Bio

The BRC banjoist surpasses another yearly milestone this coming week; and so he revisits, yet again,  his all-time favorite birthday card sent to him by a sibling years ago.

Below is an archival press clipping depicting the BRC musician jamming in his younger days at the McBaine Country Club, a nearby rural saloon not far from the shoreline of the Missouri River. Springtime flooding in the Missouri River Valley would not infrequently creep up to the premises, but the jammers convened on the upstairs second floor. In the below caption, the Stelling banjo was misidentified as a mandolin…alas. For more on the fated McBaine Country Club, please enter boogie in the search engine and tap the enter key.

From the BRC: Have a grand St. Paddy`s Day.

A few weeks ago at daybreak, our neighbor across the lake photographed some sun-splashed cumulonimbus clouds that towered over the BRC domicile.As seen below, a reciprocal sunrise photo of our neighbor`s shoreline taken previously from our back deck was softly colorful and suggested a rosy and inviting day was in store. In the foreground, our dock serenely rests in still waters.

Assured by the above photo taken from our home that another lovely autumn day in the Heartland was likely unfolding, the BRC couple embarked on a long walk down a nature trail to the nearby lowland lakes in order to view the migratory birds.

Halfway on our journey, however, the overhead skies darkened and began to reverberate with menacing claps of thunder. Stinging wind-driven rain soon began to pelt us. We cell phoned our nearby daughter to please come and rescue her parents from this tempest, and her car soon appeared nearby to spirit us back to the shelter of our BRC home.

From the BRC: Have a restful  and sunny Thanksgiving.

Every Sunday afternoon, the G&F Band performs for our university Children`s Hospital at a nearby family-friendly brewpub. During the lunch hour, curious youngsters come to the foot of the bandstand to dance while their parents happily take photographs. Some of the more adventurous kids will wander up onto the stage to examine our musical instruments and sometimes sing along with us.

Last Sunday, a young listener about age 5 years old spent her lunch hour industriously sketching the band. Periodically, after completing a few drawings, she would step-up onto the bandstand and distribute her works to the musicians.  Over the time frame of her family meal, each band member was gifted two sketches. These playful images surprisingly reflected our music and fellowship.

Our banjoist was among the first to receive such an artwork as seen above.

Soon thereafter, one of our guitarists was gifted an impressionistic rendering (ala  Picasso…?) of his instrument pouring-out music.

Our bass player happily accepted an artful representation of her oversized instrument sprinkled with musical notations.

Lastly, and most importantly, we were presented with the young artist`s perception of our happy faces, while we were pickin` & grinnin` & singin`. She anonymously autographed this final work with “Love,  Friend (sic)” In all, we were gifted with about a dozen of her sketches, and the Mom took a photograph of her talented daughter on stage with us grateful musicians. It was a joyful afternoon for all.

The previous weekend, the BRC founder and spouse visited their daughter`s family in Chicago for the local high school Homecoming festivities. Our talented grandson (seen above center) plays horn in the brass section of the school marching band, and he sings and dances regularly in school theatre productions. This young fellow and his friends decided to dress-up as the “Blues Brothers” for the post game evening dance party.

His grandfather instructed the young musician how to play blues harmonica in preparation for the evening of fun. All ready proficient on a wind instrument in the marching band, the kid proved to be a  “natural” on the blues harp.

From the BRC: Our family tree is blessed with musicians.