Late December 2009/early January 2010
Hi friends,
All the best from my family to yours for the Christmas holidays and the New Year! Megan and I hit the road early in January to make two new instructional videos for AcuTab Publications in Virginia. We'll be shooting a band/jamming DVD project with Tim Stafford, Adam Steffey and David Thomas and then I'll be recording a "Working Up Solos" for bluegrass banjo. From there, I'll head to the annual meeting of prewar flathead Gibson banjo owners in Knoxville, before getting ready for two weeks of teaching and concerts in the Northwest (Oregon and Washington).
You'll find complete details on all of our shows and workshops at the new Bill Evans and Megan Lynch website and also on the Schedule link at this website. There's pictures, video, music and more at the new BEML page, so be sure and check that out when you can!
Once again I'll be co-teaching with Ran Bush a new six-week Introduction to Bluegrass Jamming class at the Freight and Salvage on Tuesday nights that will run from January 5 to February 23, 7:30 to 9 p.m. This class is open to new and intermediate players on all instruments and singers who want to have fun successfully making music with others. Email andrea@freightandsalvage.org for more information and to register or phone 510-644-2020 ext. 127.
I've been playing my new Bill Evans / Kel Kroydon signature model banjo from the American Made Banjo Company all over the country and folks like Pete Wernick, Bill Keith and many others are loving the sound and playability of this instrument. The Kel Kroydon Bill Evans banjo is patterned after the classic gold and maple flathead banjos of the pre-World War II era and features a 20-hole Dannick tone ring, a Cox rim and a neck made by master Nashville builder Robin Smith. I've recorded five solo banjo tracks that you can check out online and you can also see me playing this banjo in concert with Megan Lynch by visiting this YouTube link. Check it out!
I've also recently been playing on stage my new Gold Tone cello banjo. I've got it strung seven frets below a normal banjo tuning, so it sounds real, real LOW. Iit's great for songs like "Old Dog" and "I Was Just Thinking." Thanks to Wayne and Robyn Rogers at Gold Tone for supplying me with such a fantastic instrument!
I want to thank everyone who traveled to Nashville to be a part of this year's NashCamp Sonny Osborne Fall Banjo Retreat. A huge thanks to our great teaching staff: Bill Emerson, Alan Munde, Ned Luberecki, Tom Adams, Sonny Osborne, Frank Neat and yours truly. I think the 2009 camp might have been our best ever but we're already making plans for our 10th anniversary camp, to be held October 15-17 in Fairview, Tennessee.
Have you had the chance to check out the new Bill Evans and Megan Lynch CD let's do something... yet? We're really proud of this project. You can sample full tracks by visiting the BEML MySpace page. We hope you enjoy this music! If you'd like to get your very own copy, please consider buying directly from the Artists by visiting the Native and Fine webstore. This CD is also available at iTunes, CD Baby, Rhapsody, Amazon as well as at your local CD store.
Next time you're checking out YouTube videos, please take a moment to check out my YouTube channel, featuring six different banjo performances, ranging from African akonting music to 19th century minstrelsy, an early 20th century classic banjo tune, "Fireball Mail" and my new tune "The Distance Between Two Points."
Banjo For Dummies has quickly become the best selling banjo instructional book worldwide. This is hard for me to believe but thank you all for your support of this project. This 320 page book and CD set offers something for everyone: not only basic instruction in clawhammer and bluegrass banjo technique but also sections on minstrel, classic, Scruggs, single-string and melodic banjo. There's a buyer's guide, over 120 photos and diagrams and an accompanying CD that includes all 130 musical examples and 19 songs. Best of all, it's a Dummies book! It's fun to read, easy to understand and packed full of great information, including how to play with good left and right hand technique, understanding how to play a song, surviving your first jam session and much, much more.You can learn more about Banjo For Dummies as well as download pdf files of the table of contents, a sample chapter, the Dummies banjo "Cheat Sheet" and a Dummies cartoon by clicking here. Also, check out the November issue of Banjo Newsletter magazine for Tom Adams' review of the book.
You can purchase a signed copy directly from me by clicking here (and get a free Banjo For Dummies keychain!) or find a copy at your local bookstore.
My new Mel Bay book co-written with Dix Bruce, Parking Lot Picker's Songbook: Banjo Edition has also received an unbelievable response and is already in its second printing. This 304 page book has over 225 bluegrass and old-time songs and includes two CDs where you can hear Dix and I perform each and every song. Each song's melody is presented in conventional music notation and easy to read banjo tablature, with chord progressions and complete lyrics. You can work up your own version using the CD and the printed music together. An introductory essay prepares you for your next jam session by discussing transposing of chord progressions and melodies and how to find theright key for male and female singers and there are over 40 great photos of many current day banjo heroes. Songs include "Rocky Top," "Little Maggie," "Nine Pound Hammer" and many, many others (like 223 others!!). To hear a CD sample track, click here. To view a page sample, click here.
The Native and Fine Music webstore is now also selling the companion guitarvolume, Mel Bay's Parking Lot Picker's Songbook: Guitar Edition by Dix Bruce. Each book has the same repertoire, played in the same key. Instead ofbanjo tab for the melody, the Guitar Edition presents the melody in six string guitar tab and conventional music notation.
My good friend Tom Mirisola has got a great thing going with his manufacture of his American Made Banjo Company strings. These strings are "cryogenically treated," meaning that they are subjected to very, very cold temperatures. These strings sound great and last a very, very long time. Tom has recently created a number of signature sets, including one with my nameon them. Thanks Tom - this is a great honor! The Bill Evans signature set has string gauges of 10, 11, 13, 20JD and 10 - just right for great bluegrassplaying as well as more progressive styles.
The best news about all of this is that Tom has come up with the Signature Artist Charity Program. A portion of the proceeds from each set of strings benefits the charity of the artist's choice. In my case, all of my proceeds are going to support the Children's Tumor Foundation, the group that supports research on neurofibromatosis. I profit in no way from the sale of these strings - but I'm excited to help fund research on NF.
Keep music a part of your life and I hope to catch up with you soon. I wish you and your loved ones all the best.
Sincerely,
Bill Evans
December 2009 / January 2010
Download a track from "Bill Evans Plays Banjo" now!
Click on the title to download an MP3 of "Germaine's Dream" (3660 KB), a track from Bill Evans Plays Banjo on Native and Fine Records. The players on this cut are Bill Evans, banjo; Darol Anger: harmony fiddles, second and fourth solos; Greg Spatz: fiddle, first and third solos; John Reischman: mandolin; Rob Ickes: dobro; Jim Nunally: guitar; Missy Raines: bass. Recorded at Jim Nunally's, Crockett, CA, February, 2001. Written by Bill Evans. Published by Fifth Child Music, BMI. All rights reserved.
If you are a bluegrass, folk or Americana DJ and interested in receiving a copy of this project, e-mail me by clicking here.
I hope you enjoy this triple-fiddle romp featuring Darol Anger and Spokane, Washington fiddler Greg Spatz from John Reischman and the Jaybirds. I dreamt this tune on a Saturday night, right down to the individual notes of the banjo break and was lucky to have some time early on the Sunday morning to lay it all out. Enjoy! Bill.