we had a great event in manchester last wednesday evening. the verrmont council of the humanities 'first wednesdays' program featured stephen wade, a grammy winning banjo player and music historian. he is a stunning performer and great story teller. he spent an hour or so describing his travels through the south, meeting and playing with the old time musicians in the 60s and 70s interspersing the story with song on about 7 or 8 historic banjos from his collection. naturally, at the end of the show, will needed to buy his book, 'the beautiful music all around us ... field recordings and the american experience'. more about that book at this link. while doing that, he struck up a conversation with stephen and his friend sandy, a banjo collector. next day, wouldn't you know, they showed up at the shop for a visit and to test out a few of will's banjos. great music, great banjos, and a great time was had by all ...
sandy, with a new one, hot off the press
and will plays a tune for stephen ..
see more photos of will's banjos and their construction on his seeders instruments instagram feed.
