Following hot on the heels of the success of the First Workshop day at
Frodsham in September, Stuart & Russ Williams were quick off the mark
with this second one, at The White Lion.
The previous workshop day had been quite a serious one with several workshops,
some at advanced levels, which had introduced many newcomers to various bluegrass
instruments. Unless one wants to take part in a workshop or pick in the lounge,
these days appear (to me) to be of limited interest, so I was surprised to
find that this second event was obviously meant to be a much lower key affair
of greater general interest.
Stuart and Russel Williams
The workshops were: Bluegrass Sessions for Beginners, led by Stuart Williams
(who commented there were a few too many playing); Frailing for First-timers,
tutored by Jack Griffiths and Indoor Boomerangs (or How To Make That Banjo
Picker Notice You!) by Gordon Shuttleworth. “So how does a boomerang
fit into an instrumental workshop?” I hear you cry. Well, it all depends
on how you define an instrument, you see - a boomerang is an instrument of
death, don’t y’know!
Had Jack had taken on more than he expected with the Frailing workshop? I
don’t know about ‘frailing’ - ‘flailing’ was a better
term in some cases, but it was all worthwhile good fun. There were a lot
of regular non-frailing pickers so it was completely alien to them, as it
was to me 30 years ago! I was clever - I gave up.
The Indoor Boomerangs session was most interesting. Gordon showed how easy
it was to throw a boomerang and, using some three-bladed ones, he had people
throwing them in very tight circles and even catching them on the way back.
Immediate practical applications that spring to mind include modifications
to do the dusting, snipping off dead flower heads, and painting &
decorating.
Stuart had organised (?) a Bluegrass Quiz which was really a Bluegrass-related
Fun Quiz.. There were rules, but only Stuart seemed to know what they were
and he wasn’t telling! Some questions were almost on the nail, such
as “Who wrote Foggy Mountain Breakdown?”. The three choices were
“Earl Scruggs, Earl Slugs or Earl Scruggs”. But how we were supposed
to cope with “What Year was Johnny Plank born - was it 1949, 1950, 1951
or 1952?”? This was pure guesswork, but all in good fun. Better yet
we were expected to know the name of a Vietnamese pot-bellied pig which the
landlord once owned - a real ‘in’ question if ever there was one.
There were trick questions too, like “Name the best bluegrass band in
Britain - only I know the answer!”. There were no choices given and
yes - only he knew the answer! If anyone got it right it was a fix. Many
of the questions were aimed at boosting the image of the Landlord - I hope
his head didn’t burst! The quiz was a laugh a minute and great fun,
but if you’re thinking of doing one yourself you’re wasting your
time - you couldn’t think of questions daft enough. Lynn Crowley was
the winner with 30 points out of 32 - if I’d won I’m not sure I’d
want my name publishing!
The quiz was followed by a session in the conservatory. The ‘bay
window’ end is great for that, but the long, narrow room isn’t
suitable in general. So later in the evening a party split off for a session
in the completely empty lounge. One of the quiz questions involved writing
new verses to Bile Them Cabbages Down, and all of them (some of which were
quite dubious!) were sung in this session. It’s a crazy world!
Derek Brandon, Chester
Updated 23rd Jan 1999
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