New Release! Frog Legs Rag – Sheet Music + Audio The big news for you, my dear newsletter readers, is that you can now order the sheet music and/or banjo tablature for this original arrangement of James Scott’s classic ragtime piece, Frog Legs Rag! You can also listen to it right here: The audio is free to download and comes with a free 8.5”x11” PDF of the sheet music and tablature that you can print at home. You can get your hands on the exclusive, limited-edition 9”x12” edition (a perfect gift for the banjo player in your life!) here. The print edition includes some of James Scott’s biographical info and a nice photo of him as well. Upcoming Gigs Chicago – This Friday, 4/4 – Banjos After Dark at Borelli’s Pizza, 2124 W Lawrence Ave, Chicago – 6pm Fiddle Workshop, 7:30pm Concert, more info Chicago – This Saturday, 4/5 – Groupmuse Ragtime Banjo + Piano House Concert with Hope Arthur — More info and reservations here (There will be a special surprise guest joining us on tuba!) St. Louis –…

A few weeks ago I went out of state for a couple of sweet little gigs that I really enjoyed. After the second gig I chose to drive home through a real treacherous ice storm. Even though I had a place to stay the night and it seemed safer to stay put I just wanted to get home and so I said what’s the big deal, it’s only a two and a half hour drive and I’ve driven through worse many times before… With about an hour and a half of drive time left I was feeling alert and calm, and I decided to exit the highway and take a little break. While slowing down and changing lanes I realized I was losing control of the car and that I was going to rear-end a semi that was parked on the shoulder between the highway and the exit ramp. It didn’t matter what I did with the steering wheel or how hard I pumped the brakes. I hit the truck, got out of the car, waited a few minutes, got…

I made it back from retreat and what an adventure it was! I won’t go into detail here but if you’re interested to read my practice log I will gladly email it to you, just let me know. It’s long and mostly quite boring but there were some exciting moments here and there. I’ll include a few more photos from the experience at the bottom of this newsletter too. Now that I’m back I have so much to share — One of my duties at the monastery was keeping the trails free of leaves. If you zoom into the right edge and upper middle of the photo you can see through the trees a kuti, a small hut without water or electricity that residents live in. In this newsletter: New Release: Terra Incognita Upcoming Gigs I’m Available for Music Lessons Detroit Folk School Patreon Book Reports: The World That Made New Orleans, and The Law of Love   New Release: Terra Incognita You may recall Thomas Bailey, a great musical inspiration, hero, and friend to me. We released Wild Hog…

Live Stream and In Person, PLUS Upcoming Gigs, New Videos, Book Reports, and MORE I have about six weeks left until I embark on the longest retreat I’ve done so far (three months). I am starting to prepare myself and say my goodbyes so this may be my last newsletter until February or later. (Sorry I can’t bring myself to automate newsletters to send while I’m away. You can set reminders for yourself to think about me or you can forget all about me while I’m gone and then it will be a fun surprise when you hear from me again in 2025!) What a wonderful time of year this is: The last warm days of summer, nights getting longer, the smell of fall in the air. It’s not too late to wear shorts and it’s not too soon to bust out a sweater, I can sleep comfortably with the windows open and my hands and feet aren’t cold yet. I hope you’re enjoying this time as much as I am. In this newsletter: – Tuba Bach Festival Kickoff Is…

Yes, that title is autobiographical ;0 This newsletter contains 90% of your monthly recommended dosage of AJL info. The rest can be found on IG, FB, YT and TT* Getting older is so sweet because I’ve been learning how to enjoy life and have a good time more, sweat the small stuff less and less, and attract the best people. Case in point: Corn Potato tour with Ben and Nikki was honestly the easiest touring of my life. We played so well together, every venue was wonderful, and we even fit ourselves and our four banjos, three fiddles, a guitar, a box of merch and all our bags into my 2009 Ford Focus! It almost felt like cheating. The only hard part was missing Lindsay McCaw so terribly much. There will be some video from that tour eventually but it’s not ready yet, so stay tuned Dig that Wisconsin sunset! Ben, Nikki, and moi just missing our chance to capture the bright red sun disc before it descends after our set at Sugar Maple Fest in Madison. We were so…

I was feeling a bit stressed yesterday when my psychiatrist was more than an hour and a half late to our appointment, but then I got to see my dear friend Alex Belhaj and play a bunch of great music with him and reeds-wizard Chris Tabaczynski and I felt so much better! I’m grateful to have such great friends and such a fulfilling outlet. Last weekend Alex and I played a little concert and square dance out in Chagrin Falls, Ohio (east of Cleveland) with Lindsay McCaw and Rachel Pearson, and had such a great time. We even saw both ends of a rainbow touching down on either side of the field where we were playing! In this newsletter: – A Message from White Flowers THIS FRIDAY at The Ark – Jenny Parrott (Austin, TX), Big Dixie Swingers (New Orleans) concert in Detroit THIS MONDAY – Corn Potato String Band Tour Dates + Big News – DSDS Queer Potluck + Square Dancing Returns to Vámonos! August 18 – GroupMuse in Detroit, Let’s Gooooo! – New Old Time Album with Thomas…

Wednesday I had the great pleasure of playing banjo with 47 violin students playing “Boil the Cabbage” and “Folk Dream” (retitled from “Devil’s Dream” to not offend religious people) at their end-of-year recital with Sphinx Overturemusic education program. They also played Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, which brought me back to my old Suzuki days. I look forward to working with these enthusiastic music students and their wonderful teachers more in the future. Oh, and on my way home from the recital I saw a BIG rainbow with a faint second rainbow right next to it. Beautiful! In this newsletter: – Upcoming Gigs – I’m on TV! – I’m on the Radio! – Maple Leaf Rag – World Cicada Map – Philip Glass Polka Etudes – Scientific Proof: Live Music > Recorded Music – Book Report: In Watermelon Sugar Upcoming Gigs Tonight! I’m playing North Star Lounge with a pickup band called Pontiac Trail Blazers. I’ve never played with them before so I don’t know what to expect other than a good time! We play 7-10, $10 cover. More info here…

I’ve been so busy emailing radio people that I now have 30 minutes to write this but you’ll forgive my typos, won’t you? What an exciting day! In this newsletter: – Big big announcement: New Release! – New Videos – Gig Announcement: New Corn Potato String Band Lineup?! – Queer Square Dancing in Detroit is BACK! – All the Other Upcoming Gigs – Join the Patreon “Community” – Book Report: The Biology of Transcendence, by Joseph Chilton Pearce BIG BIG ANNOUNCEMENT: NEW RELEASE Announcing… The first release (of many) from Ragtime Banjo Revival Now streaming on all platforms and available for free download from Bandcamp Bandcamp download comes with printable 8.5″x11″ PDF sheet music notation and banjo tablature. Also available from the shop — beautiful high-quality full-color 9″x12″ prints — Tablature and standard notation for banjo, with notes on the music and album credits included on the back cover. Huge thanks to Alex Belhaj, Grace van’t Hof, Cami Celestia, and Abby Alwin for playing with me, and to Ben Solomon for recording and Dave Schall for mixing and mastering. Big thanks to River Honey Studios…

It’s officially spring and we have snow on the ground here in Detroit. I just found out that I get to foster a puppy temporarily starting today and there is a LOT going on right now. Yesterday I provided music for the Detroit Jews for Justice annual Purim spiel, directed by Lindsay McCaw, and had a great time seeing some old friends. The spiel itself did a great job of drawing parallels between settlers in Palestine and landlords in Detroit. Buckle in for a full newsletter that reflects my full life! In this newsletter: New Band! “Aaron Jonah Lewis’s Ragtime Banjo Revival Trio” New Website! (Soft Launch) New Release! (Upcoming) Upcoming Gigs — Tour w/Willi Carlisle in May, Corn Potato Tour in July Banjo Chat Podcast w/Hilary Hawke New Videos Book Report: Ace, by Angela Chen; The Dispossessed, by Ursula K. LeGuin New Band — “Aaron Jonah Lewis’s Ragtime Banjo Revival Trio” L to R: King Sophia, cello, vocals; Yours Truly, banjo, fiddle, vocals; Alex Belhaj, guitar, vocals. Photo credit: J. Lindsey Photography I am so excited to play with…

Greetings to all my fine feathered friends, and Happy New Year! I hope you’re staying warm and cozy this season. I made it back from retreat last week and I’ll just share one of the big lessons I learned: Meditation doesn’t have to be physically uncomfortable! For years I forced myself to sit cross legged on the floor and just deal with the pain. My teacher, who was sitting in a chair, saw me and said, “You look uncomfortable.” I was like, “Yeah, I know…” and soon after changed to sitting in a chair (with cushions!) and it led to great results. In this newsletter: Upcoming Gigs Banjo Dojo Lessons Availability Ragtime Banjo Revival New Video Dos Señoritas Book Report Upcoming Gigs Tomorrow! I’m playing a short set with Lindsay McCaw at 3pm for Mick Gavin’s annual Doctors Without Borders Benefit. This Tuesday, 1/30 – Ragtime Banjo Revival Trio at Alpino Restaurant with Abby Alwin, cello, and Alex Belhaj, guitar — 5pm doors, 6:30-7:30pm show, $10 Tickets (This place has been recognized as one of the best new American restaurants…