The 20th annual “Banjo Gathering"  Is now history. It was held at a great venue, the “Birthplace of Country Music Museum”. The Banjo Gathering started 20 years ago as a way for collectors to share information about recently found acquisitions and to trade stories amongst themselves. The group grew in size and started to include vendors, historians, and museum curators. The location changes yearly  with past meetings held in Williamsburg, Virginia, Baltimore, Maryland, Nashville, Tennessee, and even Rochester, New York. Many of the same members are there from year to year but this year, in particular, there were a lot of new young faces and builders.  There was considerable spirited debate and some of the topics were very provocative. These two things go hand-in-hand with passion and the banjo does somehow elicit passion. By the end of the weekend everyone had gotten their fill and were all smiles talking about next year’s meeting.

 I can’t say enough good things about the venue. This is a fairly new museum in the town of Bristol, Virginia which is on the border of Virginia and Tennessee. The Birthplace of Country Music Museum is an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution. It tells the story of the 1927 Bristol recordings sessions by the Carter Family, Jimmie Rodgers, Ernest V. Stoneman, and others.  The museum houses Radio Bristol Americana, Radio Bristol Classic, and an upcoming Video On Demand channel, making Radio Bristol a radio station and online music destination. 

Julie and I will be back in the store sometime on Monday with a load of banjos picked up at the Gathering.

Best regards,

John and Julie

Old friends and old banjos

A wonderful lecture by the "Different Strummer", Michael Wright on the relationship of the banjo to Hawaiian music!

Adam Hurt, Marcie Marxer, and Cathy FinK.

People came from all over the globe! 

Broadcasting from the Birthplace of Country Music.