When I was ten I got a guitar. I don't recall if I knew what to do with it but when I was twelve or thirteen I discovered rock and roll. Around that time I had friends who wanted to play guitar. We got together and would play each other what we learned from various sources. I used Mel Bay books to learn how to tune and learn simple chords. I remember buying Guitar Player Magazines as early as '74.
In the late sixties I moved from Florida to Wilmington Delaware. Wilmington is a suburb of Philadelphia so I loved the Phillies and baseball. I'd hear the Mummers play on New Year's Day, but never thought about what the banjos sounded like. I never thought about a jazz banjo sound depite what I heard. Up until the age of forty-five I thought of the banjo as a five-stringed instrument that bluegrass players picked.
Late 2003 - My friend Brendan gives me a plectrum banjo. Along with the banjo he gave me Don Stevison's Tenor Banjo book. Brendan showed me that the banjo could be tuned like a guitar and Don's book has some stuff in it about it but I couldn't find much. I tried playing my guitar songs on the banjo and thought they sounded terrible. I put the banjo down and didn't touch it again until...
March 2004 - Brendan came to me again and asked me to learn how to play the plectrum banjo. He gave me the correct book from Don Stevison along with Dave Frey's books, Don Van Palta's video lessons, and a Buddy Wachter video. I played Buddy's video, which started out with him playing Bye Bye Blues and was blown away. It didn't jog memories of the banjo but I knew I wanted to learn hown to play like Buddy Wachter. Brendan told me about John Mumford's Jazz Banjo Magazine. I checked it out and found Jazz Banjo Radio and Banjomania. I started listening every day. Finally, the music of the Mummers and the banjo parlours came back to me and I was drawn in. I didn't get the book that should have accompanied the Buddy Wachter tape, so I chose to start at tape one of Don Van Palta's series.
June 2004 - Brendan asked me to play the plectrum banjo because he switched to tenor banjo and wanted a partner. While I was learning how through Don Van Palta, Brendan started taking private lessons with Jim Riley. I saw Jim's name on the Resonator website as a tenor banjo instructor, so I never contacted him. Brendan showed me Jim's book, "Riley's Routines for better Banjo." I had him buy me a copy. I loved the book and it made me aware that I could be picking up bad habits with either hand or both. I told Brendan I wished that I could get private lessons. To my surprise, Jim offered to teach me. On June 26th (or around then) I had my first lesson with Jim.
October 2004 - I'm looking forward to performing at the St. Valentine's Day Massacre at Allenberry next year with Jim. The tentative songs will be "Somebody Stole My Gal" and "Whispering." I will be practicing hard.
February 2005 - I played the two songs above and "Old Folks at Home" in the St. Valentines Day Massacre. This banjofest fueled even more desire to play. I was in the band and performed with Jim accompanying me. I met some of the best four-string players and bought a better banjo than the banjo given to me.
March 2005 - One year! I feed my desire for banjo playing by attending a performance by Big Bertha's Rhythm Kings at Bertha's in Baltimore. Jim plays his tenor banjo in the band. I hope that a plectrum banjo can work in the same kind of ensemble. At Allenberry I decided to learn how to site read and I've started ear training and music theory studying. Work was started for next year's massacre and I started to record songs for the website.