I don’t have any gigs to announce yet except for these:

– Wednesday, Jan 18 at Le 101, 101 Rue de Ménilmontant, Paris, France, with Thomas Bailey performing our extremely traditional old time duo music, aka Wild Hog

– Gigs in New Orleans around Mardi Gras TBA — Yes, I will be there. Let me know if you will be, too!

– I would really like to play more gigs, especially on my way from Detroit to Tennessee and on my way back in February, and also potentially in Europe in May/June. Send me any ideas you may have for me, I have the skills and the motivation, just need the venues!

I still have some availability for lessons in case you or anyone you know is interested in learning fiddle, banjo (clawhammer, bluegrass, classic, jazz), mandolin or guitar. Simply respond to this email and I’ll send you more info.

I’m so grateful to my Patreon supporters who help me continue to make music and share it with the world. Consider joining for as little as $3/month!

I just finished reading the liner notes to the truly excellent “Wayne Adams’ Old ‘Classic’ Banjo Collection 1897-1952,” from the Frémeaux & Associés label. This is a 3-CD set featuring some of the best recordings of Vess Ossman, Fred Van Eps, and many more of the finest early banjo recordings. My friend Gérard de Smaele wrote the liner notes and put it all together. He has done a lot more great work in the world of banjo scholarship in addition to this project.

I’ve read a few books since my last newsletter but the one I’m most excited to tell you about is called Well Of Souls: Uncovering the Banjo’s Hidden History, by my friend Kristina Gaddy. This book covers so much of the earliest known origins of the banjo, it really does shed light on some of its darkest mysteries and it’s written in a very engaging and easy to read way. I recommend this book to anyone interested in the banjo or really in the cultural history of our current world. I find it so important to care about and try to understand where we came from and how we got to where we are now so we can not only learn from our mistakes but also prevent ourselves from forgetting valuable lessons our ancestors learned before us.

That’s all for now friends, I hope to have lots more good news for you in 2023.