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I started playing guitar in high school in 1950 and soon was in a band named "The Rio Arriba Boys", playing mostly songs by the Delmore Brothers and the Louvin Brothers. After high school I sort of hung it up until about 1979 when I started playing banjo. I went to a Bluegrass Jam Session in Madrid, New Mexico and was hooked on Bluegrass. I've met some of the nicest people on this earth because of my affiliation with Bluegrass Music, and do everything in my power to promote this wonderful sound. I've played in a few bands over the last 15 years or so, "Bermuda Grass", "Branchwater", "St. John's String Band" (still playing there) and "2nd Hand Strings". Now we have changed the name "2nd Hand Strings" to "Bluegrass Odyssey". Regardless of the name, I play for the enjoyment of it and hope that the folks listening enjoy it too.
Hope you will come out sometime and listen to us play. |
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There have been so many jam sessions at our house over the past 25 years that I had to start playing just to have a piece of the fun. George bought me a stand up bass but it was just to big for me so I had to settle for the electric. It’s been a lot of fun playing with George and the others. Back when I was growing up in West Germany, I never thought I would be playing in a Bluegrass Band. |
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I started playing ukelele at age 10 and 4-string banjo through college until I realized my calling. Singing, playing and listening to all types of music growing up, I first became interested in the 5-string banjo back in 1964. Enjoying such groups as the Kingston Trio, The Weavers, listening to the banjo and thinking that's what I want to do - play 5-string banjo. Then I heard bluegrass music. And like most bluegrass banjo pickers, I became mesmerized by the playing of Buck Trent, Eric Wiseburg, JD Crow, Alan Munde and of course, Earl Scruggs. Not being able to go to Festivals much to learn from others, I started teaching myself how to play the three fingered style. Playing by ear (someone said - "Music was here before chords and notes"), I found it fun and sometimes frustrating.
I have played the 5-string banjo off and on for approximately 40 years, playing with some fine local musicians. I joined 2nd Hand Strings (now Bluegrass Odyssey) in 2003, and have enjoyed a revitalization of my picking skills. |
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I started playing the fiddle when I was about 8 years old. My dad was a semi-professional musician, and we played music together throughout my youth. Until college, I had only played classical music, but there I first heard albums by bluegrass legends, Flatt and Scruggs. I quickly became hooked and listened and played bluegrass often, sometimes at parties with an informal band made up of my guitar-playing room-mate and other friends. After college, playing music took a back seat to work and other hobbies. When I took up the fiddle again and started to learn the mandolin about 6 years ago, I realized how much I had missed. I have made some wonderful friends and had some tremendously satisfying experiences playing bluegrass and old time music in the last few years. My only regret is letting my skills lapse for 30 years! |
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I started playing old-time and war-era music on a plectrum banjo with my dad on accordion and my older sister on tenor guitar when I was 10 years old. We soon had a family band and played taverns and dancehalls in Northwest Wisconsin from 1975 to 1984. I’ve been involved in music in some fashion since then.
I came to bluegrass by attending music festivals in Colorado and New Mexico. I found that many of the songs my dad taught me as a kid were actually bluegrass standards. I fell in love with the genre as an adult, and wanted to start playing music again. Since I didn’t fingerpick the banjo, I turned to the mandolin. I bought my first mandolin in 2002 from Folk of the Wood in Ruidoso, and haven’t looked back. I’m honored to be part of Bluegrass Odyssey.
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