me tab and shoot me a email and let me know what y'all think.

The local jam I attend in Marietta at the Australian Bakery was featured in a newspaper article this week. Although I was slightly miss quoted I did get a plug for Buzzard Mountain Instruments! It's a fun jam with a pretty big turn out and a ton of people who come just to listen.

You can read it here:AJC Online Article

I've met a lot of great people from this jam and I encourage all of you who play to find a local jam and attend it!

Sorry it's been awhile since I have posted an update, but it's been a pretty busy summer here at Buzzard Mountain HQ. Upon the advice of Chris Via I ventured to West Virginia a few weeks ago to the Appalachian String Band Festival, affectionately known as Clifftop. Despite the fact that it rained nearly everyday I was there I had a great time! I got to hangout with some old friends and meet a few new ones too. I would recommend to anyone interested in Old Time music to make the pilgrimage next year.

Here are few videos from Clifftop:
Chris Via and Friends Jam (including yours truly)


James Reed and The Giles Mountain String Band playing at our canopy.


Lester McCombers on Fiddle and Kim Johnson on Banjo. I got to spend some time with these two and get to know them a little bit, both wonderful people and Old Time players. Kim has a new CD out of here banjo playing, it is highly recommended. You can reach her at banjowv@gmail.com to request a copy.


Jeremy Stevens and Kilby Spencer showed up at or canopy to play a few.


Here is Jeremy and Kilby during the competition playing Sail Away Ladies.


Here is Kilby and Jeremy during the fiddle competition playing Sally Goodin.


It was a great weekend!

I'm still working on getting all of the videos uploaded from the Henry Reed Memorial Fiddlers Convention, but here are a few more.

Well I've been back from the Henry Reed Memorial Fiddlers Convention now for a few days and have had some time to recover. It was great time in a beautiful setting, tucked into the heart of Appalachia at Glen Lyn, VA and I couldn't think of a better venue for a fiddlers convention. I heard some great music and met some wonderful people. I had a chance to record some video that I will be posting to my youtube account in the next couple of days. The first one is of Jimmy Costa and Mark C. Campbell playing some Uncle Dave Macon tunes in our campsite on Friday evening.



Jimmy Costa is a wonderful musician and historian, he is full of stories from old Appalachian culture. Here is a link to an article about him: http://www.wvculture.org/goldenseal/costa.html and here is another Youtube video of him playing at West Virginia State Theater. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmVpzNg3qss

Mark Campbell has a great site www.markccampbelloldtimefiddle.com with some wonderful fiddle lessons. Here is an excerpt about Mark from his site:

"In 2008 Mark was named the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities' Master fiddler. He was also the 2001 Champion Fiddler at the Appalachian String Band Festival at Clifftop, West Virginia, has twice won the State Fair of Virginia fiddle contest, and has won the West Virginia State Folkfestival banjo and fiddle competitions. Mark travels throughout the region, performs concerts/lectures, teaches classes, plays for dances and produces solo and band recordings."

Both Jimmy and Mark are great guys and I appreciate them sharing some of their music and stories with us this year.

I can't wait until next year!

I've finally had some time to update my site some, it's still not 100% there but its getting closer. I have updated the instrument section to have pictures now of my latest builds so be sure to check it out and let me know if anyone has any problems with it.

Well the owner of the BM09-002 Custom Banjo sent me 3 sound files again. This time the first time through on the song he is playing the banjo setup with a Fiberskyn Head, then the second time through with a Renaissance Head. The songs go from one version right into the next so that you can really hear the difference, and only thing that is different is the heads, everything else is exactly the same. Thanks to Pat for these!



His banjo is tuned to gCGCD.

Arkansas Traveler Fiberskyn vs. Renaissance Heads
ArkansasTrvlrFibervsRen.mp3

Soldiers Joy Fiberskyn vs. Renaissance Heads
SoldiersJoyFibervsRen.mp3

Country Blues Fiberskyn vs. Renaissance Heads
CountryBluesFibervsRen.mp3