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Banjo Kid Pledge

Banjo Kid Pledge at Home

February 12, 2022
With the recent covid surge, the Gainor & Friends musicians have again stepped down from the bandstand at the Broadway Brewery where we have played benefit gigs for the Children`s Hospital on Sunday afternoons for more than a decade. During our tenure at the family-friendly brewpub, the BRC gig master has enjoyed sharing the fun “Banjo Kid Pledge” with families dining in the restaurant. For more details, click-on “Banjo Kid Pledge” in the Categories menu on our home page or enter “pledge”  in the search engine.
To observe Valentine`s Day at this beginning of yet another pandemic year, the BRC founder has initiated an option that the Pledge can now be administered remotely with youngsters at home by any parent who has purchased or been gifted a banjo from our workshop.
The oath can be easily accomplished by a parent reciting with their youngster and siblings, ” I promise to always do what my mom and dad say.”  The new inductees are then congratulated with, ” You are now a Banjo Kid forever.” This vow is non binding and can be renewed at anytime.
Hopefully, somewhere in the not too distant future, the G&F band will step-up again onto the microbrewery bandstand to resume its benefit gigs and on-site Banjo Kid Pledges. In the meantime, we celebrate Valentine`s Day with a special thank-you to our faithful readership.
                                                                                                                                                         From the BRC: Be safe, be well.
Art Shows

Savoring the Past

January 29, 2022

The annual winter Food Show at the local community art league is entitled “Savor” this year. In this juried exhibition, artists are challenged to express their connections with appetites and sustenance. In addition to an opening reception, the show is later formatted as the “Let Them Eat Art” gala evening fundraiser where local chefs and bartenders (mixologists) offer their entrees and beverages in a contest judged by the votes of the gallery guests. The BRC founder fashioned a “Moonshine” banjo for these savory events.

Twenty-seven years ago, the BRC craftsman formed his Bluegrass band “Gainor & Friends” to play benefit gigs for the Children`s Hospital. In its early days, the group was called the “Moonshyne Reunion” for a while. These musicians are pictured below while providing entertainment at a hospital picnic circa 2004.

The Moonshine 5-stringer fingerboard features bolts of white lightening and topsy-turvy jugs reflecting a potent beverage within. These laser cut wood images spill all the way down the fretboard amidst an occasional star.

As always, BRC banjos have a signature inlay on the heel of the instrument for the eyes only of the musician.

The opening reception was postponed because of the omicron surge, so the art league Director taped a video tour of the Savor exhibit for the artists and patrons. Displayed at the entrance of the gallery, the Moonshine banjo was the very the first work that she presented to the online viewers.

To benefit the Children`s Hospital in 2004, the BRC gig master recorded a solo album of original songs entitled, “Hartsburg Anthology”. An  aged fiddler reminisced that many decades previously, moonshine “white lightening” liquor was sold by the gallon not too far from the rural village of Hartsburg. A sound file of the song “Moonshyne Reunion” from the CD is below.  Enjoy. (copyright 2004)

 

From the BRC: Be safe, be well, best wishes on Groundhog Day.

 

Vega Martin Stories

VM Long Neck Folklore Banjo

January 15, 2022

N.J. says:
January 2022

Dear BRC: I have a Seeger SS-5 Folklore Model 1972 Economy Model # 130041 that I would like to sell. I am the only owner. Purchased the instrument from McCabes in Santa Monica in the early 70’s. Might you provide me with a starting point for a price? It is in perfect condition. Thank you, NJ

BRC replies:

Dear N.J. -Thank you for the prompt and detailed photos of your Vega Martin long neck (SS-5) Folklore Model banjo with serial number 130041.Your 5-stringer appears to be a transitional instrument assembled in 1970 not long after C.F. Martin purchased the Vega franchise on May 15, 1970. According to available data, the last Boston-built banjo in the Vega line that was manufactured in 1970 bore S.N. 130048. Like your instrument, it was probably constructed from inventory inherited by the Martin Company.  After C.F. Martin purchased the Vega brand, yellow stickers identifying the new ownership and displaying the traditional Vega six-digit serial number appeared inside the pots for a while. The letter “M” preceded the serial number denoting Martin proprietorship (in nearby fine print) while its factory in Nazareth, PA, retooled to begin building the newly acquired banjo line.
The first serial number in the C.F. Martin luthier log book is #130248 which was recorded in 1971, and a new system of numbers (#2-1945) was initiated in 1972. In general, all banjos assembled or manufactured at the Nazareth, PA, factory routinely have a C.F. Martin decal on the back of the peghead- which is absent on your banjo. Per my files, the highlight “VEGALON Weatherproof plastic heads are standard equipment” first appears in a 1961 Vega flyer when the plant was located at 155 Columbus Avenue in Boston. It was a standard issue during that decade and is again cited in the 1968 catalogue.
According to the Vega catalogue of 1968 from the Needham Heights factory near Boston, MA, the long neck economy Folklore Model, which is styled after the more expensive Pete Seeger (P.S.) Model, sold for $270 without case.  It featured a 10-ply maple rim, a heavy notched tension hoop, a 3-piece maple neck, rosewood fingerboard, pearl dots, a shaded mahogany finish, nickel-plated parts; but the type tone ring not specified. In the inaugural 1970 Vega Martin banjo catalogue, the long neck Folklore Model was nearly identical in design to its Boston era predecessor, but it had adapted the “Wonder” model metal tone ring. The SS-5 listed for $285 in the 1971 VM price list. An estimate of the current worth of your banjo might be around $1-1.5K depending on condition. Of note, the Vega long neck Pete Seeger Model (P.S.) banjos manufactured during the Boston era in the 1960s (each featuring bell brass Tube-a-phone tone ring, bracket band, and notched tension hoop) are valued collectors` items these days and priced in the neighborhood of $2-4K or more. For additional history on the Vega Martin family of long neck instruments, please enter “long neck” into the search engine on the home page of my Banjo Rehab Center website. Thank you for sharing your banjo and its story with the BRC readership.
With appreciation, Barry

N.J. says:

Barry- Extraordinary review and commentary about my 5 string. It is your knowledge and expertise that is so commendable and appreciated.

Gratefully, NJ

Bio

Family Tree and a New Year

January 1, 2022

The BRC craftsman and his son have enjoyed playing the blues, folk music, and Bluegrass together for decades. A self-taught musician like his dad, the youngster conquered the guitar, bass, and cello in high school and won awards for his expertise. He coached his father how to play the bass. The twosome performed gigs together regularly until the younger man departed his Missouri home for college, law school, and a busy legal career in the faraway Lone Star State. In the below archival photo taken at a sunny Earth Day festival in nearby Peace Park circa 1995, the BRC founder is picking mandolin while his son (far right) plays rhythm guitar.

Nowadays, the twosome reunite a couple of times each year on holidays or when the grandkids are competing in soccer tournaments. These weekends allow the father and son to revisit the music that they shared decades ago.

Recently, a granddaughter has been cultivating interest in stringed instruments and singing in her school choir. She will be a 4th generation musician in our family tree, as her great grandfather played accordion to accompany great grandma who sang full-throated ragtime era classics more than half-century ago in the BRC founder`s boyhood home.

From the BRC: All the Best in the New Year. Be safe, be well, get the booster.

BRC Activities

Best to You this Season

December 18, 2021

The BRC workshop has been busy supplying 5-stringers to Holiday gift givers for delivery near and far.Maybe, Santa has a banjo planned for someone special on your shopping list?

Have a wonderful Holiday, and keep on pickin`.

From the BRC: We wish you Peace this Season and Good Health in the New Year.