Banjo-L Members
Sound Page

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In cooperation with the Banjo-L mailing list and banjo players directory, BluegrassStuff is proud to host the Members Sound Page. These are MP3s of tunes recorded by banjo players just for fun, to share with their fellow Banjo-L listers.

Click here for the rules of submission
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The Banjo-L home page is hosted by Zepp Music

Here are the tunes:

  1. Rick Anderson, Sparks NV, rickand@unr.edu, Medley, Red-Haired Boy/Speed the Plough/Old Mother Flanagan (traditional)
    Banjo: Ramsey Fairbanks Electric

  2. Brian Baker, Woodsboro, MD, Blb925mlb@aol.com Spotted Pony, public domain. "I have added another track behind it - some might like, others might not. I happen to find it very soothing and wanted to include it in the background. It is played on a 1930s (I think) Van Eps Recording tenor banjo pot (5 string neck added). Hope you all enjoy it."

  3. This is a duet, Texas, with Ed Britt, Wakefield, Massachusetts playing clawhammer style, and Don Borchelt, Stoneham, Massachusetts, playing in three-finger, semi- bluegrass style. Ed is playing his Ome Renaissance Grand Artist, which he designed,and Don is playing a Paramount, with a semi-fretless, A-Scale neck made by luthier Steve Pierce of Lawrence, Massachusetts. Don has a website, www.banjr.com.

  4. Julio Boysenberry, boysenberr@earthlink.net, of Nipomo, California, USA This is "Four Leaf Clover" (Words by Mort Dixon, music by Harry Woods); picked on my 1929 Gibson RB4, if you listen really closely, you can hear the clovers rustling in the breeze.

  5. "There is a free download (full length MP3) of my recording of Snowdrop. It is recorded on a Gibson RB250. Please click to the above link, which will take you to the page where Snowdrop may be downloaded. Snowdrop was recorded in a studio and Chris Frank at efolkmusic made the MP3 from the CD, so it is a much better quality than I could have done at home. Best wishes, Mary Z. Cox" http://www.nettally.com/infocon

  6. Cliff Drane, Houston TX, thraktor@yahoo.com, age 32, Billy's Blues, original, frailing, on a Ramsey Student. "This is a tune inspired by Billy in the Lowground, or rather the feeling I got after hearing it. Tab available, email me. Sorry for the somewhat low-fidelity, I like to imagine the recording is old and scratchy. :)"

  7. Paul Ebner, pebner@utk.edu, Knoxville, TN, Frosty Morn, "I don't know who started this song. I think you can hear Henry Reed do it on the Library of Congress website. Dwight Diller's probably got the best one these days (or the one I like the best)." Banjo: Goldtone WL250

  8. Alan Ede, awcaede@msn.com, Corvallis, OR. When You Wore a Tulip, by Mahoney and Wenrich, 1914. "The mandolin-banjo is a Gibson MB-3 Mastertone archtop set up with a .005 mil polyester (Mylar) head and a specially designed bridge. The 5-string banjo is a Gibson TB-4 corversion with a 5-Star head, equally tight. Accompaniment consists of a 1964 Martin D-35 guitar, a second recording of the mandolin-banjo on the up- beat and a solid wood bass of unknown origin. All tracks are by me, and were recorded on a Tascam Porta-07 4-track recorder in my bedroom. Enjoy."

  9. Sam Farris (aka The BluegrassStuff Webmaster), Richmond, VA, sam@bluegrassstuff.com, Jerusalem Ridge (by Bill Monroe). "I came across this recording I made of JR nearly 20 years ago (about 1983). Gail Gowing--fiddle(s); Betsy Rome--Guitar; Bill Blackmore--Bass; Sam Farris--1977 Ibanez Artist banjo, which I bought new and is still my main instrument. Banjo is tuned to regular G major with the 5th string raised to A -- ADGBD, no capo."

  10. Allen Feldman, afeldman@mindspring.com, Greenwich Village, NY, Elzhick's Farewell, Whyte Laydie no. 2 circa 1909, "Rare three part version of this West Virginia Lament for a hanged fiddler, supposedly his last composition. Banjo tuned in double D but played in A modal."

  11. Mitch Finley, FiveStrBanjo@aol.com, Spokane, Washington, Age: 56, Old Time Religion, "Played on a 2002 Deering Golden Era with Sosebee bridge. I've been playing for 4 years..."

  12. Bob Garlough (garlord@att.net), Renton, Washington, Age 38, Happy Birthday Blues traditional tune (my arrangements except banjo part based on Jack Hatfield tablature), Banjo: Gold Tone OB-250 lefty. "Home recording as a gift to my wife - I played each instrument and mixed them - been learning since June, 2000."

    [ed.] Actually, the words (but not the tune) to Happy Birthday are copyrighted -- here's a link with some information about it.

  13. Chris Grotewohl, cgrotewohl@kc.rr.com , Overland Pk, Kansas, Rich and Taylor/Stelling [ed. note Chris sent me four tunes, and they're all great. Rather than decide which one to post, here's a link to his web page]

  14. Bev Hill, Wandering Star Ranch, Langlois, Oregon, H B Breakdown "I just unpacked my new Huber Lancaster and thought I'd record what it sounds like on day one... what the heck ... here is my out-of-the-box Huber... But it was fun learning how to record & email something ;) Now I have to learn to adjust to a different banjo ... we old folks sometimes take awhile to re-learn this stuff. Anyway, I'm 61 years old, live on the southern Oregon coast, raise and train horses, and pick 5-string banjo. Oh yeah, I'm not a guy & my new Huber has been named Eve as I'm the first woman picker to own one."

  15. Zuni's Retreat, Original Tune by Ron Hillier, Age 48, Twin Falls, Idaho. deadlineridge@onewest.net, Played on a Deering Golden Wreath. (Gm tuning) "Zuni is my friend's Italian Greyhound who used take off running whenever I pulled the banjo out of the case. While others still react in the same fashion, she has since become accustomed to the sound." Additional mp3's and cd purchase info can be found at http://www.deadlineridge.com

  16. "Here's my submission of Viento Del Sud. Player/composer: Hans Holzherr, hans.holzherr@bluewin.ch, age 53, living in Switzerland. Banjo: 1926 Gibson TB-3 conversion. Track taken from CD "Deep Thought From The Hippo", 2001. Sound samples available at http://stop.to/listentobanjocd . This tune is an experiment in Latin rhythms. The bass player is Det Baumann (Switzerland), Lorenzo Perez from Paraguay played the guitar. In the second half of each of the four parts the rhythm is a Paraguayan polka, a mixed 3/4 and 4/4 time which continues to fascinate me."

  17. This is an original improvisation, call it "Flunky (Improvisation)" played on a Riley Baugus fretless banjo. Thanks. John Huie / Athens, GA (jphuie@athens.net)

  18. Name: Jerry Gord, E-mail: buckmasterUSA1@aol.com, Location: Schenectady, NY, Song Title: Marching Through Georgia, Banjo: Buckmaster Tubaphone

  19. Mark A. Johnson, majohnson5@earthlink.net , Winston-Salem, NC, Shady Grove (Trad) Played on a Mike Ramsey Custom 11 inch Electric "Perhaps it is pertinent to point out that I am not the Mark Johnson of 'Clawgrass' fame. Been playing since October 1999"

  20. Len Katz, janlen2@juno.com, Revere, MA , Rambling Hobo (traditional), Fairbanks-Vega Whyte Laydie Style R (ca. 1920) with 5-string neck made from a Stewart-MacDonald rough neck blank.

  21. Michael Neverisky, banjer@bigfoot.com, Amherst NH, Grasshopper Sitting on a Sweet Potato Vine, played on a gourd banjo made by Curtis Harrell. "Through the miracle of multitrack recording, I play both the guitar and the banjo on this tune."

  22. The tune for Beans, Bacon & Gravy is a "traditional" tune of long standing, called Little Old Log Cabin on my Claim, written by George Washington Hayes, published in about 1879, if memory serves. The words are, I believe, traditional. This is played on a Ramsey Special, 11 inch, all maple, with a thicker wall to the pot than usual, which Mike Ramsey built for me in 1999. This is one of the songs on my CD, The Real Story!
    David Oesterreich (Uncle DaveO), doesterr@sbcglobal.net , Indianapolis Indiana

  23. Rick Otten, rotten@gozo.ugate.net, Dublin, OH, Around the Diamond Galop, Composer: C.F. Titcomb, Arranger: G.L. Lansing, Banjo details: Supertone Dixie Wonder, Skin Head, Aquila Strings, Homemade YellowHeart bridge. "URL with a couple other recordings by me: www.wartytroll.com, Other Note: I much prefer the open source file format Ogg Vorbis. You can play the .ogg file with xmms, winamp, ashampoo, and many other recent players. See www.vorbis.com for more information about this format, or if you have problems."

  24. Risto, aitwise@dna.fi, Country: Finland, Age 48, Score: Far from home & Off to California medley, trad.,Banjo: cheapo Gibson copy w/ luthier made lefty neck. "Most of the ringing is not from the banjo but from the recording circumstances. I've playing the 5 string for 1 year. Switched from Tenor."

  25. Donald Zepp, zepp@zeppmusic.com, Wendell NC, Soldier's Joy (traditional), Ramsey Fairbanks Electric

    Rules for Submitting Tunes

    E-mail your recordings to banjo-l@bluegrassstuff.com. Please include the following information:
    • your name
    • email address
    • your city and state (or country)
    • name and composer of the tune
    • what type of banjo you're playing
    • any other info you feel is pertinent (be brief, please!)

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