THE SILVER STATE

STRING BUSTER

OCTOBER, 2019

Northern Nevada Bluegrass Association (NNBA)

NNBA Monday Night Volunteers at Bowers 2018

INSIDE

• Bill Evans • Front Porch • Bluegrass

Tails and Reviews

• Rethinking the Banjo

• NNBA New Members

• Local Bands

• Jams

Bluegrass Music

Is a

Year-round Joy

Spring and Summer are the seasons for bluegrass festivals across the world. Our own 2019 Bowers Mansion Bluegrass Festival was a wonderful presentation of music and bears witness to the future of Bluegrass in Northern Nevada.

Throughout Fall, Winter, and early Spring there are opportunities to enjoy traditional and contemporary folk, bluegrass, country, and Americana music in the area. Local bands, travelling musicians, album releases, porch concerts, lounge shows, venue concerts, jams, workshops, private lessons. There are so many ways to enjoy music and expand our own access to great sounds.

Keep an eye on the NNBA calendar at nnba.org to attend and enjoy a wide range of music in a wide range of locations. There’s always something happening to enjoy and participate in.

Takin’ a Look Around Focus on Northern Nevada Bands

Front Porch “FUN”OMINAL EVENING A concert with Front Porch

The other evening I took friends and family out to the Bella Vita Bistro in Carson City for a very fun evening of good food and good music by one of our great NNBA bands, Front Porch. For only being a 3 piece band, they really put-out a pleasing sound and give the audience a reason to clap, dance and sing along with not only bluegrass songs, but music pulled from other genres that we all remembered and enjoyed. Michael Chambon plays banjo and dobro. Kraig Catton plays rhythm and lead guitar, and Jilleen Leal plays the conga drums. You say conga drums in a bluegrass band? Well, they fit in perfectly with this group’s eclectic mix of music, and kept the audience smiling, bouncing their heads and tapping their toes. All the musicians in Front Porch take turns singing lead and harmonies and played great breaks on their instruments. Jilleen sang a very fun version of the Linda Ronstadt hit, “Silver Threads and Golden Needles” with wonderful dobro fills and leads by Michael. Michael sang the Old and In The Way hit, “The Hobo Song” with his banjo leading the way. Kraig sang a great version of the old hit “99 Years and One Dark Day”. It’s so cool to bring this song back to the fore front. We enjoyed Michael’s bluesy dobro and lead singing on the Peter Rowan penned song, “Walls of Time”, and his banjo playing on the John Hartford classic, “Steam Powered Aereo Plane”. Michael’s rollicking banjo kicked-off the rag time song, “Salty Dog Blues” with Kraig’s great guitar breaks and fun singing. Jilleen, not to be outdone by the boys in the band, used her conga drums to full advantage on one of the first bluegrass songs Bill Monroe wrote, “Blue Moon Of Kentucky”. This song wasn’t the way Bill did it, or The Stanley Brothers, or even Elvis Presley, but Jilleen put the tune in reggae time to put her mark on it. Great version and great fun! The audience really enjoyed Mary Chapin Carpenter’s hit “Twist and Shout” and the mega hit by long haired bluegrass boys, Guns and Roses, “Sweet Child of Mine.” Michael introduced a song he wrote, “Bus Stop in Nashville,” with good banjo, fine singing, and heartfelt words. The audience never knew where all the songs came from, but the music was inspiring and fun! Get out to a live performance of Front Porch and have a “fun”ominal time!!

Cousin Jim Lappin

An Encore review By

Cousin Jim

CALIFORNIA REPORT: BILL EVANS DISCUSSES BANJO IN AMERICA AND LIFE

Excerpted from article BluegrassToday.com

By Dave Berry

Bill Evans needs no introduction to banjo players or bluegrass fans. As a performer, teacher, writer, composer, scholar and very passionate banjo enthusiast, he covers all territory, from nineteenth century minstrel to both classic and progressive bluegrass styles. If it’s been played on a banjo, chances are he can teach it and perhaps most importantly, he will make it fun. You’ve been doing your Banjo in America presentation for quite a while. How has it evolved? I started touring throughout Kentucky in the 1990s with support from the Kentucky Humanities Council. By that time, I had completed five years of course work in music at UC Berkeley, studying the relationship of music and culture from all over the world, with a concentration on American music history and the influence of African and African-American styles on American music. Friends such as Tony Trischka, Mike Seeger, Bob Carlin, John Hartford, Joe Ayers, and Clarke Buehling inspired me. All of these players were—and still are—way ahead of me in exploring these early banjo styles. They offered me a lot of encouragement, access to the right resources, and actual instruction. I’ve been calling the show “The Banjo in America” since the mid-1990s and I’ve showcased at IBMA with it twice over the last twenty years. To show how far we’ve all come when it comes to banjo history, I remember reading the anonymous evaluations of my first showcase in the 1990s in Louisville, where a few people wrote things like “We don’t need to hear so much about the African influence.” Today, this influence is celebrated, the complex history is increasingly acknowledged, and it’s wonderful to witness musicians such as Rhiannon Giddens and Otis Taylor recapture the banjo and incorporate it into living and creative African-American musical traditions. I played a workshop stage set with Otis Taylor at the Strawberry Music Festival over a decade ago, and he said that I was the most African-sounding white player he had ever heard. I don’t know exactly what he meant by that, but I think he meant it as a complement and I’m taking it!

California Report cont. on Page 4

California Report cont from Page 3

As a performer, I’ve come to realize that this concert isn’t about me just demonstrating the various styles or presenting the history of the banjo. That can be pretty boring, even to folks who love the banjo. It’s about entertaining a general audience. The moment that I discovered that very basic fact a few years ago, I started enjoying performing the show a lot more. I began to shape it to blend stories, music and humor, along with personal stories related to my own career and friendships that I’ve developed now for over forty years. These days, each show is different and I’m enjoying it more than ever. It’s a concert, not a workshop or demonstration, and there’s a lot of my own music in it. I have a DVD/CD set coming out late this year on Tiki Parlour Recordings featuring 19 cuts and medleys played on eleven different historic banjos. You’ll have to find your DVD player to watch it! You’ve covered a lot of mileage in the American banjo landscape. If you had unlimited resources, where would you take it? It’s really difficult to make a living playing music full-time professionally in California, to raise a family, buy a home, put the kids through college and save for retirement—you know, all of those things that normal people are supposed to do. I’ve been lucky in that I had a supportive wife and family and we all worked together to make my own career possible. I also shaped my career in a way that I could be home as much as possible to be with my family and also earn as much money as possible to keep the bills paid. I gave up on the idea of touring in a band from the West Coast a very long time ago, and I’m not on the scene as much as I’d like to be—I don’t have much free time to hang out with folks or jam very much. But I’m thankful for being given the opportunity to blend performing and touring, teaching, writing, and recording in a way that I’ve been able to make ends meet. After the death of my wife Kathy from leukemia in 2017, I’m even more thankful for my kids and for being able to do something that I love. I’ve been blessed by the relationships that have been created out of this work. These friendships—with students, fans, fellow musicians, writers, and educators—mean everything to me. Big changes are ahead for me in the next few months. I am marrying an amazing and very wonderful woman, Babi Pagillo from Ruidoso, New Mexico, and along with my dog Jake, my two cats Zippy and Gizmo, and all of my banjos, we’ll be relocating there in the fall. Babi plays in a trio called the Noisy Water Band and I invite everyone to listen to their new project, Do It Again! She’s a more progressive player than I am in a lot of ways. Check out her cool Steely Dan and Dire Straits covers! Babi is encouraging me to get back to practicing, composing, researching history, and writing, and I’m ready for a change and starting a new life with this incredible person. With the health challenges faced by my family over the last few years and the economic challenges of living here in the SF Bay Area, I haven’t had much time for any of these things for quite a while. However, I’m ready to reconnect with the joy that I find in this work. I’ll be coming back to California every couple of months for Bangers and Grass shows [at the Kensington Circus Pub in El Cerrito], for the California Banjo Extravaganza, and for a few camps that I’ll be directing.

California Report cont. on Page 5

California Report cont. from Page 4

I’m about a third of the way through a new recording and I’d like to finish that in the next year. I also want to begin work on an exercise book for banjo players that could be one of those resources like Patterns for Jazz that musicians could use for many decades to come. And there’s always a pile of historical music to learn! And after teaching at over 300 camps over the last decades, I’m also interested in directing more of these events. Babi and I already have the New Mexico Banjo Camp up and running, and I’ll be directing a band/ensemble camp over Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend at the Freight & Salvage in Berkeley in January 2020. I hope to add another banjo camp in California at some point as well. No one in life is given unlimited resources of time and money to do everything that they want to do. The price of being a world-famous touring musician is high. Traveling, marketing, band leading, management concerns, etc. consumes their schedules. I’m certainly not that, by any means. I’ve made the conscious attempt to stay grounded, close to home near to loved ones, and make the most out of the resources that are there and the time that’s been given to me. That’s more of a gift and blessing to me, really. Keep it simple. Focus on the love of what you do and love for those around you, stay positive, and everything else will take care of itself. Article continued at:

https://bluegrasstoday.com/california-report-bill-evans-discusses-banjo-in-america-and-life/

Reprinted with permission from BluegrassToday.com

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

DAVE BERRY

Dave Berry is an avid mandolin picker, singer and songwriter who writes an interview column for the monthly California Bluegrass Association (CBA) members publication featuring California regional and national artists who tour California. He grew up in bluegrass country on the Ohio River right between where the Big Sandy and Big

Ya know! Most new cars come with Sirius-XM these days. Even though my good ole AM radio still picks up KCMY 1300-Carson City, Country Oldies, just fine. Sirius Channel 62 and Dish Network 6062 are Bluegrass Junction

featuring the best in Bluegrass from Ralph and Carter, Lester and Earl right up to Ricky Skaggs, Molly Tuttle, Doyle Lawson, Becky Buller, Edgar Loudermilk, and Wayne Taylor.

Check it out and set your radio or TV to it. From DJ’s Kyle Cantrell to Joey Black, your weekdays can’t get much better. That is unless you break out your own strings, tune ‘em up, and jump on your own screen porach fer awhile.

#7 BLUEGRASS TAILS AND REVIEWS BY COUSIN JIM SEPTEMBER 2019

Circlin’ Back

Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and Friends

Celebrating 50 years of fun music, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band held a reunion concert at the Ryman Auditorium and were joined by many of the great musicians who had participated on their iconic album “Will the Circle Be Unbroken” (1, 2 &3). The Dirt Band members included Jeff Hanna on vocals, guitar and washboard, Jimmie Fadden on vocals and harmonica, Bob Carpenter on vocals, keyboards and accordion, and John McEuen playing banjo, lap steel, and fiddle. The band joined in with several guest artists to take us on this musical journey. You’ll hear Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas, Byron House, John Prine, Rodney Crowell, Alison Krause, Jerry Jeff Walker, Vince Gill, and former band members, Jackson Browne and Jimmy Ibbotson.

The guys open the concert with one of their mega-hits, “You Ain’t Going Nowhere”. Then John Prine takes the stage and sings two of his hits, “Grandpa Was A Carpenter” and “Paradise”. Next the Dirt Band pays tribute to the late Jimmy Martin with his hit, “My Walkin’ Shoes”. Vince Gill honors Doc Watson and Merle Travis with Doc’s hit, “Tennessee Stud” and Merle’s, “Nine Pound Hammer” featuring Sam Bush on mandolin and Byron House with a great bass break. The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band reprised one of their early hits, that they admitted to not playing for 35 years, “Buy for Me the Rain”.

Jackson Browne joined the band when he was a teen, before he went with the Eagles and on to a career of his own. He gives us “These Days” and “Truthful Parson Brown”. Alison Krause sings the Mother Maybelle song, “Keep On The Sunny Side” and the song she recorded for the third “Circle” album, “Catfish John”. You’ll enjoy Rodney Crowell’s “Long Hard Road” and Jerry Jeff’s biggest hit, “Mr. Bojangles” and Jimmy Ibbbotson’s early Dirt Band hit, “Fishing in the Dark”. The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band closes out the album with “Bayou Jubilee/Sally Goodin’” and “Jambalaya”. Then all the band and friends reunite on stage for the finale, “Will the Circle Be Unbroken”. I wish I could have been at that concert on that special night, but I’m glad to be able to enjoy this fine CD over and over. Happy Listening!

Cousin Jim Lappin

For information on the Northern Nevada Bluegrass Association (NNBA) check out our social media presence at nnba.org for our calendar and concise information. Also check out our Facebook page at:

https://www.facebook.com/BluegrassinNorthernNevada/

For contact info for local bands, nnba.org maintains a page with band info and contacts.

Don’t Miss This!

The Sierra Sweethearts

will be playing Saturday, Oct 12, 2019

Noon to 2 PM at the Annual Pumpkin Patch gala

at the Andelin Family Farm 8100 Pyramid Highway

Admission price is $7 (under 2 free)

Here’s a great Jam! Don’t miss it! Western Folklife Center Jam

G Three Bar Theatre, Pioneer Saloon, 501 Railroad Street, Elko The Western Folklife Center hosts "Jam On!", a monthly jam session

for all musicians, from beginner to professional. Spectators are welcome, and the Pioneer Saloon will be open.

Join us for some old-time, country, western, and Celtic music jamming from 6-8 pm every second Wednesday of the month in 2019 !

For more information please visit

http://www.westernfolklife.org/Events/jam-on.html

The Silver State String Buster is a publication of the Northern Nevada Bluegrass Association (NNBA) and is produced occassionally to deseminate infrmation and news to members and those interested in the spread of Bluegrass, Western, Folk, and local music throughout our community.

The elected 2019 NNBA Board of Directors is:

Rick Sparks, Jerry Robinson, Eric Lovejoy, Martha Greene, Russell Davies, Larry Underwood

For information visit the NNBA website at nnba.org or by Email to nnbamailbox@gmail.com

‘Rethinking the Banjo’ on Sound Field Posted on Bluegrasstoday.com September 17, 2019 By John Lawless

PBS Digital Studios is the home for original web content under the umbrella of America’s Public Broadcasting Service. They offer a variety of programs in the fields of science, arts, and culture, produced by smaller teams than are commonly associated with the network’s large-scale programming. One such effort is Sound Field, a series of video shorts that explore different aspects of music. Producers LA Buckner and Nahre Sol are musicians themselves, and explore aspects of the community that many observers would not encounter. For their most recent episode, It’s Time To Rethink The Banjo, Nahre visits Nashville to speak with a number of prominent practitioners of the old 5 string. Those of us well familiar with the banjo may wonder what exactly needs to be rethought, but one supposes that title is meant to appeal to people who have a negative impression of the instrument. She interviews Béla Fleck and Abigail Washburn at their home, instructor Alan O’Bryant in his teaching studio, and master builder Steve Huber at his shop. Each discuss the banjo and why it has such lasting appeal, and demonstrate what it can do in the hands of a skilled performer. Sol also provides a nice overview of how the banjo made its way to the American colonies in the 16th century, and evolved over the centuries into what we know today. The video runs just over 15 minutes and will hold your interest every second.

https://www.pbs.org/video/its-time-to-rethink-the-banjo-zgravv/

Reprinted with permission from BluegrassToday.com

The 2019 NNBA Bowers Mansion Bluegrass Festival

Videos http://nnba.org/media.html

If you weren’t there, Watching the videos will make you feel bad!

If you were there, you can’t wait for next year, too!

How about a great jam! This is a really fun jam. Plan on attending.

If you’re from out of town, it’s absolutely worth the trip.

If you’re from Lassen or Plumas Counties, it’s a no-brainer. Get there!!!

Bluegrass & Root Music Jam - Susanville

Saturday, November 9⋅5:00 – 8:00pm

Monthly on the second Saturday Eskaton Lassen Manor, 205 North Mesa St, Susanville, CA 96130, United

States

Susanville Bluegrass and Roots jam venue, 2nd and 4th Saturdays, 5:00-8:00 PM: Eskaton Lassen Manor, 205 North Mesa, Susanville. Turn north at Les Schwab Tire Center, go one block, turn right. End of road, look for flagpole at entrance to the recreation room. Suzanne McDonald, 530-375-0199, msuzanne75@gmail.com for info

How about some readin’ material?

The Strychnine Banjo Jake Wallace, Charley Rhoades and ‘the days of “49”’

By C. W. Bayer

The story of the far West’s most important banjoists and the song they created and popularized-the far West’s most significant 19th century mining song. This story is important to the history and culture of the far West! Amazing period with quotes about music in Gold Rush California and Nevada. About 148 pages.

Order it from Amazon in a Kindle edition here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075VJCL34

Or directly from C.W. on his Mercantile page: http://www.nevadamusic.com/?page_id=102

Suspect Terrane performs an entertaining eclectic spectrum of acoustic music, drawing on the influences of bluegrass, western swing, folk, and rock, and pulling it all together with rich vocal harmonies. The Suspects have been bringing their music to northern Nevada and northern California audiences since 2009, playing at great venues including the Bowers Mansion Bluegrass Festival, The Americana Music Festival, the Brewery Arts Center, opening for the great Steve Kaufman, Genoa Concerts on the Green, Bartley Ranch Come in from the Cold Series, and the Genoa Old Time Music Festival plus a variety of other special events and favorite watering holes.

https://www.facebook.com/Suspect-Terrane-134567758204/ Suspect Terrane is also on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJsBK5aNd1U For bookings, please contact:

Brad Hart – (775) 315-0605 – barthart73@att.net Lynn Zonge – (775) 720-5872 – lynnzonge3@gmail.com

For a fun and enjoyable time,

Check out

Suspect Terrane

Northern Nevada Bluegrass Association News

Yee Haw - New Members

NAME DATE JOINED

Janice Maddox 16 August, 2019

Donnarae Denham 17 August, 2019

Tim Carlson 17 August, 2019

Larry Mulherin 17 August, 2019

Dennis Murphy 17 August, 2019

David McLaughlin 17 August, 2019

Nicolas Lopez 18 August, 2019

NNBA Monthly Lineup of Scheduled Events • 1st & 3rd Wednesdays of the Month – NNBA Bluegrass Workshop & Jam

7-9 pm, First Congregational Church of Reno, 627 Sunnyside Dr, Reno, NV

• Monday Nights – NNBA Monday Night Volunteers performances Time and location varies, Check NNBA.org for Calendar info

• 4th Wednesday of the Month – NNBA Moderate to Advanced Bluegrass Jam

7-10 pm, Mountain Music Parlor, 735 S. Center St, Reno

• Often the Second Wednesday of the Month - NNBA Board of Directors Meeting 6:30 pm Rountable Pizza off Mae Anne – Check NNBA.org Calendar for exact date

The Mountain Music Parlor in Midtown, Reno is the local home for all things

Bluegrass, Folk, Grassroots, Ukulele, Barbershop!! There’s lessons for just about any instrument y’all can think of.

Concerts, Jam Sessions, Group Classes, Seminars, and all other kinds of get togethers!

If you haven’t been by lately, you’ve got to go by and take a look at The best equipped Music shop in Northern Nevada!

735 South Center Street Reno Nevada

www.mountainmusicparlor.com

(775)843-5500

Mountain Music Parlor

Northern Nevada Bluegrass Association (NNBA) P.O.Box 3177 Reno, NV 89505