Antique Banjos

A Signature Banjo

October 9, 2022

A local jam session picker, who is a discerning estate sale browser, brought an antique 5-stringer to the BRC workshop recently for some minor work. The instrument proved to be an A.A. Farland circa 1915 “Black Beauty” banjo. Alfred A. Farland (1859-1954 ) was an innovative banjo designer and skillful musician who performed a classical repertoire to much acclaim. He was a teacher and a musically progressive thinker. Although his name on the peg head mother of pearl inlay had nearly worn away, his signature appears throughout the features of this instrument that was manufactured by Rettberg and Lange.

The dowel stick (below) in this open back 5-string antique bears the name of the model, the price tag, signature of the designer, and location of the manufacturer.

The interior of the pot offers a photo image of Farland and his explicit guarantee that no metal tone ring is present in the architecture of his endorsed instrument. He firmly preferred and advocated a woody banjo tone.

The tailpiece is embossed with the initials of Alfred A. Farland surmounting an undated and abbreviated patent (pending) stamp.

Farland cleverly devised an internal cable-pulley system, so he could mute his banjo in mid performance. This device was operated by a thumb lever inside the rim which is absent in the below photo. The mute pad located below the bridge area of the head is also missing, but its supporting metal pedestal is still present. A black thread traces the course of the cable. For more details on this unique muting system, please Google “disassembled AA Farland mute” for a posting on the Classic-Banjo.com website to observe the integral parts this curious Rube Goldberg apparatus.

Farland was a very successful performer and wore a tuxedo when on stage. Visit YouTube to listen to ancient recordings of  “A.A. Farland plays the Carnival of Venice” which reflect his virtuosity. One of the archival sound files is very scratchy but clearly demonstrates his skills. The other audio clip has better quality but was evidently recorded later in his career when age and hand problems affected his digital dexterity. He was renowned for his proficiency with tremolo phrasings.

From the BRC: Enjoy

 

Art Shows, BRC Activities, Cell Perches & HVO

Yet Again

September 17, 2022

The autumn art show at the community gallery was entitled: Repeat. This theme challenges the concept that repetition is a fundamental part of visual language and is used to create movement, stillness, confusion, or order. Repetition shows up all over the art world through imagery, process, color, and subject matter thus adding deeper meaning to the work. To meet this vexing format, the BRC craftsman fashioned the “Starry, Starry Knight” banjo (below) to echo a metaphor of the iconic night sky painting by Vincent Van Gogh.

Also recently crafted with an equally repetitive theme was a smartphone holder decorated with left-over fretboard inlays from previous BRC banjo projects. The desktop implement (below) was named the “Eagle Bluffs Cell Perch”  in recognition of a nearby avian wildlife preserve along the Missouri River. This patch of backcountry is located adjacent to a county road and not far from a now defunct pub where the BRC founder jammed with Bluegrass pals for many fun-filled years. These musicians appear in the final pages of the nature book “Where the Pelicans Fly” by author Paul Sinrud Johnson who celebrates the wonders of nature  found in the Eagle Bluffs Conservation Area of Boone County, Missouri. Enter “Sinrud” in the website search engine and scroll down for further details.

The American Bald Eagle, our national symbol, is the only eagle native to North America. The Eagle Bluffs Cell Perch was gifted to a friend as a token of thanks for her service in the US Armed Forces.

At the gala evening Repeat Show reception in the exhibit hall seen above, gallery visitors puzzle over the Starry banjo and yet again contemplate the age old question- what is art? For an earlier discussion of this philosophical issue, enter the word “abstruse” in the website search engine and scroll down.

From the BRC: Some folks say art is in the eye of the beholder.

Jamming

Autumn Harp Tones

September 3, 2022

With the arrival of autumn, students have returned to the campus, and the average age of our university township has fallen to 21 years.  E-scooters traverse the leafy streets and sidewalks while the trees artfully repaint their foliage. The local music scene is slowly reviving itself. On a recent Sunday afternoon, a blues harmonica player (yellow T-shirt below) sat-in with the G&F jam band at the brewpub.

Bluegrass music is no stranger to harmonica players. Earl Taylor played the mouth harp with Flatt & Scruggs in the 1950-60s. Doc Watson not infrequently played a mouth organ, or so-called French harp, on a neck holder simultaneously while picking his guitar. Jimmie Fadden, drummer for the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, is heard playing the harmonica throughout the ground-breaking 1972 “Will the Circle Be Unbroken” album.  Grammy Award winning and multi-instrumentalist Charlie McCoy is probably the most famous and recorded country harmonica player in Nashville.
When our guest musician above is not playing blues harmonica, he is a full-time oil-on-canvas painter whose impressive brushwork is exhibited at the Columbia Art League gallery on a regular basis.

Lastly, the BRC archives corroborate that the Harptone Manufacturing Corporation made instrument cases for C.F.  Martin Company guitars in the mid 1930`s.

From the BRC: Keep on keepin`  the blues away.

 

BRC Activities, Cell Perches & HVO, Jamming

Amigos & Pals

August 20, 2022

This has been an off-center summer with blanketing heat waves almost everywhere, a global omicron surge, and troublesome wildfires out West and beyond. Although local musicians have been sometimes scarce to find during the current and previous calendar year, pickers and singers are slowly emerging from covid hibernation to volunteer and entertain at the mid-town brewpub on Sunday afternoons in support of the Children`s Hospital. On a recent weekend, a trio of physicians took to the stage for a benefit performance and described themselves as the “3 MD Amigos.”.

A very special pal of the Gainor & Friends jammers is a secretary at the University orthopedic hospital who for many years has supervised the monthly forwarding of all collected jam band tips to the Children`s Miracle Network.

In gratitude for her devoted administrative management of these monies, she was gifted a “Paws for the Cause” smartphone holder earlier this month celebrating the total G&F donations which had recently surpassed the $28K milestone. A treble clef inlay is seen on the back of the sturdy red oak desktop implement signifying the homespun music that brings the tip money to her desk for the benefit of our pediatric medical center.

To view other similar items from the BRC workshop which are decorated with banjo fretboard spare-parts, enter “smartphone” in the webpage search engine and scroll down.

Sojourning a 130 mile round trip to our University township, Bluegrass musicians from a weekly Wednesday afternoon jam session in a rural Ozark burger shop trekked north a few weeks ago in the middle of vacation season for a Sunday gig at the brewpub. Afterwards, all enjoyed a BBQ picnic at the lakeside BRC domicile. We applaud the generous civic spirit and fellowship of these pickers and singers seen below.

From the BRC: Who could have better pals than these good amigos?

Art Shows, BRC Activities, Cell Perches & HVO

Kudos & `Scapes

August 6, 2022

The G&F jam band was founded in 1995 and first billed itself as The Bluegrass Jammers at community festivals and street fairs. From its very beginnings, all tips and fees have been donated to the University of Missouri Children`s Hospital. In a few years, the band’s name morphed into The MoonShyne Reunion at local picnics. When this ensemble of Bluegrass musicians began to entertain weekly at a basement coffee house near the University campus circa 2005, the Gainor & Friends moniker evolved. Since 2009, we have performed regularly each Sunday afternoon at the mid-town Broadway Brewery, except during the deep pandemic months when gigs were sporadic. The family-friendly brewpub has been a gracious host to us, and its patrons have consistently donated to the Children`s Miracle Network over the years. Last month, our total donations to the local pediatric medical center surpassed $28K, and three-fourths of these monies have been collected at the popular and busy brewpub.

The BRC craftsman salutes the many devoted musicians, like the ones pictured above during the milestone jam last month, who have donated their time on Sunday afternoons to play music for the brunch crowd and afternoon patrons who have generously supported our fund-raising initiative. Well done, all.

As the emblematic mascot of the University of Missouri sports teams is a fearsome feline, the BRC craftsman fashioned a “Tiger Country Cell Perch” smartphone holder this summer by incorporating thematic fretboard inlay materials left-over from previous banjo projects.

Similar to all BRC banjos having a signature inlay on the heel of the neck for the eyes-only of the musician,  the “Tiger Country Cell Perch” has the silhouette of a leaping big cat on the under surface of its wooden base for the enjoyment of its new owner.

The tiger-themed red oak smartphone holder was gifted to a fellow musician who is a veternarian and research director at the University.

Previously featured in the 5/28/22 “Outback” BRC webpage posting, the  “Ozark Wilderness Cell Perch” is based on the observations of an old-time Bluegrass fiddler who is an avid outdoorsman and cherishes the southern Missouri woodlands and wildlife. These earlier photos can accessed by entering “fauna” in the search engine and scroll down.

A field of 138 oil and watercolor paintings, sketches, fiber art works, photographs, and sculptures were submitted last month to the competitive mid-summer “Scapes” art exhibit at the local community gallery. The Ozark Wilderness Cell Perch was among the 88 entries accepted into the juried show which focused on the world of escapes. At the gala opening reception, guests closely study the diminutive smartphone holder.

From the BRC: The BRC guy applauds the G&F jammers for collecting three hundred hundred and twenty dollars in tip donations during this past month of July at the brewpub. Y’all are the best.