leastbest - but still one of the best
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Neat Banjo by the Lake
posted Sunday, 26 June 2005
My day at work is hard work, long hours and boredom. The people I meet are fascinating but I don't really have a chance to have much in the way of conversation. When I was a child I would ring doorbells and run. I didn't know it was preparation for a future career.
A couple of weeks ago I was delivering to a house that I had been going to for twenty-five years when the man heard a Ricky Skaggs cd playing in my truck. He asked if I liked bluegrass and I gave an enthusiastic yes. I hadn't taken a break yet so I went in the house and he took me to his family room. The man was an old-timer from West Virginia who made custom cabinets. If the work he did for other people was anything like the work he did on his home he was a real craftsman.
He pulled out a banjo case and when he opened it up I was amazed. He had a Neat Stanleytone Banjo. He said he had number thirty-six of only fifty made. He handed it to me and I was in awe. I've been around many beautiful instruments but this one was astonishing. He told me the story of going to a Ralph Stanley concert and Ralph mentioning that he had a few for sale. He talked to Ralph and bought it immediately. Here are a couple of pictures.
I handed it back to him explaining that I'd only been playing the banjo a couple of months and he held it beaming. Then he started playing it. First he played Cripple Creek and then Foggy Mountain Breakdown. The banjo had a beautiful sound and I liked the way he played those songs. He played them differently than I had learned them but I liked the differences. I plan to incorporate a couple of those in my playing.
Then he pulled out a very old fiddle and mandolin and told me how he had played in a bluegrass band in West Virginia for many years. I could have sat there for hours. He was so friendly and full of life. I left the house with a big smile on my face and with the determination to get good enough to go back and jam with him.
The very best thing about my job is that you never know what you are going to see if you keep your eyes and mind open.
A couple of weeks ago I was delivering to a house that I had been going to for twenty-five years when the man heard a Ricky Skaggs cd playing in my truck. He asked if I liked bluegrass and I gave an enthusiastic yes. I hadn't taken a break yet so I went in the house and he took me to his family room. The man was an old-timer from West Virginia who made custom cabinets. If the work he did for other people was anything like the work he did on his home he was a real craftsman.
He pulled out a banjo case and when he opened it up I was amazed. He had a Neat Stanleytone Banjo. He said he had number thirty-six of only fifty made. He handed it to me and I was in awe. I've been around many beautiful instruments but this one was astonishing. He told me the story of going to a Ralph Stanley concert and Ralph mentioning that he had a few for sale. He talked to Ralph and bought it immediately. Here are a couple of pictures.
I handed it back to him explaining that I'd only been playing the banjo a couple of months and he held it beaming. Then he started playing it. First he played Cripple Creek and then Foggy Mountain Breakdown. The banjo had a beautiful sound and I liked the way he played those songs. He played them differently than I had learned them but I liked the differences. I plan to incorporate a couple of those in my playing.
Then he pulled out a very old fiddle and mandolin and told me how he had played in a bluegrass band in West Virginia for many years. I could have sat there for hours. He was so friendly and full of life. I left the house with a big smile on my face and with the determination to get good enough to go back and jam with him.
The very best thing about my job is that you never know what you are going to see if you keep your eyes and mind open.
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