I have been a huge admirer of banjo players my whole life. Oddly enough, nobody that I knew in my life has been a banjo player or even liked it enough to give it much of a mention. I also thought that it must be the hardest instrument in the world to learn. I can play the guitar but I really never gave playing the banjo a second thought because I was sure that it was beyond my grasp.

It wasn’t until I was around 30 years old that I really started thinking that I was ready to take on this beautiful and historical instrument. My wife bought me a banjo for Christmas around 2000. I could not believe my eyes when she brought it into the room. I had been listening to almost nothing but bluegrass music for a long time and always talking about trying to learn but I had no idea that I was about to get my very own banjo. It was actually the first banjo that I had ever held in my hands. It was an awesome feeling.

For the very first time I was holding the one instrument that I had always thought was beyond my grasp. The next thing I thought was, “Now what?” I did not know a single person that played bluegrass or any style of banjo so it was up to me if I was going to learn how to play it. That is why I let my poor lonely banjo sit in the closet for another 2 years before I ever did anything with it other than hold and admire it.

Like a bolt of lightning, one day I just decided to start learning. I jumped into it with the right attitude and thought that would be enough to get me kick started. It actually turned out to be more of a gradual start. I think it was about 3 months before I could play anything that even resembled a song.

That put me right smack dab in the middle of being one of those rude, clangy sounding players. I still have a lot to learn and a long way to go but hopefully in the not too distant future I will be the kind of player that gives the banjo and it’s players a good reputation instead of a clangy, obnoxious reputation.

My blog about banjo, bluegrass music, bluegrass musicians and whatever else comes to mind. Banjo3 Blog

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Contemporary country music is one of the most popular genres on the radio. It is truly mainstream popular music, with an appeal that cuts across all demographics. Its mega-stars regularly fill the seats at the largest venues. Indeed, as someone has observed, country has replaced rock as the main face of American pop music.

Only slightly less noticeable is the surge of interest in what is called old-time music, a choice of material and style of playing that hearken back to the genre’s early days when it emerged from the hills and hollers of Appalachia, and other rural pockets of the American South, to claim a niche on the then-new medium of radio, as well as in the burgeoning recording industry of the 1920s and 30s. For an excellent crash course in the old-time music revival, give a listen to the “Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?” album (the soundtrack to the movie of the same name).

Bluegrass music has a large and devoted following all its own. Bluegrass festivals and competitions are numerous throughout the United States and even in many other parts of the world.

Somewhere between the original old-time country music of the early 20th century, and contemporary country as it developed from about the 1970s or ’80s onward, you’ll find honky tonk–exemplified by the great Hank Williams–and the other pre-mainstream traditions and artists of the 1950s and ’60s. These gave way for a short time to “outlaw” country, associated with the likes of Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings.

Then, reaching way back, there are people who love playing the old recordings of the earliest country stars, such as Uncle Dave Macon and the Carter Family. And let’s not forget the cowboy singers who rode high in the saddle in the ’40s, and the Western swing bands, and …

“Country music” means all these things and more. It’s truly a diverse genre. We’re fortunate to live in an age when so much of country music–it’s rich legacy as well as its living embodiment in today’s performers–is readily accessible. One of the easiest ways to enjoy it is via the Internet.

The number of country radio stations with live streaming audio feeds has become uncountable. But here are a couple of suggestions:

To plug into the most important country music station of all time, go to the WSM Web site at www.wsmonline.com. This is the pioneering Nashville station that brought the Grand Ol’ Opry to America’s airwaves and established the careers of so many country stars over the course, literally, of decades. The WSM site provides a prominent “click to listen” button for picking up the live broadcast stream any time day night.

A more recent happy discovery is Classic Heartland, an online-only station headquartered in Branson, Missouri. Rather than try to describe what you’ll hear there, let the Web site tell it: “Classic Heartland features independently-produced programs by volunteers who love this music as much as you do. In between these programs is our unique blend of classic country, western, bluegrass and alternative country music.”

A recent Sunday’s playlist included stirring country gospel, some old-time tunes played by contemporary artists, and a few genuine gold nuggets from the country music archives, including “North to Alaska” by Johnny Horton and “They’re Gonna’ Put Me In the Movies” as rendered by Buck Owens.

Classic Heartland Radio may be found at www.classicheartland.com.

But seeing as how everyone’s taste in country music is different, the best suggestion for finding the ideal countrified audio stream is to browse one of the directories of live radio stations on the Web. Outstanding is Mike’s Radio World, which categorizes 3,000+ stations by genre as well as location. One whole page is devoted to country music stations. You can start here: www.mikesradio.com

Stefan Smith is a radio and music junkie who writes on those and other subjects for the Solid Gold Info Writers Consortium. Recently, he has written an extensive review of new software that anyone can use to capture music audio streams from Internet radio broadcasts and break them up into individual mp3 song files–a legal way to download virtually free music. Read the review at: http://www.solid-gold.info/radio2mp3.html

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The Bluegrass Festival is a showcase of some of the very best local and regional musicians in North Carolina. It seems the love they have in their hearts for the music they play shines through with every chord. Some tunes are heart rending, others toe tappin’ and some flat out foot stompin’, it is a moving experience all around.

It is our tradition to arrive early on Sunday morning, coffee and danish in hand, to hear the bluegrass gospel bands perform. It’s usually still a little chilly before the sun warms up for the day. I bring along a jacket because I enjoy watching the sun burn the mist off the river as the day begins to heat up; with the music playing in the background, it can be a truly spiritual experience.

The Fort Fisher Military Recreation Base where the event is held is in a gorgeous spot beside the Cape Fear River. Seating is on the festival lawn so bring along a chair or blanket. The gates will open on Saturday at 9:30am and close at 6:30pm. The Sunday hours are 10:30 until 6:00pm. We usually spend the entire day: there is plenty to eat, arts and crafts to shop, storytelling and later in the day when things have warmed up clogging and square dancing are great fun to watch.

As with the music, the arts and crafts for sale are local, hand made items. One of my favorite vendors is a local beekeeper who sells his honey and nuts. (Ward’s Nut’s and Honey) There is also a local winery, Silver Coast, with beautiful wines for sale that you can drink at the festival or bring home for later. There is a girl who does beading and sells a rainbow of colored bracelets, earrings, necklaces and other trinkets. I like the feeling of familiarity at the Bluegrass Festival; I get to visit with the same people year after year. It seems that since it does not have as large an attendance as some of our other events,it offers more of an opportunity to talk to the crafters and meet others at the festival who are there for the music and the dancing. It is definitely a family event.

For a colorful, cultural weekend full of fun and music in North Carolina come on down for the Southern Coastal Bluegrass Festival this November.

For additional information about the Southern Coastal Bluegrass Festival in Fort Fisher, NC visit their website at:

http://coastalbluegrassfestival.org/cms/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1

The website for the Thalian Associate, sponsors of the festival can be found at:

http://www.thalian.org/cms/

Additional information about Pleasure Island including Fort Fisher, Kure Beach and Carolina Beach, you can visit Bella’s Life on the Island at:

http://merrymermaid.com

Visit Pleasure Island North Carolina with the tips of a local! Your tour guide website Bella’s Life on the Island is at: http://merrymermaid.com

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There are the two roles the guitar plays in bluegrass and old-time music: rhythm and lead. The most important role of the guitar in bluegrass and old-time music is that of a rhythm instrument. In fact in the early days of bluegrass, the guitarist in the band never took a lead break. Now lead guitar breaks are common, but consider this: If you were playing guitar in a five piece bluegrass band, and in every instrumental song, each instrument took a lead break–you’d be playing rhythm guitar 80% of the time and lead guitar only 20% of the time. For vocals you would be playing lead even less.

First things come first, and for the bluegrass or old-time music guitarist, becoming a good rhythm player should come before you put a lot of work into playing lead. In fact, being a good rhythm player will HELP you to be a good lead player.

The proficient rhythm guitar player will learn to play strong, crisp bass notes on the “downbeat” and chords on the “offbeat,” all embellished with a few neat bass runs here and there. The best way to begin your study is to learn the basic chord shapes (C, F, G, G7 and D are the most important ones). Then experiment with playing the bass notes and learning some runs to bridge from one chord to the next. Watching a good bluegrass guitarist perform with a band will be very helpful. Developing a keen sense of timing is important: Practice with a metronome! Always remember that you are part of a band. Your goal should be to find out how you can best contribute to the overall sound of the group.

After you have some good rhythm basics down, it is time to start learning some lead. Typically in a bluegrass band, musicians take turns playing lead breaks in tunes. What we all want to do is to learn to improvise with great sounding lead breaks. The best way to accomplish this is to learn a whole bunch of traditional fiddle tunes on the guitar. You can use phrases from these tunes in your lead breaks, using this phrase with a G chord and that phrase with a C chord, etc. Play most everything down on the first 5 frets of the guitar, using open strings wherever you can. This is bluegrass guitar at its finest!

Don’t strive for speed only. You want to be able to play fast and CLEAN, with each note ringing out crisply, in perfect timing. Practice with a metronome and GRADUALLY build up speed without sacrificing precision!

Learn to play scales based on the G, C, F and D chords and then other chords. Use these scales like you use phrases from your fiddle tunes when improvising.

In time, and with a lot of hard work, you’ll be an excellent guitar player and an integral part of the band. This reward will be well worth the effort!

Copyright © 2007 Lee Griffith. All rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Lee Griffith is an avid acoustic guitar player and a vintage instrument enthusiast. He invites you to receive a FREE REPORT on a revolutionary acoustic guitar lesson kit, along with his weekly newsletter via email. just click on http://optin.flatpickpost.com

Check out Lee’s blog, “The Flatpick Post” at http://flatpickpost.com

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The band is made up of banjo player, Hilary Hawke who has been described as a luminary in the Brooklyn country music scene. Hawke wrote the music on new EP Lost My Mind, being described as rhythmic, and catchy alt/country bluegrass. The tracks on the EP all lock into a steady groove, even the memphisy ballad Hymn which tells of a tearful long distance relationship. What stands out about Hogzilla is that they play a sort of music that really connects with the audience without always relying on cheesy lyrics or the predictable chord changes that you can expect from the normal aspiring original band. The band has songs about the changes and trials of living in NYC in songs Gentrification of D.U.M.B.O, and L.I.C. With tight harmonies, solid rhythm, a good punch of attitude, and girls that really play their instruments. The band is comprised of guitar, banjo, upright bass and snare drum. Members include Hilary Hawke-banjo, Mimi Lavalley-guitar, Mike Brown-upright bass, and Joe Humel-drums.

New EP Lost My Mind:

Tracks:

1. Don’t Let me Be
2. Take that Ride
3. Hymn
4. Lost My Mind
5. Gentification of D.U.M.B.O

Their new EP Lost my Mind can be found on cd and at any one of their shows. Recently featured on Soundcheck WNYC, expect to hear more than a little squeal from Hogzilla!

The quality of the music emanating from the stage that night was just as good as anything I had ever heard on the radio, and better than most. As I sat on a large rock and watched those guys pick and sing for the better part of two hours, I became more and more impressed with their obvious talents and skill with each song they performed. It quickly became apparent that each of them played multiple instruments, and they played them all extremely well. At first I thought that surely I had just happened upon a group of performers with almost super-natural musical abilities, but as I saw more and more Bluegrass groups in action that summer and fall I came to understand that they were really, well, just typical… as Bluegrass musicians go.

In the years since my introduction to the world of Bluegrass, I have come to understand that as a general rule most Bluegrass musicians are masters on at least two or three stringed instruments, and many of them can play them all! But “pickin’” isn’t all they do of course - they sure know how to sing too! The region I live in was officially designated by Congress as the “Birthplace of Country Music” a few years back, so it really is no surprise that our little “corner” of the Appalachians is home to more than its fair share of outstanding Traditional Country, Bluegrass and “Old-Time” singers and musicians.

If you have never really been inclined to give Bluegrass music a try, you owe it to yourself to do so as soon as possible. But do yourself a favor: Don’t just go out and buy a Bluegrass CD. Instead, make your first experience with the “music of the mountains” a live Bluegrass concert. After you see a group or two perform live on stage with their numerous instrument changes, super-tight harmonies and vocal gymnastics, I’m guessing you’ll be hooked as well!

Rick Rouse loves to express his opinions on a number of topics, and he invites you to join him at http://www.RickRouse.com to express a few of your own! Drop by some time and “sit a spell” while enjoying a bit of lively conversation.

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Today, you can hear the sweet harmonies of Bluegrass instruments and smooth vocals throughout the United States, and indeed the world. Bluegrass festivals abound, featuring performers from all over the globe. But the heart and soul of Bluegrass remains securely in the Appalachian region.

During the warmer months the tight rhythms of the banjo, mandolin, fiddle, flat-top guitar, upright bass, and dobro echo off the hills and buildings of many small towns and cities. You’ll often find Bluegrass being played at festivals, fairs, street corners, and front porches at most any time of the day.

The future of Bluegrass looks bright as well because many of the performers in the region are youngsters who started playing an instrument at a very young age. It is quite common to find families spanning several generations playing Bluegrass together just for fun.

If you have never had the opportunity to experience a live Bluegrass show, you owe it to yourself to do so. You’ll hear this traditional Appalachian sound and most likely be hooked!

About The Author

Rick Rouse is the owner of RLROUSE Directory & Informational Resources. Visit http://www.rlrouse.com/bluegrass/ for more information about Bluegrass music.

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