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BRC Activities

BRC Activities

Rusty Hinges

June 28, 2025

Having recently read the biography of Merle Travis, the BRC craftsman was reminded of his own finger-picking guitar stylings from years ago while living on the East Coast. In his younger days, he played Travis style for decades before relocating ultimately to Missouri and becoming immersed in the Bluegrass genre of the Heartland. Although finger-picking the six-stringer is popular in East Coast coffee houses, the standard back-up to the five-string banjo in the Midwest is a flat-picked rhythm guitar.

Since reading the Travis biography, the BRC banjoist has slowly but surely rekindled his very rusty and long dormant finger-picking guitar skills. After warming-up his aging digital joints on the banjo at a recent jam session, the BRC craftsman borrowed a mandolinist`s guitar to play the Merle Travis classic tune “Nine Pound Hammer.” At the end of the song, the mandolinist (above center left) exclaimed that this surprise performance made her guitar “sparkle.”

From the BRC:  Hope you have a sparkly Fourth of July.

BRC Activities

Spring into Summer

May 31, 2025

The past month of May brought a particularly rainy season to the Heartland, and Spring flowers bloomed in abundance. A few days ago when we musicians exited our weekly Thursday evening neighborhood jam session, a torrential downpour fell upon us without warning. A photo of the BRC domicile taken on the following morning reflects the lush greenery surrounding our brimming lake.

A Great Blue Heron soon appeared on the shoreline behind the BRC ground floor workshop. The noteworthy return of this splendid bird to our lake from its winter retreat in the Southland is a conclusive indicator of the impending arrival of summer to our environs.

Encountered later on a hike around a neighboring lake as seen below, a wary heron (family of Ardeidae in the order Pelecaniformes) studies the BRC photographer slowly drawing nearer for a cell phone photo.

With a squawk, the Great Blue Heron suddenly deployed its powerful wings and sprang into the air to elude the intruder.

The magnificent avian (species of Ardea herodias herodias) promptly fled to the safety of the limitless skies above.

From the BRC:  Enjoy the arrival of Summer wherever you may be.

BRC Activities, Jamming

A Moniker Emerges

May 17, 2025

Our mid week jam in a Missouri village near the sprawling Lake of the Ozarks began about 2 decades ago. It originally convened in the activity room of a local MacDonald`s burger shop where the BRC craftsman joined the throng 15 years ago. Over time, however, the jam session has migrated stepwise to a nearby ice cream parlor, a yogurt shop, local church basements, and briefly to a coffee bar. A recent gig took place at a bicycle shop located in the shadow of the State Capital rotunda building which overlooks the Missouri River where the Lewis and Clark Expedition boated their way into the American Wilderness in 1804.

For a home base, the jam now happily resides in the activity room of the Eldon community center. For several years, the band has also periodically entertained at local retirement homes- much to the enjoyment of clients and staff.

At the conclusion of a recent afternoon performance at a nearby retirement facility, the staff supervisor asked us if our jam band had a name, so she could re-invite us again soon.  The group pondered this question in studied silence, until our gig coordinator and mandolinist (above kneeling) cheerfully announced, “The Rock Island McPickers!”  This unique moniker brought smiles and nods of approval from her fellow musicians.

As cited, our origins were in the aforementioned local burger shop which is located not far from remnants of the historic Rock Island Railway Line. The Eldon municipal park is named after this railroad system of yesteryear, and some of the original railroad tracks border the city park grounds where we jammed outdoors in a shelter house during the Covid  era. After all these years together, we are pleased to have a suitable name for our weekly assembly of Bluegrass jammers. For the backstory on the Rock Island Railway, please type in “petticoat” in the website home page search engine and a tap the enter key. This will take you to  the “Social Distancing., etc…..” posting of 10-24-20.  Scroll way down and read the text surrounding the group photo of the band wearing masks at the city park shelter house during the Covid days. Enjoy.

From the BRC: Keep on pickin`.

Bio, BRC Activities

Family Fun

February 1, 2025

Whenever the Texas grandkids and their parents sojourn to our lakeside BRC domicile in Missouri, it is a busy time of family activities.

As in past visits, our son (front above) picks guitar at the weekly Thursday evening jam session.

Our granddaughter, an award winning soprano in her high school choir, sings with us on stage during our Sunday afternoon G&F gig at the brewpub where all tips are donated to the local Childrens Hospital.

Meanwhile, our grandson (below) explores his dad`s guitar.

From the BRC: Have a Happy Valentines Day.

BRC Activities, G&F Band

A Snowy Heartland

January 18, 2025

January at Zephr Point, our nickname for the locale of the lakeside BRC workshop, is a wintry mix. The lake behind our domicile freezes, and the surrounding trees are often coated with snowy ice.

After about 10 inches of a recent frosty snowfall, a beautiful sunset draped the horizon over the dam at the end of our lake. The BRC home is the house closest to the water. The twinkle of lights in the leafless trees along the adjacent dam is from the nearby neighborhood where we lived years ago.

As always on weekends, the G&F band performs year round at the nearby brewpub collecting donations for the local Children’s Hospital. Not infrequently, kids will join us on stage for a sing-a-long and photos.

Since its inception in 1995, the G&F band has surpassed $32K in donations to our University pediatric medical center. We are heartfully grateful to the generous patrons and gracious management of the brewpub, our Sunday afternoon home since 2009.

From the BRC: Wintry single digit temperatures visit us here early next week. Keep warm.