March has been a relatively quiet month. However, I've maintained my pace to achieve this year's playing time goal so far. Aided by a jam in January and a festival in February, I've actually managed to stay ahead of the curve. With a few days left in March, I have amassed a total of 42 hours of playing time (21.5 banjo, 20.5 fiddle). If I keep this up, I'll reach 168 hours, exceeding my stretch goal of 150 hours.  Of course, a lot can change between now and December, but it's encouraging that I've maintained such a steady pace of playing banjo and fiddle these past three months.  ..read more

This year's Lake Erie Folk Festival dedicated a whole track of its free daytime program to Ohio-centric folk music. Two workshops, presented by Columbus-based old-time musician Henry Barnes, focused exclusively on fiddle tunes from the Buckeye State.  Seeking out Ohio-based old-time tunes has been a subject near and dear to my heart, as I've attempted to identify a common fiddle tune repertoire, uncover uniquely Ohio tunes and seek out my state's most influential old-time musicians.  Barnes is much more accomplished in all of these areas, so it was exciting to meet and learn from him ..read more

More banjo duets have arrived. Mark Olitsky and Cary Moskovitz have released Pretty Little Cats: Duets Two, available now to download via Bandcamp with CDs expected to ship by Feb. 20. As foreshadowed in November, the duo has returned with the follow-up to their much-loved 2017 album, Duets.  Like its predecessor, Pretty Little Cats features 17 tracks highlighting the interweaving harmonies of Olitsky's bassy clawhammer and Moskovitz's sparkling plectrum banjo playing. Once again, Olitsky is armed with his 13-inch homemade grain-measure five-string banjo, while Moskovitz plays rotat ..read more

Every year, I start out the same way. Here are a list of goals. And when December comes, I look back on how it all went off the rails. With a mental cocktail mix of imposter syndrome and an inferiority complex, I've developed an ethos of constant improvement when it comes to playing old-time music. However, as a working stiff and a family man, I've come to accept the ebbs and flows of available bandwidth to focus on the banjo and fiddle.  Last year, was a down year. So naturally, I want to do better this year. However, I also want to be realistic. In the past, I've set somewhat rigid goa ..read more

Like last year, I am finishing 2023 on a high note. However, my playing time will fall well short of my goals this year with even fewer hours than 2022. And yet, I've been on a role since November, logging my longest streak within the year, which was only surpassed by the streak that had begun in 2022 and carried over until the end of January.  Other than not playing enough, I managed to do OK with some of my other goals this year. I'm happy to say I made it to some jams and local festivals this year, but I'd like to get into a more consistent routine of playing with others in 2024. It w ..read more

Five years ago, I began a quest to study old-time musicians from Ohio and the tunes they played. I was trying to determine if there was a specific repertoire of the Buckeye State.  In a post from May 2018, I reported on a survey I conducted to find what might be considered the most common tunes of Ohio fiddlers. I always meant to come back to this topic to discuss some of the more unique pieces that these musicians played, which could be called "Ohio tunes."  Sure, there are tunes like "Banks of the Ohio," "Camp Chase" and "Big Scioty" that specifically reference the state and ..read more

Another album of banjo duets is coming from Mark Olitsky and Cary Moskovitz. You may remember in 2017 that I reviewed their first album, aptly titled Duets. Moskovitz was in Northeast Ohio last week to record another batch of tunes with Olitsky, and while he was in town the duo performed at a couple of house concerts. One of which just happened to be less than a mile from my home.  It was a pleasure to see (and obviously, hear) Olitsky and Moskovitz play live. Olitsky played a 13-inch grain measure-style banjo that he built, and which Moskovitz said was the impetus for the fi ..read more

Banjos hit the silver screen last week when Martin Scorsese's Killers of the Flower Moon opened in U.S. theaters. The filmmaker's latest opus features two banjos provided by the Oklahoma City-based American Banjo Museum, one of which appears in a scene with fiddler Rayna Gellert, who also put together a band to play a Hoyt Ming tune for the film.  Based on the 2017 nonfiction book by David Grann, Killers of the Flower Moon stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro. The film is set in Oklahoma during the 1920s and portrays the murders of members of the Osage Nation over oil rights ..read more

The old-time music community lost one of its biggest champions this week. Kerry Blech died on Monday, Sept. 18, in Gainesville, Florida, and left behind an incredible legacy of musicianship, scholarship and fellowship. Kerry left a lasting impact on those who knew him. Upon learning of his passing, I started to see remembrances of him on Facebook from the likes of Alice Gerrard, Chuck Levy, Mary Z. Cox and many others. I never never met Kerry in person, but even still he had a huge impact on my journey into old-time music.  On the advice of Old-Time Herald editor Sarah Bryan, I began ..read more

Despite the proliferation of local music festivals, my banjo and fiddle playing time always seems to drop off during the summer. Perhaps it's having my son around all the time during the break or just the general glut of increased family activities, but I barely played music at all from May to July, and that includes attending a festival last month.  However, as August is coming to an end and as school has started back up, this month's tally exceeds my playing time for the last three months combined. Hopefully, that trend will continue as autumn approaches.  I'm happy to report that ..read more