Fun Day Recording at Studio 16

My good friend Kenny Innis was up to visit me on Sunday afternoon (March 9) and we had a good time playing around with the new recording software (Adobe Audition) and M-Audio Delta 44 sound cards that I purchased shortly after Christmas.

The purpose of this session was to give the software its first test drive and to determine the sound quality I could expect. I used an MXL 2003 large diaphram condenser microphone and Kenny used my Martin HD28P guitar to play an instrumental tune that he wrote.

I experimented a bit by placing the microphone at various distances and angles from the guitar to determine what effect each would have on the final sound quality. We did the recording in my living room. Although not a perfect studio setup, I think the room was fairly well suited (acoustically) for the task with its 12 foot cathedral ceiling and open end on one wall.

I was extremely pleased with the results we obtained and I'm looking forward to recording a jam session similar to the way the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band recorded their third Will The Circle Be Unbroken CD in an open environment with everyone in the same room. I've got some ideas as to how I might (for the most part) isolate the instruments from one another so as to be able to mix the various instruments at the proper levels on the mixdown track. I guess we'll see how that works out in the future. Right now, it's just one big experiment.

During our visit we played around with another tune we've been working on called I Corinthians 1:18 written by Ricky Skaggs. I really like this medium tempo tune that Ricky says came to him while he was reading his bible. I'll give you one guess as to which book, chapter and verse he may have been reading when the melody came to him?

Kenny has put in a considerable amount of time on this tune, ensuring every slide, hammer-on and choke is in the right place on the mandolin parts. Truth be told, when I first asked Kenny to learn the tune with me, I didn't think he would put the required amount of time in, but he certainly did and I know he has learned a lot from mastering this tune. Thanks Kenny, and I'm sorry that I had doubts regarding your commitment level. Experience has shown me that the majority of people talk a lot, but seldom follow through with any action. And you know the old saying - actions speak louder than words.

In fact, this time it was me that was delaying the action part. After Kenny learned his parts, I knew I had to follow through with the banjo parts. The first few times I tried to learn the banjo parts were very disappointing for me; it seemed like it would be a near impossible task learning the new hand movements required. For any normal person, I think the hand movements are simple, but I don't have the best left hand dexterity in the world. Anyway, one day last week I tackled the job again and the pieces started to fall in place for me. I Corinthians 1:18 is one of those tunes that is full of emotion and it must be played with a lot of feeling in order to get it to sound good.

The Bluegrass Widow witnessed Kenny and I playing I Corinthians 1:18 and gave us a thumbs up. No doubt she is a little biased, but for the most part I trust and appreciate her comments. She knows what I'm about regarding my desire to hear the truth - I can handle it. I'm not implying we've got it down perfect - we don't, but it's coming along quite nicely and I'm pleased with our progress. We now have to seek out a fiddle player and a guitar player to round out this tune.

As for the tune that Kenny recorded, my job is to learn the chord progression and come up with a banjo break. I have an idea of what I'd like to do, but just how many months it will take to conquer the task remains to be seen. The tune is in A minor - oh, the perfect banjo key - NOT!

I hope your musical endeavors are proving to be as much fun as mine are at this time. Of course, I'm hot and cold with my musical undertakings; it was just two weeks ago that I was part of a jam session that I'm sure was delivered straight from Hell. That wasn't fun.

Keep pickin' and keep it Bluegrass!

Things Are Not Always As They Appear

Me, Kenny Innis, Clay Johnson and the Bluegrass Widow (Helen) made a trip to North Lake to visit Ed & Becky Betts at their cottage for a Bluegrass weekend. Thank you very much Ed and Becky for your hospitality; as usual, first rate. Two nicer people I've never met.

Helen and I very much enjoyed our visit and I know Clay did as well. Unfortunately, our good friend Kenny Innis had to leave the jam early Saturday evening, but I know he enjoyed the time he was able to spend with us.

Bob and Inez Jones as well as Ed's Friend and Side Effects band mate, Dr. Gary Beatty joined the jam Saturday afternoon and evening. On Sunday afternoon Ed, Clay and I had a fine jam indeed while Helen and Becky endured the noise we were making. What I mean to say is "enjoyed." These words, endured and enjoyed are so easy to confuse in the context of jamming, plus they kind of sound the same. Yes, while Helen and Becky enjoyed the noise we were making is what I meant to say.

The photo at the top of this post was taken just before we left Ed and Becky's cottage at 3:00 PM Sunday afternoon. From left to right, that's Ed Betts, Helen Floyd on upright bass, Becky Betts and Clay Johnson. And that's where the title of this post comes in - Things Are Not Always As They Appear.

I know many of you are thinking - "Oh, isn't that nice? The Bluegrass Widow plays bass". Some of you are saying, "I didn't know Helen played bass." Well, things are not always as they appear are they? She doesn't play bass - yet! But doesn't she look like a natural the way she clutches that thing?

In fact, Harvey Arbo and I are planning to pick up the Bluegrass Widow's new bass this Saturday morning in Bedford, Nova Scotia. Actually it's not a new bass; it's an old 1940 something Kay bass with a brand new neck, new ebony fingerboard, new strings, 100 year old tuners and completely set up by George Barkhouse. From what I'm told, it's a beauty, just like the Bluegrass Widow - so hopefully, they'll be a good match for each other.

Hey, I told Hunny way back in August, "Merry Christmas," and then I ordered me up that fine bass. Of course if I recall, when I got my first banjo (the Deering Deluxe) I told her "happy birthday." When I ordered the second banjo (the Huber Jim Mills model) I think I told her "happy birthday" again. I'll let you come to your own conclusions about how all of that works but, if seeing me happy makes her happy, I'm very much looking forward to her next birthday!

I'm really looking forward to having the Widow, or should I say the wife (she hates it when a man refers to his spouse as "the wife"), take a stab at joining in with all of the Bluegrass fun we have. Who would ever have thought such a day would be upon us? I bet when she was growing up she never thought she would ever be listening to "hillbilly" music, let alone playing it. But, then she met me; hard-core Bluegrass hillbilly deluxe. Well Hunny, when we took our vows and said "for better or worse," I guess you got the "better."

I'm sure the Bluegrass Widow will have her own account of our visit with the Betts' shortly, so check her blog out if you're interested in some of her antics.

County Bluegrass Festival

Ed & Becky Betts, along with Kenny Innis and I took in the County Bluegrass Festival in Fort Fairfield, Maine on Saturday, July 28, 2007. My first question as we were entering the site was "where are all the vehicles parked?" I was very surprised at how few people were in attendance at this festival, and I doubt very much if there were 400 people there - a very small festival indeed for the 5th year of its existence.

The headline act was the Lonesome River Band. This would be my first time to see Sammy Shelor pick on the old (actually, a fairly new Huber) 5-string banjo and of course, I got his signature on my banjo head of fame. Other bands included the Blistered Fingers Bluegrass Band, White Mountain Bluegrass, The Eddy Poirier Family and Friend, The Muellers, Borderline Bluegrass, The Adrians, James Delnero and Lost Mountain and The LaClaires.

I've got to give my honest opinion on the performances at this year's festival. I'm not complaining, just stating what I witnessed. Maybe I am complaining a little bit. While I truly did enjoy my weekend away, the festival was the least entertaining part of it and the jamming at Ed & Becky's cottage was the most fun. I never thought I would ever say something like that, but it's true. But don't get me wrong, I did enjoy my day on the festival grounds as well.

Just another sign of how Bluegrass music is changing into country music played with what we consider typical Bluegrass instruments, I'd have to say it would have been more accurate to call the festival a country music festival with the odd Bluegrass tune. I wouldn't blame the festival organizers as much as I would the performers for this troubled trend in Bluegrass music. It's not a specific problem of the County Bluegrass festival, but a more widespread problem at all Bluegrass festivals. To set the record straight, what I'm saying is that while most of the music wasn't all that bad, there was more country than Bluegrass. Sorry, when I go to a Bluegrass festival I want to hear Bluegrass music. I don't mind the odd country tune thrown in the mix, but I don't want to hear country music dominating the festival. This trend finds me staying away from more and more festivals. I'm just not going to continue to spend hundreds of dollars each year to hear country songs at so-called Bluegrass festivals. Now, if the country songs are suitably grassed up, I'm okay with that.

Of all the groups I heard, two stood out above all - the Eddy Poirier Family and Friend (yes, it's friend - not friends) and the Muellers. Based in new England, the Muellers are a true family band comprised of six children ages 5 to 19, plus Mom and Dad. I really found the group to be highly entertaining and the talent of the children reminds me of the Cherryholmes family, although maybe not quite at that level yet. For me, they were the high point of the festival.

I've seen Eddy Poirier a few times now, but I've always seen him playing accordian or fiddle and up to this point, I had never heard him sing. I'd say the Eddy Poirer Family and Friend played more traditional Bluegrass tunes than any other group by far, and to boot, they can sing! I was reasonably impressed. As for the rest of the groups, including the Lonesome River Band, I'd like to hear a little more grass. I cant't say anything about James Delnero and Lost Mountain or the LaClaires because we didn't arrive in time to catch James Delnero and the LaClaires were not going to be playing until the following day.

During the supper break at the festival, Kenny, Ed and I had a short jam at the tailgate of Ed's vehicle. That's where I think I lost my $65.00 Frank Neat banjo capo that I purchased from Little Roy Lewis at last year's Thomas Point Beach festival, probably never to be seen again. Oh well, what can I do about it? Not a thing! Purchase another one and get over it!

I missed the performance of the Blistered Fingers band. I was visiting Eddy Poirier at this time, getting a few pointers. Eddy played my Huber Jim Mills banjo and said it was "top notch." That's a good thing, right?

At the conclusion of the festival for the day we drove back to Ed & Becky's cottage where Kenny and I stayed for the night. I think we arrived at the cottage somewhere between 2:00 and 2:30 in the morning. Man, was I ever tired. I had only gotten a couple hours sleep the night before. I was so tired that I was fully prepared to sleep in Kenny's car with the seat reclined but Ed and Becky made me come in to the cottage which of course was the only sensible thing to do.

On Sunday morning Ed, Kenny and I jammed while as usual, Becky listened in. Becky, are you really enjoying this or do you just put up with it? This is where I had my first attempt at playing the upright bass. It was a lot of fun, even though I didn't really know what I was doing. I have been wanting an upright bass for some time now, but that day at the cottage has firmly planted the idea in my head that I MUST HAVE ONE SOON. I have been researching upright basses ever since. Sorry Hunny, maybe we can get rid of the sofa to make room for it!

Kenny and I departed Ed & Becky's place at about 2:30 PM and arrived home shortly after 4:30 PM. All in all, we had a good time. Thank you again Ed, Becky and Kenny for another nice weekend with music and friends.

Road Trip Realized, Banjo Home Sweet Home

Photo: Ed Betts, Kenny Innis, Harvey Arbo

This is my account of how the big road trip to pick up my new Huber banjo went down. The characters in this story are real.

The Lead-Up
Ed Betts receives a telephone call from his friend in the USA at approximately 1:30 in the afternoon on Wednesday, May 16. His friend informs him "a banjo has arrived from Tennessee" and he sounds quite excited about it. Ed calls me and we make plans to leave at 8:00 the next morning. I called Harvey Arbo and Kenny Innis, who are coming along for the road trip, and tell them of the planned departure time. All is good - the trip is planned and I can't believe it's actually time to take posession of that new Huber Jim Mills banjo after a wait of over ten months.

At 9:00 PM that same day, my wife, Helen and I were driving back from the Fredericton hospital after having a visit with her mother when my cell phone rang. It was Ed. "Things aren't looking up," he said. His friend, who now has the banjo in his posession, has been admitted to the hospital with heart troubles. "Well, there's not much we can do, we'll have to wait and see what happens," I said. "Maybe we'll have to get it Friday, or maybe we won't be getting it until after the Ricky Skaggs concert." At this point, I'm truly hoping Ed's friend is okay, but I'm also wondering how we're going to get that banjo. As it turned out, Ed made an arrangement with his friend's sister the next day and she agreed to meet us at noon on Thursday.

Our original plan was only pushed back two hours and we headed out at 10:00 on Thursday morning. The big road trip to pick up my new banjo is actually going to happen! It's a little exciting to think about - four guys that share a common interest in Bluegrass music - and three friends that want to help make my day special!

It was Ed's idea to do the road trip thing and I'm sure he was every bit as excited as I was, maybe more. Both Harvey and Kenny said they wouldn't miss it for the world and I'm real happy all three of them wanted to be a part of this time in my life. Thank you Ed, Harvey and Kenny, I really appreciate you as friends.

The Road Trip
After driving a little over two hours we arrived at the Houlton, Maine, USA border crossing. The guard on duty was very friendly but asked us several questions - you know, all the normal stuff. He decided to have a look in Kenny's suspicious looking fur-covered mandolin case and left the rest of our instruments alone. I think he felt sorry for us when we told him we were going to a friend's house to pick up a new banjo. Off we went.

We arrived at the home of Ed's friend some 30 minutes later and knocked on the door. We were welcomed into the kitchen and there it was - a cardboard box from Huber Banjos. Wanting to record the history of the entire trip, I took a picture of the unopened cardboard box. I opened the box to find quite a bit of bubble wrap and newsprint acting as shock absorbers to protect the banjo. The bubble wrap was removed and we pulled the banjo out, which was protected in a TKL brand instrument case - made in Canada no less. Inside the banjo case was more protective material holding the banjo securely in place. Another picture was taken with the banjo still in its case.

I took the banjo out of its case and we all inspected it for damage and admired its beauty. The workmanship of this banjo is flawless and the fit of the neck to the rim is superb. On the peghead is the Huber logo and at the 20th fret there it is, the inlay with Jim Mills name on it.

The Huber Jim Mills model banjo is an exact replica of one of Jim Mills' banjos; a one-of-kind Gibson RB-75 made in 1939. Steve Huber is an extemist when it comes to detail. As Jim Mills says, it's all there from the satin finish, engraving pattern, gold plating, fit and feel. The banjo features a V-neck profile, something that wasn't common on an RB-75 back in the day. Steve even used hide glue just like they did in 1939, and had special screws made to hold the resonator L-brackets in place, just like the ones used in 1939. You couldn't get a more exact replica if you tried!

Okay, it's time for a tune. I had stated in an earlier post that I was going to let Harvey Arbo play the first notes on this banjo, and he did just that, but you know what? I don't remember what tune he played first. The banjo was pretty much in tune right out of the box. Harvey fooled around a bit, getting used to the feel of the V-neck and checking out how true and clear the sounds were up the neck. We were all impressed with the tone coming out of this monster banjo!

There's always a little bit of apprehension when you order an expensive instrument sight unseen. Questions arise. What if I don't like it? Will I be able to get used to the V-neck? What if it doesn't sound the way I'm expecting it to? Is the quality that Steve Huber has buit his reputaion on really there or is it just hype? Am I going to get that one lemon in the lot?

Harvey played a few more tunes on the banjo while Ed, Kenny and I took pictures. We thanked Ed's friend and said good-bye.

Flatt & Scuggs Experience

Our plans for the day included stopping at Ed and Becky's cottage "for a tune" before heading home. We came back into New Brunswick at a Canada Customs border crossing out in the middle of the sticks. I wouldn't describe it as the busiest border crossing I've ever seen. There was only one guard on duty and for the duration of our stay at the crossing, which was about 30 minutes, not a single other vehicle pulled up.

You know how in the Beverly Hillbillies television show, Lester and Earl dropped in on a couple episodes, and they just happened to have their instruments with them? Well, we had one of those experiences. Ed knew the lady at the Canada Customs crossing and I think he suggested I play a tune for her, knowing that she liked music and would get a kick out of it.

I paid the HST on the new banjo and got a registration card for it. While I was at it, I registered my Deering banjo as well. I didn't play a tune, but Harvey did. It really felt like one of those Beverly Hillbillies episodes. Ed brought his camera out for a picture and I took off running. The customs officer thanked us and we were off to Ed's second home to "have a tune."

I'm not sure of the exact times, but I think we got to Ed's place at 2:00 PM or so and left at about 6:00 PM. While we were there, we played a good number of tunes. Harvey even let me play the banjo! I'm just kidding. Harvey did play the banjo for a bit and then handed it over to me. He's always encouraging. It doesn't matter if you're tripping all the way through a tune or picking it like a pro, Harvey is always there for you. Kenny and Ed are the same way as are some other folks I know.

Earlier in the week I had sent Kenny a version of a tune called Train 45. It has this little bendy note played by the mandolin at the beginning of the tune to intro it. He must have wanted my attention and he got it, because as I was walking away from him he played this bendy note I speak of. My ears perked up and I stopped dead in my tracks. I just love strings being choked - that's what those bendy things are called. We played Train 45 two or three times and I had a ball with it! That has got to be one of the most fun tunes to play and its got amazing Bluegrass drive. As of late, I'm especially drawn to the sounds produced by choking the strings and I try to throw them in on the banjo when I can. Ron Block, the banjo player for Alison Krauss & Union Station is the person who coined the phrase "those bendy things I do."

The day wasn't over yet. We decided since nobody had to be home by a particular time that we would stop at the Irving Big Stop in Lincoln. We had a good chat with each other and learned that our waitress was a rednceck (she said it first) who has a brother that plays 5-string Bluegrass banjo, and is currently serving in Afghanistan.

We left the restaurant somewhere in the vicinity of 9:15 PM and were home within an hour. It was a good day indeed.

About the Banjo

The new Huber Jim Mills signature series banjo has met all of my expectations and more. It has absolute "killer" tone and the playability is excellent. It's also a very pretty banjo to boot. It's got beautiful clear tones all the way up the neck, something Huber banjos are noted for, and a nice growl in the lower positions. I'm tickled to death with it and think it's worth every penny paid. I called Steve Huber on the telephone yesterday to let him know how pleased I was.

Pictures

There are 40 pictures of the road trip on the Bluegrass Friends web site at http://bluegrassfriends.com/images/road_trip/index.html.