Banjo, a lot of banjo

Yesterday was a marathon! The Upper Grassmen played Depot Days in Gainesville, Texas at 2:30. Our appearance was delayed by over an hour. The sound was not put together really well and on top of that it was windy. All in all it was a fair performance by the traditional group of five.

We also played for a class reunion last night in Sherman. We were joined by a member of Hickory Hill and his daughter. Both were a real delight. The mandolinist father had recently purchased a Collings F model. It had a real bite and had really not awaken yet. You see, acoustic intruments actually have a break in time where the resonance finds itself through the woods. Even an older instrument that has spent years in the case has to "re-awaken" once its played again.

The daughter of the mando player was an intermediate fiddler. On the songs she knew, you couldn't tell it. She's going to be a master if she stays with it. She had an incredible bluegrass singing voice and was able to hit the tenor in a way that few can.

It ended up being a long day, but good. It's the most I've played banjo inside of 24 hours that I can remember.