Augusta Heritage Bluegrass Week

Our regular Tuesday Tip Jar Jam was canceled this week so I could go up to Elkins, West Virginia, and give a talk about my book, Pretty Good For A Girl. I also played in a concert that night with another band of "Merry Chicas" that included Casey, Laurie Lewis, Kathy Kallick, Tammy Rogers, Sharon…

Two New Videos from Augusta Heritage Bluegrass Week

Murphy and Casey appeared at the after-lunch roundup during Bluegrass Week at the Augusta Heritage Center in Elkins, WV, July 29, 2014. "Lonesome Road Blues" was the first tune ever recorded by a woman playing Scruggs-style banjo. That woman as Roni Stoneman. Tuesday evening during Bluegrass Week all the female instructors played a set at…

It Finally Dawned On Me To Start Listening To Bluegrass!

Instead of blogging about last night's Tip Jar Jam (wonderful though it was with Kathy H, Kristina, Heather, and David), I thought I would share some thoughts from our second Women's Banjo Camp, which was totally amazing. We're already looking forward to next year, July 24-26, 2015. Michigan Sue, who also attended our Beginning Banjo…

Tip Jar Jam: Red Toenails

(The title references a tongue-in-cheek torch song, Pink Toenails, from an early Dixie Chicks album, Little Ol’ Cowgirl [1992]. In my book I called it the best song on the disc.) First off: Grandson Dalton said the name of his first banjo tune today! Was it Cripple Creek? Boil Them Cabbage? Old Joe Clark? No,…

From Banjo Hangout: How to Practice: Play More Banjo

Murphy blogs every month over on Banjo Hangout and we will be cross-posting these blogs so they'll be all here in one place. This was originally published Monday, December 02, 2013. I have been writing about playing the banjo for 30 years but I have never written an article about practicing. Why not? Well, probably because I hate…

Tip Jar Jam: New Songs and Perfect Rhythm

We were cooking last night! With four banjos (Ben, Kasey, Dan, Kathy G) and three guitars (Bobby, Diane, and moi), we explored several new singing songs and had a religious experience with rhythm! One of the new singing songs was When The Roses Bloom Again Beside The River, which Bobby brought to his lesson and…

From Banjo Hangout: Learning By Ear: Method and Order

Murphy blogs every month over on Banjo Hangout and we will be cross-posting these blogs so they'll be all here in one place. This was originally published Monday, September 30, 2013. Now that we've got the "by ear" question out of the way (non-believers notwithstanding!) (it was last months' blog post...), let's look further into the method behind…

From Banjo Hangout: Why By Ear?

Murphy blogs every month over on Banjo Hangout, and we will be cross-posting these blogs so they'll be all here in one place. This first one was originally posted Friday, August 23, 2013. Hi, I'm Murphy Henry! And welcome to my first article for Banjo  Hangout. You might have heard of my method of teaching--The Murphy…

Tip Jar Jam: This Is So Much Fun!

Since we had 9 folks at the Tuesday jam, I wasn't expecting a big crowd on Wednesday, but durned if 6 students didn't turn up. This time we had two banjos, three guitars, and one mandolin. Gregg, on banjo, had just taken his first lesson from me so he mostly vamped. Amber is just starting…

Tip Jar Jam: Bats In The Belfry

Gotta be a quickie this morning. I've gotta have what's called a "yag" done on my left eye. Short explanation: I had cataract surgery done a little over a year ago, and a membrane has grown back somewhere in there which makes it hard for me to drive at night. So, the doc is removing…