I might be losing it

"Brian, The Life of" (familycar)
04/08/2020 at 12:03 • Filed to: None

It seems half my social media feed these days is filled with people posting their amazing looking homemade bread. This at a time when I started a Keto diet right before everything was locked down. So now my feed is like Chinese water torture but with a steady drip of crusty, glutony, carby bread pics.

So, what do I decide to do about this? What kind of non-food new hobby am I going to do to distract myself? Welp, yesterday I ordered a Banjo. Yep, that’s right: five strings of folksy fury. Oh yeah, I currently play exactly NO musical instruments ... and I chose the banjo.

I might be losing it.

DISCUSSION (32)

CB > Brian, The Life of
04/08/2020 at 12:03

I'd recommend Celtic punk if you get decent at it.

Brian, The Life of > CB
04/08/2020 at 12:05

I’ve been on a steady diet of bluegrass lately. The modern stuff is pretty epic and jammy af.

Chariotoflove > Brian, The Life of
04/08/2020 at 12:06

Go check out some Bela Fleck and the Flecktones. That might make you feel a little more grounded.

For Sweden > Brian, The Life of
04/08/2020 at 12:09

Not choosing a four-string banjo is more concerning tbh

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > Brian, The Life of
04/08/2020 at 12:10

We have a “family accordion ” I’m contemplating learning how to play accordion now.

Nom De Plume > Brian, The Life of
04/08/2020 at 12:10

IMO the new country music. Which explains the personal retreat into song and hitting all the low points you can dip to.

Partly j/k, but I’m being highly disingenuous about the hipsterish popularity of downhome mountain music.

Just Jeepin' > Brian, The Life of
04/08/2020 at 12:11

Any recommendations? I tend to listen to older bluegrass, but I let Pandora do most of my music discovery for me, so it’s possible I’m already listening to modern music and I don’t know it.

Ash78, voting early and often > Brian, The Life of
04/08/2020 at 12:11

I hung out with some people in the Slamgrass crowd in college. Apparently that genre is still around.

I highly recommend anything by Bela Fleck for inspiration. Not imitation because the guy is a badass.

Ash78, voting early and often > For Sweden
04/08/2020 at 12:12

HE IS A WILD AND-A CRAZY GUY!

RallyWrench > Brian, The Life of
04/08/2020 at 12:16

Jamgrass is the shit. If you haven’t already, I recommend you check out the Infamous Stringdusters, Yonder Mountain Stringband, and Hot Buttered Rum.

RallyWrench > Just Jeepin'
04/08/2020 at 12:17

Infamous Stringdusters, Yonder Mountain Stringband, and Hot Buttered Rum are three of my favorites, seen them all. Stringdusters about 4 times, they’re amazing.

TheRealBicycleBuck > Brian, The Life of
04/08/2020 at 12:20

Grammy Award-winning Steve Martin!

Note: He plays a five-string.

RallyWrench > Nom De Plume
04/08/2020 at 12:20

There’s some definite hipsterism, and it’s in my own family, but these guys are serious about it. I see it as a hell of a revival, with a healthy bit of rebellion against the old crusty guys in overalls who talk down to younger musicians and only play straight ahead oldtime . Been to a lot of jam sessions with both, the new school is much funner.

Just Jeepin' > RallyWrench
04/08/2020 at 12:21

I caught one good band at Station Inn when I was visiting Nashville years ago. Hope it’s s till there when this is over. Wondering how many of my favorite restaurants will never recover.

jimz > Brian, The Life of
04/08/2020 at 12:22

ditch social media?

MoCamino > Brian, The Life of
04/08/2020 at 12:23

Challenge issued. :)

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > Brian, The Life of
04/08/2020 at 12:23

Now if you’d also bought overalls and a straw hat...

Brian, The Life of > Just Jeepin'
04/08/2020 at 12:33

YES! Billy Strings, Greensky Bluegrass, The Lil Smokies, Trampled by Turtles, The Native Howl, Yonder Mountain String Band, and there’s the really cool cover act called Pickin’ On that I highly recommend :)

RallyWrench > Just Jeepin'
04/08/2020 at 12:34

I’m really worried about that too. I’m in a fairly rural area here, and all the best mom & pop eateries are really struggling, if not already closed or laying people off so they can get unemployment . The bars are the only music venues, and they’ve been closed for weeks already. Hearing from lots of folks that if the shutdown goes on past the end of this month or May they’re done. Hopefully your favorite haunts have at least started looking into the relief program? I’m not optimistic about it around here, seems only the big national banks are in on it, and the small local institutions most of us use are not.

Brian, The Life of > For Sweden
04/08/2020 at 12:34

TRADITION!

Brian, The Life of > MoCamino
04/08/2020 at 12:40

<3!

For Sweden > Brian, The Life of
04/08/2020 at 12:45

let the past die

kill it if you have to

MoCamino > Brian, The Life of
04/08/2020 at 12:51

Hayseed Dixie does a lot of simil ar stuff. :)

Nom De Plume > RallyWrench
04/08/2020 at 13:34

You’ll learn, you’ll make mistakes, you’ll come back to ask these old crusty guys in overalls to talk down to you until you get it. Don’t grow infected by those needing to be uber serious in place of those who are. Make your own artistic decisions and only then feed off others making healthy decisions on their own plate.

I, and numerous others here, wouldn’t dream of turning you off your chosen instrument. Take to heart a defining need to work on form and physical elements of playing incorruptibly far above making pleasant noises or joining the party. Beatings will continue until morale improves might be too soft a way of expressing this. Not everyone is born to an instrument and needs to change it to fit.

ttyymmnn > Brian, The Life of
04/08/2020 at 13:46

Caution: Do not eat the banjo.

RallyWrench > Nom De Plume
04/08/2020 at 14:19

Truth. I must admit I’m a lifelong drummer ( a drummer among musicians , as the joke goes) , so I’ve only listened in on these sessions with family and friends as I live vicariously through them. It is my opinion that most stringbands don’t need percussion , so I’m just happy to take in and observe the music in any case.

There’s much to learn from the traditional players, and that’s always respected, but some of them simply take themselves and their oldtime catalog too seriously and it diminishes the enjoyment of the music for other players. As if the music must be played a certain way to be “correct,” down to the note. My 68 year old father-in-law plays a little of everything with everyone and laments this often.

I’ve got gray in my beard and grew up playing a lot of jazz and funk . For me the strict oldtime players in acoustic folk & bluegrass are the equivalent of the jazz musician who can’t lay back and swing or improv, playing only upright and strictly to the chart . They love the music as much as anyone and are often highly proficient, but they’re hard to play with because the rigid structure they impose on their own playing forces it on those they play with. Makes it hard to jam. Fortunately not the norm, but in small scenes without many people to play with, you do your best to play with everyone.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > Brian, The Life of
04/08/2020 at 14:50

Nothing wrong with learning musical instruments! I played piano as a kid and have recently gotten back into it. I also played percussion all through Jr. High and High School and still often play on my drum set here at home...it’s fun stuff, and very therapeutic !

Brian, The Life of > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars
04/08/2020 at 15:27

Ya my son is a musician. He started early as a kid and is one of those types that can pick up any new instr ument and figure out how to play a passable song within an hour or so. I’ve never even attempted to learn one at all. Hoping to learn something about myself.

Nom De Plume > RallyWrench
04/08/2020 at 15:28

I’ve always gotten a laugh out of trios in some musical forms that have a drummer who sits there hands on lap or only contributes when needed to keep the other two together. 1/3 of what a gig pays for no work on stage might be alright though.

Strict adherence to form is not a bad thing. It can produce them in some people though. Our resident orchestral trumpet player might enjoy that comment more than most.

Nom De Plume > RallyWrench
04/08/2020 at 15:38

Also I feel silly for making you out as a punk kid just discovering drinking out of a jug and music can go well together.

RallyWrench > Nom De Plume
04/08/2020 at 16:06

Same feeling , a guy slapping his unworked Carhartts and perhaps brushing a snare in what should otherwise be a duo isn’t much of a contribution. But at least they’re along for the ride, playing and presumably enjoying it together, which matters most.

Ttyymmnn’s musical takes are always good and appreciated, he’s a true pro! T o me, it seems orchestral music is the place where strict form has a place at the head of the table. I also played marching band in high school, and that was a similar story . If you, as section leader, do something off the chart, the whole group quite literally falls on its face. The structure is necessary. It has its place, no question. Just not so much in local jam sessions.

Also no worries on pegging me as a kid, I’m flattered ;) I hope I have a bit more perspective than the punk kid on the sidelines, though we’ve all been there. I’m 40 and trying to encourage my own kids in music, because m y wife and I were both fortunate to grow up in musical households , around jam sessions and practices, so it’s an experience we’d like to share with our kids as well.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > Brian, The Life of
04/08/2020 at 17:35

Father-son bonding? :D