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Tony Bird
climber
Northridge, CA
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Jun 21, 2010 - 06:10pm PT
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this might be worth a small discussion about trying to fit square musical pegs into round holes. i started out with banjo and guitar in high school. earl scruggs was my hero, but i just could never get that fascinating syncopated improvisation down. i was better at frailing. my three-finger style just turned into a horse gallop and threw everyone else off.
i have lots of musical influences in my life, and i just try to enjoy what i do when i can do it, but i rarely live up to anyone's expectations. recently connected with "pa" on here--she's from italy and we happen to know the alpine song repertoire, unique and as at-home in the mountains as appalachian music. (bluegrass is from kentucky. riding horses might help get off the constant gallop, who knows?)
anyway, a couple pics on my music, including sprucing up the banjo a bit.
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Tony Bird
climber
Northridge, CA
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Jun 21, 2010 - 06:14pm PT
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Tony Bird
climber
Northridge, CA
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Jun 21, 2010 - 06:15pm PT
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Tony Bird
climber
Northridge, CA
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Jun 21, 2010 - 06:17pm PT
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woodburning on the resonator--hard to read--can't foto worth a darn.
it has a genuine wildwood flower, but the reference is to a more recent song, the rose: a river that drowns the tender reed, a razor that leaves the soul to bleed, a hunger, an endless aching need.
can't get away from the hectic eclectic.
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mooser
Trad climber
seattle
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Jun 21, 2010 - 06:19pm PT
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Cool, Tony. I can't quite make out the words on the back of your resonator. BTW, did you make this banjo?
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mooser
Trad climber
seattle
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Jun 21, 2010 - 06:36pm PT
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Meanwhile, here's my mando:
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Tony Bird
climber
Northridge, CA
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Jun 21, 2010 - 06:54pm PT
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the words are from "the rose" as i posted up there because i knew you wouldn't be able to read them.
the banjo is sears, roebuck, around 1963, most of the black paint rubbed off, so i decided to decorate.
really a pretty mandolin there, mooser. i have a little "potato bug" mando i got from my italian grandmother when i graduated from high school (1965). it prefers doing mikis theodorakis (zorba the greek) to bluegrass. sometimes you have to let the instrument have its own way.
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mooser
Trad climber
seattle
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Jun 21, 2010 - 07:18pm PT
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Bizarre...the post following your resonator pic wasn't there when I asked the question. Looks like we were simul-posting.
My first 5-string was a Sears banjo, too. 1970. My second (the one I still own) is an Iida, and it's got great sound.
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Chinchen
climber
Way out there....
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Jun 21, 2010 - 07:38pm PT
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I build a few instruments of bluegrass.....
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mooser
Trad climber
seattle
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Jun 21, 2010 - 07:54pm PT
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Really nice, Chinchen! You know, my brother began making a mandolin for me (F-style) before he died. Just out of curiosity, do you finish projects others have started? Not sure I could afford it, but I sure don't want to leave something so sentimental in a half-finished state.
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Bertrand
Trad climber
SF
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Topic Author's Reply - Jun 21, 2010 - 09:13pm PT
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Holy Capo, JohnRoe. That is an Awesome TR. I wonder if Shay would allow his uke photo to be reposted here. I have photos of my Crafters 5-String, but I will hold off for the one I will take next week from the top of 3rd Pillar of Dana. ---wait, scratch that. the thing weighs 20 lbs. No way I am hiking in with that beast even condsidering the glorious backdrop.
Mooser I would love to hear how the mando-build goes.
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Willoughby
Social climber
Truckee, CA
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Jun 22, 2010 - 01:14am PT
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I pick. I grin. I do all that stuff.
Haven't played much true bluegrass with others in a while though. For up-tempo tunes, I prefer to play my banjo full-tilt, but I can't seem to find any guitar players that can keep up. Not bragging or nuthin', just stating the facts. Besides, I got three fingers going, to their one pick, so... Mostly been working on the dobro since my ankle break almost two years ago. I've upgraded guitars from this old Regal somethin' or other:
to a Rob Ickes model Wecther-Scheerhorn. Holy smokes do I love the tone and playability - hardly top end, but what a value! Banjo is a 70s Gibson Mastertone, and I love it beyond words. It's been very good to me.
Speaking of the Stringdusters, just caught them in Reno the other week at the Brewfest. Almost nobody there, crazy...
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Chinchen
climber
Way out there....
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Jun 22, 2010 - 01:38am PT
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Gotta get me some dobro soon...
Mooser, keep in touch. Ill be settled in Bishop soon.
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Chief
climber
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Jun 22, 2010 - 09:11am PT
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Bluegrass rules!
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Chief
climber
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Jun 22, 2010 - 01:32pm PT
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Nothing random about Herschel Sizemore or Billy in the Lowground.
How about Rebbecca or Tim Stafford's Horshoe Bend?
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harihari
Trad climber
Squampton
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Jun 22, 2010 - 01:37pm PT
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Hey Perry, do you have a regular bluewgrass crew to play with in Squampton, or do you hook up with scratch bands? E.g. your pic of opening for Reischman, is that yoru regular band?
chris
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Chief
climber
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Jun 22, 2010 - 06:25pm PT
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chris,
No regular crew, just whoever will put up with me at the time.
Mostly play for my dog.
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nutjob
Trad climber
Berkeley, CA
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Jun 22, 2010 - 07:07pm PT
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I'm a guitar player.
I'm on the shallow wading pool end of dabbling in bluegrass. I joined a bluegrass jam session/class about a year ago and realized how much work I'd have ahead of me. The main issue is not the mechanics (I can change chords quickly enough, I have the finger dexterity to play stuff), but just learning the repertory. People call out song names, and launch into the chord changes, which I can't track in real-time even after watching a couple of cycles. My brain is stuck in pop/rock/blues progressions, but the changes in bluegrass are just not intuitive for me.
The only way I see to clear that hurdle is to practice a lot of bluegrass, but I don't like it enough to exclude other types of playing and I just don't make the time for practicing in general. I don't have the heart to stick with it long enough while I suck, like I did 20 years ago when not much else competed for my time.
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Chinchen
climber
Way out there....
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Jun 22, 2010 - 09:04pm PT
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Its not so bad Nutjob. Most bluegrass songs have only two parts. An "A" progression and a "B" progression. Each is usually played twice before the other is played twice and round they go. You take a solo and play through the whole cycle once.
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