Jamming

A Tradition Endures

February 2, 2024

Several decades ago when our Thursday evening jam sessions were convened in the basement of a local hardware store, a tradition was established regarding the arrival of brand new musical instruments. Whenever a picker introduced a new stringed instrument to the get-together, it was required that the proud owner provide a celebratory ice cream treat for the group. Recently, our banjo picker had a fancy new pot and resonator applied to his 5-stringer. This was deemed sufficient to warrant an ice cream break in the evening assembly which had gathered despite a wintry snow storm outside.

Surrounded by smiling faces, our banjo picker showcases his newly upgraded instrument after a pause in the evening`s music and song for an ice cream treat.

From the BRC: In the traditional spirit of Gobbler`s  Knob, Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, have a happy Groundhog Day. Springtime cannot be far away.

Art Shows, BRC Activities

Sweet Sustenance

January 20, 2024

At the beginning of each new calendar year, the inaugural exhibit at the community art league gallery is themed on the subject of food. This January, the so-called food show is entitled “Devour” and focuses on artists` perceptions of appetites and favorite culinary delights. In February, this exhibit will host a yearly fund raising event called “Let Them Eat Art” which is catered by local restauranteurs in a competition to produce the most flavorful finger food and beverage as determined by the voting of gallery visitors. The BRC craftsman constructed the “Honey Bee” banjo for the juried art show.

The peghead and fretboard display the busy honey bee, its hive, the queen`s crown, a honey jar, and nectar-filled flowers. In scientific nomenclature, the honey bee belongs to the genus Apis of the bee clade. These industrious winged creatures came from Afro-Eurasia to North America in the early 17th century, and they are commercially valued producers of honey and wax. Honey bees sting usually in defense of themselves or their colony, and they are fated to succumb shortly after inflicting a sting.

At the gala food show opening reception on a wintry night, visitors closely study the Honey Bee which garnered  a ribbon in the adjudicated competition. During his initial decade of banjo building, the BRC craftsman installed only mother of pearl inlays; but in recent years, he has converted to laser-cut wood inlays made mostly of  birch.

Like all BRC 5-stringers, the heel of the neck on the Honey Bee bears special inlays for the eyes only of the musician. On the rim nearby is an inscription (inverted) indicating that this instrument is the 102nd banjo built in our shop. Since 2016, over forty BRC banjos have appeared in local art shows.

From the BRC: Enjoy the best of food and health in 2024.

Jamming

Wishing you a sunlit New Year

January 6, 2024

On a clear day during the deep winter months, the lakeside BRC domicile not infrequently bears witness to stunning sunrises at daybreak in which shafts of golden light pierce the wintry horizon.

From our breakfast table on a cloud-covered morning, the blazing solar globe can be observed (below) creeping over the rooftops on the opposite shoreline sometimes spilling an array of textures and colors across the skyline above and still waters below. When the quilted clouds slowly boil away, an unexpectedly clear day will often follow. We call these morning spectacles  “Giverny in the Sky” alluding to the pastoral paintings of French Impressionist Claude Monet.

For other daybreak photographs taken from the BRC upper deck, enter sunrise in the website home page search engine and enjoy.

During the recent Holidays, the co-host of our Thursday evening jams took the occasion at his home to pause the music session and invite us to sit down in the dining room for tea time and bakery-fresh pastries. In a busy Holiday Season, it was a warmly festive interlude for camaraderie that was enjoyed by all as 2024 drew near.

From the BRC: May your New Year be filled with fellowship and sunlight.

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G&F Band

Joy & Thanks

December 23, 2023

To celebrate the Holidays, the G & F musicians recently congregated at a nearby retirement home to entertain the clients with a seasonal song fest. One of the retirees was a guitarist/singer who had attended Thursday night jam sessions with several of us for decades in the basement of a local hardware store, and his specialty was old cowboy songs. He joined our performance and regaled the audience and his fellow musicians with bygone country western classics that we remembered well – thanks to him. The staff and clients joyfully sang along on the familiar Holiday tunes.

With December soon closing the calendar year, the Gainor & Friends musicians are reminded of the generosity of the Broadway Brewery management in inviting us 14 years go this month to perform weekly gigs for the benefit of the nearby University of Missouri Children`s Hospital. We salute and thank the Brewery for its community spirit in supporting our local pediatric medical center.

The brewpub provides the band with a meal during our mid afternoon break-time at each Sunday performance. Since our band`s inception in 1995, we have donated $31K to our nearby Children`s Hospital, and over three-fourths of those moneys have come from the generosity of the brewpub patrons. Thank you all.

From the BRC: Wishing Peace everywhere in our New Year.

Cell Perches & HVO, G&F Band

Welcome Fiddler

December 9, 2023
Violinist and harmony singer Sara joined our band earlier this year. Although her background included classical training and membership in the string section of the civic orchestra, she was drawn to the Bluegrass music genre and our fun-filled Thursday evening jam sessions where she is seen below kneeling front right.
Sara devotedly studied and promptly mastered classic fiddle tunes while seamlessly merging into our ensemble with her songbird voice. As pictured below (far right), she has become a regular and valued performer on Sunday afternoons at our brewpub gigs benefiting the Children`s Hospital.
In recognition of her upbeat and skillful commitment to the G&F band and its musical endeavors, Sara was recently presented with a hand-crafted BRC workshop smartphone holder during one of our weekly evening jam sessions.
Our newest fiddler is seen below holding her gifted cell perch (arrow), and we are all grateful that she has brought her music and song to us and our listeners. Away from the band, she is a busy equestrian and falconry aficianando.
Stage center at the feet of her animal-loving master, Sara’s dog named “Peanut” rests quietly while the band performs a Sunday afternoon gig at the brewpub. Despite upbeat hoedown tunes, throaty group vocals, and rounds of solo musicianship, the canine dozed and was unmoved by the onstage hubbub.
From the BRC: Happy Holidays to all our readers and Best Wishes in 2024.