Did you know that getting a tetanus shot can result in side effects? I was helping out on a roofing job last week. I didn’t want to get up on the roof and I also didn’t want to demo the old lead paint-covered walls in the house (since my beard prevents a tight seal with…

This has been a busy time for me despite having very little paid work. I’ve been rehearsing with a new ragtime band I put together, an organist, and the Detroit Party Marching Band, all of whom are contributing to my current recording project. And in the past week not one but two people close to…

We have entered warm/hot season! Time to prepare the ice hankies and strategically plan to open windows and operate box fans when the temperature is low and the air pollution meter reads low as well. On the plus side, warming up to practice banjo is much quicker than in the winter.   Big Video Times!…

Snowy Spring Greetings, This will be a short newsletter but I do have a few online shows coming up soon: Upcoming Shows Tomorrow! Saturday, 4/24 I’m playing The Blacksmith Shop online series with Rollie Tussing (guitar, vocals), Ross Huff (trumpet), and Serge van der Voo (bass). Register to attend and there is also a FB…

Warmest Greetings, I write to you from self-isolation due to recent contact I had with someone who tested positive for Covid. I just got my test results back — negative — but I was advised to self-isolate all the same. Please be careful — Even if you’ve had both doses (I’ve had one so far)…

It’s Wednesday and the snow is almost all gone. Has winter gone so fast? I love the winter because it makes me strong. As I told a friend earlier today, we don’t get strong sitting in a hot tub drinking lemonade. But if we’re also lifting weights at the same time then maybe we do…

Who else went for a swim first thing on New Year’s Day? Grace and I have been getting in the Detroit River once a week, and last week we had to break up some thin ice before we could get all the way in. I’ve heard there are health benefits to doing this but for…

Hello and a ho ho ho!   I hope we’re all feeling jolly, 2020 is almost over and things are probably going to get better soon. I only have a few announcements for you this month —   – Zoom Singalong This Monday 12/21 – Santa Is Real – Bandcamp Fridays Continue in 2021 –…

This Thanksgiving weekend I am thankful for so many things. Right now I am so thankful for the ability to breath through my nose again! About a week ago I underwent surgery, a septoplasty to correct a deviated septum that had been blocking 90% of my nasal passage since birth or early childhood. This was…

Banjovial Greetings, One And All! I’m getting jolly over here because it’s my favorite month of the year. It’s so beautiful here in Michigan, and we can safely say that summer is completely over. The ongoing pandemic that is coronavirus continues to rage, and the even more ongoing plague of capitalist white-supremacist patriarchy also continues.…