How do!

Is there a seat in the house for a bluegrass/old-time fiddler?

banjo player with ya...:hi:

Banjos are for folks who can't handle a bow or a flat pick :D (I'll admit I'm not that great at flat-picking, either.)

Thanks for the :hi: !

I notice you are in North Carolina? I was born in Trent Woods-New Bern but now reside 3000 miles away on the other Coast.
I miss her but there is still a bit of tar on my heels...

I left the state right after high school to join the military. When I got back from Europe, I settled in Texas. My career in IT has taken me more places than Hank Snow ever got to :) I did live in SoCal for a little over a year. About 6 years ago, my partner and I moved back to NC and found a little place way out in the woods, in (blue!) Caswell County. I have a lot of kinfolk in your neck of the woods.

Love it here. It's kinda nice to be able to sit out in the back yard and fiddle to my heart's content. (I've noticed the wildlife mostly prefers classical, but the goldfinches and cardinals will sing back to bluegrass heh)

I have this dream of starting a "jug-band" group just for fun. Got the space for it.

Yeah, that little dab of tar never quite washes off :)

I play flute too and my Parakeets love it. Of course, they like the sound of the tap dripping too so...
I moved from New Bern to Venice Beach, Ca., with my Marine Corp father in 1966. I was 5. I went back 'home' every summer till I was about 40, still picking black eyed peas.
Most of the family has left the area, most are in Oregon (which is like NC but with better surf).
I imagine I will go home someday, we still own a bit down there on the river and it only passes through family.

A jug band? Why not? In my two little outfits, we play progressive something or other, some gypsy type folk music, lots of violin (its in a case so it aint a fiddle), flutes, ethnic instruments such as ouds, an octave mandolin and even a little stuffed bear that talks...I hold it up to the mic and pull its string. You can record anything onto its chip, 16 seconds worth so I often put backing vocals on it or bits of mandolin. Gets a laugh anyway.
Yeah, up here we is stoned sometimes.:smoke:

The wife is in a belly dance competition today, gotta run and cheer her on!
Take care!

I played jazz flute for years until the thing got stolen. Loved it... there's no friendlier instrument for my fingers. Matter of fact, my fingers still "figure out" tunes using flute fingerings. Funny how things stick with ya.

Speaking of octave instruments, last Christmas I bought myself a chin-cello. It's built on a 16" viola format but with a bigger box and uses octave viola strings. Great size for gigging and the sound is a lot warmer than I had expected.

I had been attempting some gypsy violin and lately some klezmer. As large a Jewish population as there is in the area, it's surprising that there's only one known klezmer band in the entire Triad. Hmph. I can throw a stick and find another bluegrass fiddler, but klezmer and gypsy violin both take a whole-lotta skill what I don't have. Yet. I keep plugging at it on my own; YouTube bees a Good Thing(tm).

I had a dance-buddy in Palm Springs who also did baladi. Man, but was she strong and in shape. She moved to El Paso last I heard and I lost touch. Too bad, cuz she was a really neat lady. It takes a load of training and discipline to handle baladi. Extra cheers for your wife and may she "break a leg" and bring home top prize!