Folks, I thought I should talk a little about the man who made both of my mandolins: Randy Wood, who lives near Savannah, Georgia. Randy's been making instruments for a really long time, and he's amazingly good at it. Back in 1967 he made his first mandolin. I bought it from the original owner four… Continue reading A Good Place to Buy a Mandolin
Month: July 2009
Augusta Heritage
Well, here I am, once again teaching banjo during Bluegrass Week at Augusta Heritage in Elkins, West Viriginia. As you know, Casey is also here and we are sharing a room in one of the college dorms. Here is a picture of my side of the room. Along with a picture of our food stash.… Continue reading Augusta Heritage
Scenes From Elkins
Here it is---day three of Bluegrass Week at Augusta. Murphy is here teaching the intermediate banjo class and I'm here as staff musician. So far I've sat in with Chris Stuart and Janet Beazley's vocal class to sing the third part in a trio, played rhythm guitar for Murphy's class, helped out with some beginning… Continue reading Scenes From Elkins
Brand New Banjo DVD!
Folks, there' s big news here at the Murphy Method: we have a brand new DVD! It's our More Advanced Earl, and you've been asking for this one for a long time! This DVD concentrates on Earl's "D-tuner" songs, the ones where he uses the special tuners to make fancy notes on the banjo. Here… Continue reading Brand New Banjo DVD!
Surviving a Jam Session
This from Susan, one of my Wednesday night Misfits: I survived my first REAL jam session! My terror and anxiety were definite obstacles, but I stuck it out 'til the end! I knew NONE of the tunes. The jammers played standing up, mostly in the key of A, and definitely up to tempo. Since my… Continue reading Surviving a Jam Session
News Flash: Murphy Teaching At Augusta!!
This just in--Murphy will be teaching the intermediate banjo class at the Augusta Heritage workshops next week (August 26-31) in Elkins, WV. The original instructor, Charlie Cushman, had to cancel at the last minute, so Murphy is stepping up to the plate. It has been YEARS since Murphy has taught here, and there are STILL… Continue reading News Flash: Murphy Teaching At Augusta!!
Misfit Jam
Quote of the night, from Bob Van: “Are you going to blog about this?” And by “this” he meant anything and everything that was said or done. I told him I was going to blog about him asking if I was going to blog. Folks present: Logan, Bob Van, Susan, Mark, Ellen, Bill We had… Continue reading Misfit Jam
American Made Banjo Features Casey Henry
This week the American Made Banjo Company featured Casey Henry in their email newsletter. Click here to see the newsletter.
More On Custom Lesons
I've now had quite a few requests for the custom DVD lessons I'm offering and, having recorded five or six of them, I've discovered a few things. This is the first time I've taught students where I have absolutely no idea about their playing experience. They could have been playing for years and years, or… Continue reading More On Custom Lesons
No Excuse!
That's right. Usually when I'm picking, by myself or with others, I have a good excuse if I need one: "I'm out of practice." Well, these last five days left no one (including me) out of practice. We just got through a looong weekend of picking and visiting with family and friends in the mountains… Continue reading No Excuse!