• Steve, Earl and the New Yorker

    Steve Martin continues to take the banjo and bluegrass music to places it would likely not otherwise be found. On The New Yorker's Culture Desk blog on Tuesday, Martin used his position in the arts community to pay homage to Earl

  • Letters From Camp: Day 2

    Jim Gabehart is journaling his time at the Pete Wernick Dr. Banjo Advanced Banjo Camp this week. I'll admit I was hoping I'd get a chance to say this honestly, but I awoke this morning and logged on to check the weather and thought

  • Letters From Camp: Day 1

    Hello mudder, hello fadder, here I am at, Camp Granada (RB3, Top Tension, take your pick). The last week-long camps I attended were spent on a cot in a tent, where I learned to be Trustworthy, Loyal, Helpful, Friendly, Courteous,

  • Letters from Camp

    With the hope of proving the old saying wrong, and showing that an old dog can learn a new trick, I am about to leave the Mountain State of West Virginia to travel to the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, to attend

  • Music education – or child abuse?

    Depending on where you stand on the question of multiple banjo bands, this video posted by the American Banjo Museum may delight or repulse you. It features the Next Generation Banjo Band from the Windsor Banjo Club performing an all-banjo arrangement

  • Banjo player “Shorty” Eager passes

    Edward William “Shorty” Eager passed away following an extended illness on December 19, 2011, at Cobb Wellstar Hospital in Austell, Georgia. A former member of Jimmy Martin's Sunny Mountain Boys, Eager was born on February 13, 1941. Originally from Mohnton, Pennsylvania, he

  • Dapple Patti – Munde and Granger

    Dapple Patti is the title of a new CD release from the duo of Alan Munde and Adam Granger. Recorded during April 2011 in Minnesota where Granger lives, the two longtime friends tracked five songs in the studio, with the remaining

  • Alan Munde bounces back

    We've posted several times this past two weeks about banjo superstar Alan Munde and his unexpected quintuple bypass surgery just before Thanksgiving. Talk about bouncing back quickly! Here is video of Alan at his first post-surgical jam this past weekend when

  • Frank Necessary passes

    This remembrance of Frank Necessary is a contribution from Jay Armsworthy, an avid promoter of bluegrass in Maryland and the District of Columbia, who performs with his group, Eastern Tradition. Frank Marion Necessary   (Banjo, Guitar) Born: December 20, 1935 - Boone’s Camp, Kentucky One of the