Summer Swimmers

Last weekend was a joyous trip to Ohio with the All-Michigan Corn Potato String Band (pictured below, L to R: Lindsay McCaw, Rachel Pearson, AJL, Alex Belhaj; photo by Michael Dalby) — On Thursday we played a square dance for a youth group all dressed up in old timey outfits, on Friday we played at my favorite venue in the world, and on Saturday we played a summer party square dance and concert and went swimming in TWO different river spots, the second of which had a waterfall you could sit under and wonder, Is this how people came up with the idea for massage?

This will be a dense newsletter, full of treasures! This is my last busy month for a long time. Some of you may recall the three-month retreat I went on last winter. When it was finished I knew I would do it again this winter. But as the months approaching winter have come and gone and I’ve continued to look inwards I recognize the deep desire and readiness for a retreat-without-a-set-end, so, not a permanent retreat, just a retreat without a deadline. I hope to be able to send another newsletter before I leave for this upcoming retreat in September, but if not, know that I will be back! I just don’t know *when.

*I do know that I’ll be playing a concert at Fair Lane, the historic estate of Henry and Clara Ford on May 13, 2026, with Ragtime Banjo Revival Trio!

In this newsletter:

New Release

New from the ongoing Ragtime Banjo Revival project: Surf Rock Ragtime! This is really one of a kind, featuring the sounds of a custom made Banjocaster and the voices of some dozens of middle-school music students yelling “HEY” at just the right time.

Special only-on-bandcamp rehearsal takes included, plus bonus items for free download: original sheet music by Henry Lodge, arranged for banjo by Geo. E. Morris; original sheet music cover by Ben Belcher; Banjocaster photo by Keith Billik; photo of AJL with STEM Middle School students.

Old Release

I just (finally) got this No Spaghetti Arms album out for digiital distribution (iTunes, Spotify, etc.) I recorded it with Lindsay and a couple of tracks with her partner Joel almost three years ago, and listening back to it now it sounds so much better than when we recorded it. A little bit of distance makes such a difference. Listening to it now and it actually sounds pretty good.

I’d forgotten that I’d played my custom (made by Charlie Hardie) fretless resonator banjo on some of the tracks, and we even agreed that we could keep one of them on the album.

If you like, and you haven’t already done so, you can download the entire album, although I’m afraid the liner notes are only available with the physical CD, which has sold out. Maybe someday I’ll track down a pdf of that and add it to the bandcamp page. Until then, enjoy the lovely sounds of Lindsay’s (and my) fiddling.

It was really fun for me to be able to play clawhammer and three-finger banjo on a variety of instruments, too. In case you’re a banjo nerd like me I’d suggest downloading the whole album. If it isn’t up on your favorite streaming platform at the time of this post it will be up there within another week or two!

Upcoming Gigs

🥲 THESE WILL BE MY LAST PUBLIC APPEARANCES UNTIL MAY 13 🥲

  • Fennville, MI – Thursday, July 24 – Fennville Summer Festival with Ragtime Banjo Revival Trio, 6-8:30pm, FREE
  • Paw Paw, MI – Friday, July 25 – Ragtime Banjo Revival Trio at The Lucky Wolf TBC
  • Three Oaks, MI – Saturday, July 26 – Ragtime Banjo Revival Trio at Three Oaks Summer Music Series, 6:30-7:30, FREE
  • Dearborn, MI – Sunday, July 27 – Ragtime Banjo Revival Trio at Greenfield Village, 12:30pm-1:15pm, and 1:45pm-2:30pm, FREE
  • Ann Arbor – Mondays July 28, and August 18 – I join Alex for Music Mondays at Detroit Street Filling Station – 6-7:45pm, FREE!
  • Detroit – Wednesday, July 30 – my Ragtime Banjo Revival Trio hosts jam sessions at Detroit’s historic jazz club Cliff Bell’s — Two 75 minute sets: 7:30pm (concert) & 9:30pm (jam session) with a 45 minute break. $25, No Cover for musicians who bring their instruments to jam
  • Sharon Center, OH – Wednesday, August 13 – Ragtime Banjo Revival Trio at Music in the Circle, 7-8:30pm, FREE
  • Alpena, MI – Friday, September 12 – Corn Potato String Band at Art On The Bay Fall Festival
  • Dearborn, MI – Wednesday, May 13, 2026 – Ragtime Banjo Revival Trio at Fair Lane Music Guild

New Videos

I’ve been putting all the really good stuff up on my Patreon page first, and then eventually releasing to YouTube, and yall are getting the digest version here. Let me encourage you to subscribe to my Patreon — for less than the price of a cup of coffee you’ll get the priceless feeling of knowing you’re supporting one unique weirdo (me) and the cultural work they’re doing (that no one else is doing, and isn’t in itself much of a money making enterprise) — You’ll be glad you did! Subscribe here

Here are some videos from my first concert of the year, just two weeks after the horrific car accident I survived (wheee!) — These are from Cliff Bell’s, where I will also be playing my last local concert of the year, on Wednesday, July 30:

There are some more good ones and you can find them on my YouTube channel OR you can Subscribe to Patreon already 😉

Podcast Interview – Las Tias de la Musica

I met one of the hosts of this usually-Spanish-language music podcast at the house concert I played with Hope Arthurback in April and we eventually got together virtually with the other host and recorded this episode of Las Tias de la Musica!

Here are the YouTube, Spotify and Apple Podcast links.

I had a really good time with these guys. Had I known it would be released in video form I would have taken the sports tape off my forehead! (Yes, I am still working on regenerating nerves and regaining the use of facial muscles following the post-accident emergency brain surgery.) But I guess it just goes to show how cool and un-self-conscious I am? In any case, lots of laughs, fun and interesting discussion (in English) about the history of banjos and popular music.

Book Reports

On the recommendation of a dear friend I read 4000 Weeks: Time Management for Mortals, by Oliver Burkeman. It’s not the sort of book I would normally gravitate towards on my own but I gave it a shot and wow, I thought of So Many people who could benefit from reading this! For me it felt a bit like preaching to the choir but in a good way, in other words, I’ve mostly internalized what the author is saying: To move through life sanely, one must accept that it will be impossible to do everything one wants to do. Choosing the few things one can actually do and recognizing that everything else will be given up as a sort of sacrifice only makes the chosen activities more meaningful.

For some lighter reading I finally dug into My Memories of John Hartford, by my friend and banjo hero Bob Carlin, and I enjoyed it immensely. Perhaps it was because I could hear Bob’s distinctive voice coming through the pages, and perhaps it was because I’ve been a John Hartford fan for decades now. In any case, I would recommend this book to any fans of John Hartford, or even to people who don’t know much about the man or his music. This book is a rare behind-the-scenes glimpse of a major figure in the American roots music scene of the 20th century.

Finally, I read Autobiography of Ma-ka-tai-me-she-kia-kiak, or Black Hawk, by Black Hawk. I’ve been interested in learning more about indigenous people’s own stories and I came across a reference to this book in another book I was reading, so I decided to check it out. Black Hawk was a Sauk man who led his people in an unsuccessful attempt to keep their land after it had been swindled from them through a treaty they’d never agreed to. History books refer to this as the Black Hawk War of 1832. While I think it’s important for more people to increase their familiarity with these kinds of stories, this is not an easy book to read. As you might imagine, it’s full of heartbreaking betrayals, ambushes and slaughter of innocents. I would still recommend it, though, as the work of educating ourselves and moving forward to build a brighter future for all is more important than our personal comfort, in my humble opinion. Free ebook available here.

Bonus – Another New Release

Thanks for sticking around to the very end, friends! As a reward, here’s a new release from my pal and musical associate, King Sophia —

A playful but powerful musical manifesto of autonomy, self love, and determination, with a side of cellistic seduction and devilish harmonies that’ll make you groove, groove, groove.

Farewell

Until next time, my dears! And there will always be a next time.

Banjovially,

AJL