Thanks for the latest NWBN - really excellent.

I saw in Vol. 6 no 5 (Sept. 1999) that Eric Kwiatkowski mentioned my brother Andy’s tune ‘Bungalow Baby’, and thought your mandolin-playing readers might be interested to know that I am at present writing up tablature for all the original tunes he wrote. Mick Audsley (the guitarist with the Echo Mountain Band) and I are aiming to put out an album of the numbers the band had been working on up to the time Andy went into hospital, and with luck this might be available next spring - I’ll keep you informed.

In the meantime, I have enclosed the tablature for a condensed version of Bungalow Baby (I don’t know where the name came from - he wrote it back in the 60s!)

I also have some copies of the tablature write-outs Andy used for workshops, and I’d be glad to let anyone interested have a set - sendan SAE to me at 2, Fairview Cottages, Balaclava Lane, Wadhurst, E. Sussex, TN5-6EQ. These examples include the variations on Rawhide that Eric mentioned. Incidentally, one of Bill Clifton’s memories of Bill Monroe talking about Andy (who played with Monroe on stage on a few occasions) was that “he’s one of the few players who do all the notes in that tune”...

Very best wishes, Rick Townend, Wadhurst, E. Sussex

That’s a very kind offer, Rick - I hope people appreciate it! See ‘Instrumental Workshops for the Tab and description. Ed.

I notice that some of the small ad’s seem to appear month after month. Do these items remain unsold for such a length of time?

Stan Francis, Liverpool.

Well, I just don’t know- they usually don’t tell me... However, I have deleted a few that were over 6 months old on the basis that if they wanted them to stay in they would have contacted me (grin). Ed.

I play bluegrass and clawhammer but have recently let it all slip - family commitments etc. I am just starting again and would welcome other pickers in the area to get in touch.

Happy picking, Bill Skelson, Hinckley.

01455 616475 or bill@skelson.freeserve.co.uk

Got back home from our UK tour with Tony Ellis last week, (I’m the guitar player in The Musicians of Braeburn) and I just wanted let you all know that we had a great time. Thanks to everyone who helped us and came to listen. You all are doing some great things for bluegrass and traditional music. I’m very impressed with Bryn ( how he can be so goofy and get so much done?) and Stuart, and everyone we met in the Helsby area. Great newsletter too, NWBN... keep up the good work! Hope to see you all again someday.

Garry Puckett. (banjogh@aol.com)

I have been asked to do a tour for the Czech band Fragment. This may be difficult as I am half committed to help Knotty Pine and New Section tours. Tours are hell and I’d really don’t want to, unless anyone wants to bombard me with offers of gigs. In any case anyone doesn’t know who Fragment are, they come from the Czech Republic. They won the Vienna 99 competition and were invited to the IBMA showcase in Louisville. So I will sit by the phone and see how badly our British bluegrass followers want them.

Love, Carmen Turner, Derwent Valley. 01433-651771

Phil Heald, Bolton.

Oh... you cheat! (For more info see the last times Competition rules - Ed.)

Yours truly, Jim Sergeant., Moston Manchester.

Thanks Jim! I got quite a few letters, etc., in this vein - several from abroad. One needs to feel one is not completely wasting ones time... Ed.

We’ve been running a picking session at The Junction pub,Rainford, for the last two years. This is an early session for the intermediate players and is held before the main session starts at 9-00p. m. on Wednesdays. The session was started by banjo and guitar teacher Eamon Walsh who taught us, got us organised into all learning the same tunes and following proper procedure.

Like all classes of any kind there were problems like some people progressing faster than others and the continuing number of newcomers who, while being quite good hadn’t learned the tunes we were practising. It became more and more difficult for people who had been coming regularly to join in, but some of the regulars progressed to a level that allowed them to go on to the more advanced picks that are held around Merseyside.

The experience of the last two years tells me that there are an awful lot of intermediate musicians learning Bluegrass music who need a place to go and practise together. I thought of writing to the mag to ask if there are any people out there in the Liverpool area who wanted to practise together in a session for intermediate players, also if there are any advanced players who would help us. This would be for all the Bluegrass instruments. A double bass would be great!

If I get enough response I would try to arrange a pub where we could meet that has a little used room available. I thought we could spend the first part of the session teaching beginners to play back-up and also give them a couple of tunes to learn, then have a picking session at a speed that would enable intermediate players to play lead. After this, I thought we could have fun doing vocals with lead breaks in between, maybe some Country and Western songs.

If anyone is interested could they please contact me and when I’ve got enough people I’ll organise a venue. If any one knows of a pub or even a social club with a little used room, in or around the Liverpool area, preferably reached by public transport then let me know.

Jim Grainger, Liverpool. Tel: 0151-525-8631

PS: I was talking to someone who went to picking sessions (sic) playing Irish music. I told him of how, in Bluegrass sessions, each person takes a turn at playing lead, which sometimes becomes very boring with he same tune being played repeatedly, especially for an audience. He shook his head in amazement and told me that they have a rule that after four repeats, the next player starts off another tune, sometimes without stopping, also the tune is often started off by the slowest or an intermediate player. It is then gradually speeded up so that slow players drop out from taking the lead, so everyone gets a go, and everyone ends up playing the tunes they have practised and can play at speed.

Would this system work with Bluegrass sessions? Has anybody tried it?

Wow! There’s a lot there! On the main topic I would suggest finding a venue first and worrying about people afterwards. On your afterthoughts: I think that the things you are suggesting are the very antithesis of the Bluegrass idea - maybe bluegrass isn’t your bag after all? But having said that, lots of tunes do speed up until, well... Readers comments welcomed. Ed.

Keep up the good work- I just visited The Butterfield Bluegrass Festival in Littleton, North Carolina. I took photos and notes and intend to do an article for you in due course. David Finn, Nottingham.

David - we love you! that is what we like to hear! Ed.

Subs enclosed 2000, plus: Is there a PC program that will convert staff notation (i.e. ‘dots’) to banjo tablature?

Regards Harry Leather, Frodsham.

I don’t know of one. I think it would be extremely difficult to do because (unlike on a piano) on a banjo the same note can be got at different frets on different strings, and sounded by a variety of methods (pick, pull, hammer, slide, choke... ). So the result would almost certainly be unplayable, as well as being an exact rendition of the tune with no syncopation or ‘bluegrass feel’. But who knows? Please write in if you do!!! Ed.

There is a new Internet project called music teachers.co.uk which has been set up to provide the first independent, comprehensive, nation-wide Internet database of music teachers. It is a free service for teachers to advertise their details in a dedicated resource - anyone looking for a teacher in their area can search our database by area and instrument to find tutors local to them. We will also be offering supplementary services on the site of interest to teachers such as the sale of sheet music, classical CDs, as well as details on accompanists, festivals, scholarships and other relevant issues (including the opportunity to place adverts for music related jobs for free). The site will not open until late November but anyone wishing to register (free of charge) as a teacher or an accompanist can do so using the on-line form which can be found at: www.music teachers.co.uk

Alternatively, if you do not have access to the Internet you can still register your details free by phoning Gavin on 0161-7189630 or Crispin on 0161-3742790.

Please pass this information to any other teachers you know and do visit us once we are open. Help us to create a useful and comprehensive resource. If you refer 5 teachers to us you qualify for a teacher profile page, allowing you to post a more comprehensive biography / CV. To do this, send us the names of the 5 teachers, and when they have all registered you can contact us to apply for your profile page.

Gavin Meredith, Marketing Manager

1st Jan 2000