This Monday at 7pm I am playing a singalong concert on Zoom with Keva Celestia and Grace van’t Hof as a service to our local community here in Southwest Detroit — Since it’s online I am happy to be able to invite you, too! This is the Zoom link for joining at 7pm on Monday the 21st. Do not try this link before 7pm on Monday, it will not work.

Click here if you’d like to find out more about the Southwest Detroit TimeBank and consider making a donation. We also have a Facebook link for the event here, if you’d like to share it.

I just have to share this hilarious holiday spoof my darling Grace van’t Hof just released with her duo project Sinner Friends — It’s a parody of the Louvin Brothers classic, Santa Is Real, and it’s called Santa Is Real…! That’s the Bandcamp link but you can also find it on Spotify, iTunes, etc.

And speaking of Bandcamp, I just found out that the first Friday of every month, at least until May 2021, the benevolent overlords will continue passing all the donations people send in exchange for downloads on to the artist without taking a cut.

One day a month, people! Of course, PayPal will still take a 7% cut, so if you buy from Bandcamp on a first Friday artists will receive 93% of what the consumer pays. Any other day and the artist receives 82%. Here’s the list of my Bandcamp links, so you don’t have to go looking for it.

I have some beautiful videos from the GAR Hall concert last month and they are slowly being made available to the general public. Patreon supporters are getting exclusive first dibs, so if you would enjoy that feeling of special treatment, while knowing your contribution is allowing me to continue making music (and making me feel special), then please do join me.

Here are a few of them, not yet publicly searchable but feel free to post/share:

El Contrabandista, by Joe Morley

Cupid’s Arrow, by Paul Eno

The Mocking Bird – Air Varie, by Parke Hunter

Pearl Of The Harem, by Harry P. Guy

And now I am pleased to announce the first 11 episodes of my new series in Classic Banjo Lessons is now available on Youtube. These are 100% free, although some content will remain exclusive for Patreon supporters only. I am eager to hear people’s responses to this series. All 11 episodes are included in this Youtube playlist. I hope to make it easy for anyone to get started playing classic banjo music, with or without any prior knowledge or experience.

Happy New Year 2021, Merry Christmas, Chanuka, Kwanzaa, May all your hearts be bright. Oh! I forgot to mention that this Monday while we’re doing our Zoom concert, it’s also the Winter Solstice, aka the longest night of the year, so it’s a good reason to party! Weather permitting, we may be able to witness a special conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn as well, so keep an eye out for that!

Love and Cookies,

Aaron