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John Lawless' Acutab News Snippets

By John Lawless

A lot of people think that it is the player, not the instrument, that is responsible for a fine tone. I want to stress that it is both player and instrument that matter! Earl would not have sounded so magical on a white metal, no tone ring, Asian banjo. His timing would still be impeccable but the gorgeous, rippling tone would not be there. A master musician with a world class instrument creates a moment of sheer bliss. Take either element out of the mix and you have something less. To these people I would say: Yes, practice all the time - if you are talking banjo instead of playing banjo, you may not advance as quickly. But, if you want to sound your best,make sure that you have as good an instrument as your situation allows and be sure that it is set up to suit your preferences.

I often get asked how we slow the music down without changing the pitch when we're preparing transcriptions for our Acutab books. Well, we use a program called Transkriber, and is a simple application written by a friend of mine. It is very simple but very effective and available for free at http://www.acutab.com/transkriber.html (and see May 1999 Grass Cuttings )
The new Huber banjos which will go into production within the next few weeks. Steve has spent the past two years refining his design to incorporate all he has learned about achieving that "pre war" sound. There will initially be two models, a mahogany/nickel and a maple/gold. Pricing and availability is still being determined but prototypes have been completed and are very promising.
I recently attended a jam session at a friend's house with the legendary mandolinist, Hershel Sizemore. Anyone interested in traditional bluegrass who is not familiar with Herschel's music should immediately take steps to remedy that situation.

Anyway, we had a terrific time picking. Herschel played a number of new tunes he has written which he plans to record on a new project sometime this year. All were typical Sizemore tunes - memorable, catchy melodies with interesting chord changes.

A high point for me was getting to play Rebecca with Herschel. This is quickly becoming many banjoists' favorite instrumental and has become de rigeur at jam sessions round here. I love the tune and rarely pick up the banjo without picking through it a time or two. Sitting a few feet from Herschel and hearing him play it was something I won't soon forget. Fortunately, I held my own and happily was able to provide a nice banjo solo. It is good to be alive and be able to play this bluegrass music!

Pete Wernick and I have been in some serious discussions of late about the possibility of AcuTab reprinting the classic Masters Of The Five String Banjo book. It is not yet a sure thing but it is being carefully considered. It would be an exact reprint of the existing book. No modifications or updates of any kind would be included.

But we're not sure if the original negatives can be found so we may have to do a scanned copy. It would be at a very high quality but not as 'picture perfect' as it might be, speaking in a nit-picking fashion as a publishing pro.

Another problem is the cost of reproducing a limited quantity of books of this size. It is likely that the selling price will be at least $60. With an uncertain market I can not put this much capital at risk without a feel for the potential return. With all that being said, I would appreciate any feedback as to whether a reprint version of Masters is of interest.

Almost certainly, the way we will proceed is to make a decision to go forward, and then see how many folks are willing to place advance orders. No money will be required up front, just a willingness to place an order in advance. If we can obtain a sufficient number of advance orders, we will go ahead with production.

Speaking to Sammy Schelor recently he mentioned that the Lonesome River Band have more or less finished recording the latest CD which should be available shortly. Just a few more baritone vocals need to be cut and then they start mixing. Both he and Kenny have told me that this will be their grassiest release since Carrying The Tradition.
We have finalized most of the arrangements for the 2nd Annual Roanoke Bluegrass Weekend. Held again at The Hotel Roanoke in downtown Roanoke, VA. the dates this year are November 3-5. This year's banjo faculty is Tom Adams, Sammy Shelor and Steve Dilling.
John Lawless, AcuTab Publications - Artist-approved transcriptions from the playing of top bluegrass pickers. E-mail | Web site
P O Box 21061 Roanoke, VA 24018-0108 540-776-6822 (Tel) 540-776-6827 (fax)

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23rd April2000