Bluegrass Shack Student Ashley Heyen in the News!

One of our very own students, Ashley Heyen, was in the newspaper recently. I just wanted to share the clips with everyone. If you click on the photos, they will enlarge. Ashley won 2nd place in the Macoupin County Fair this year. Way to go, Ashley!!!!

Pictures from Fiddle Contest

The Hall's sent me a few pictures that they took at the fiddle contest on Sunday, July 22nd. If you have pictures that you would like me to post, please send them my way. I was too busy to take any myself, but would love to look at yours!

New Session - Beginning Banjo Backup

Just wanted to let everyone know that we are starting a new session for beginner banjo players. It meets every other Monday at 6:30 for one hour (or a little longer). This is for rank beginners. You need to know how to make the chords G, C, D7 and A. That's it! Here are the things we will cover:

Nashville Number System
Basic right-hand backup pattern
Variations to right-hand backup pattern
Moveable chord forms
Basic music theory as it pertains to bluegrass, folk & country
Tags & turn arounds
Fake breaks
Basic fill-in licks
Your questions and LOTS of playing

This is an entry level class. We practice everything together. It is very low key. Everyone will be making mistakes and learning new things together.

The cost is $10.00. No registration needed, just come. We will be meeting at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, August 20th, and then every other Monday after that. If you would like more information, send me an e-mail or give us a call at The Bluegrass Shack.

Black Bow Hair & Bow Storage

My order for black bow hair finally came in. Apparently, my order got lost, so I've been waiting for about a month. I had a customer who wanted the violin bow rehaired with black bow hair. Black bow hair is coarser than the white and bleached bow hair. Generally, it is used on cello and bass bows because the strings are larger and take more friction to make a sound. I think the black bow hair is also stronger because the individual hairs are slightly thicker. I rehaired two bows today -- one in the black and one in the bleached white hair. I had fun playing the black haired bow, and was switching back and forth between the two bows to hear and feel the difference.

If you have a bow that has real horsehair and you won't be playing for a while, be sure to loosen the bow hair and also store the bow in a plastic bag or in a case with mothballs. This will keep the carpet weevils out of your bow hair. Otherwise, you will open your case and find loose hairs all over the case and little insect larvae and/or shells all around inside the case.

New Musicians at Tuesday's Jam

Last night was another great jam session. We had several new musicians again, including Lil and three other young fiddlers. In fact, I think it was fiddle night here at the Shack, as we had Paige, Kaitlyn, Veronica, Chelsea and myself on fiddle! We had eight listeners who came just to enjoy the music, which is a bit larger than the usual number. Several of the regulars tried out some new songs, and our newcomers were not shy at all about sharing their talent. I think everyone truly enjoyed the evening -- I know I did!

Banjo Float in the New Athens Homecome Parade

Boy did we ever have a great time playing in the New Athens Homecoming Parade. I think we're probably all sick of "Duelin' Banjos" (if we weren't before), but the crowd loved it! For such a small town, I am amazed at the size of our parade. There were 60 entries in the parade, with a parade route of approximately one mile (I'm guessing).

First of all, I owe a big thank you to all who made this float possible. Terry Lewis painted his 21' flatbed trailer and loaned it to us for the parade. Terry Hill did all of the decorating, which included a real stuffed possom, coyote skins, old traps, washtubs, lanterns, a make-shift roof of old tin, and all kinds of other "cool" hillbilly stuff! Rodney Schilling was kind enough to loan us 10 bales of straw and a trailer to haul them in to get them here. Becky Hill drove the truck during the parade route. Mike Easton, Denny Hepp, Terry Hill, Bill Barttelbort and I know several others helped drag the PA equipment out of the Bluegrass Shack (immediately following the fiddle contest) and onto the truck and float. Bill & Zane helped lead our songs along with me on banjo. Our fellow banjo & guitar players and banjo player want-to-be's (using inflatable banjos) included Igg, David, Terry, Carie, Dillon, Angie, Jackie, Jim, Makayla, Charlie, Emily, Rosemary, Denny, Corrina, Nicole, Paige, and Marilyn. Earl sat at the helm and threw out candy, harmonicas, recorders, kazoos and plastic trumpets. Mike took pictures for us, and here are just a few:

Guitar Art Contest Winners

The winners of the guitar art contest were announced Sunday at the 2nd Annual Junior Fiddle Contest. Artists were required to decorate a posterboard guitar any way they desired, and the winners were chosen by various folks who came into the store and were asked to pick their favorites. Here are the results of the contest:

1st Place - Zoey Hill
2nd Place - Paige Johnson
3rd Place - Joy Winkeler
4th Place - Nicole Warnecke
5th Place - Mallory Warnecke

Congratulations to the winners, and thanks to all who participated! You made our waiting room a beautiful place!