It was banjo picking time when our friend Johnny Butten stopped by today.We had to have this banjo super picker play a couple of tunes for us.If you’re not familiar with Johnny, his banjo picking (he’s equally talented on all the other bluegrass instruments!) and his group Newgrass Underground you’ll need to catch a performance.You can find more info about Johnny and the band at their website, and in the meantime you can give a listen to Johnny on a couple of tunes he picked for us here at the store.The first was an original and the second his rendition of Santa Claus, a tune composed by Bill Monroe.
Our friend local bluegrass and old time picker Harry Bickel stopped by for a brief visit and we couldn’t resist having him pick a tune for us.Harry, a former Kentucky State Clawhammer Champion, is not only well known throughout the Louisville old time and bluegrass community but all around the country.Folks around Louisville remember Harry from his days as a member of the 70’s bluegrass group Whole Wheat, to his Grammy nominated old time band The Buzzard Rock String Band.You can catch Harry out pickin’ with his latest group the River City Ramblers at one of the local night spots. Be sure and check out their MySpace page for an upcoming date.Here Harry is picking the Mississippi Sawyer on one of our latest in the Sullivan family of banjos the Clawhammer Jam.
This week we had some very special guest stop by the shop here at First Quality Music. Bluegrass group “Men Of The Week” paid us a visit while here in town playing a show for a Kentucky Derby Festival party. Mandolin player Leevon DeCourley got a treat when we handed him our Gibson Master Model “Old Growth” prototype. He put a few chops on it and didn’t want to put it down. Dillon Scott is the banjo player and we asked him to test drive our new Sullivan “Prewar” prototype banjo. We’ve been working on this one for sometime now and we’re just putting the final touches on it. C.J. Lewandowski is the guitar player of the group and he chose a Martin D28 Marquis Madagascar to pay along with their fine Fiddle player, Gerald Jones. Their web address is www.myspace.com/menoftheweek Here is a small video clip of their visit.
Dear friend David Jakubiak had been a long time customer of First Quality Music. David is based in Jupiter, FL and is a full time Teaching Instructor. Fretmentor.com was launched several months back and I have watched it grow in content and popularity. David caters to musicians and students that play banjo, mandolin and guitar. Below is an overview of his website that might just be very helpful as a Bluegrass resource. David is also currently writing articles for Banjo Newletter.
David Jakubiak, creator of Fretmentor.com
Fretmentor offers a unique instructional program for the guitar, mandolin, and banjo.Whether your are a new student or a more experienced player who is seeking additional training, FretMentor offers you a comprehensive approach to learning your guitar, banjo or mandolin instrument.
Our instruction includes music theory concepts, chord structure and improvisational techniques for musicians playing individually or performing with others. Fretmentor is an interactive site that will teach you not only how to play the instrument but will inform you about the instrument, its origin and its history.
