A chip off the old Block

Summer of ’11 was great because of having our daughter Hanna around. Her enthusiasm for playing banjo inspired by Blue Ridge Mountain masters ie the old-timers, led Mac to play his fiddle with her several times one on one. Hanna’s ability to learn tunes quickly and play with a driving rhythm has been a mountain music fiddlin father’s dream come true.

We managed to get around together to some of the local summer music events together. Elk Creek Fiddler’s conventions continued to be a winner for Mac as a last minute entry in the band contest yielded a chance to put our music out into public. Trish Fore, a fine mountain style clawhammer player in her own right, was our band’s guitar player. She backed us up in her signature hard driving style that matched up with our basic ‘lick’ on fiddle and banjo. It was good enough to garner us a 3rd place win. An even bigger honor was to play for the flatfooting contest on Friday night. Grayson County and around the region is such a place that has such a deep rooted tradition of great music and dancing so reflected in the rural string music documented by folklorist who came to find the native music in the 60′s and 70′s. As one who learned to play banjo around the fine traditional dancers that frequented the public music venues of the region, Mac seems to have passed on his love for the regional ‘sound’ of his chosen home area to daughter, Hanna now 24.

August found us playing in a band called the Mountain Boomers for the Thursday night dance at the annual Clifftop Festival. Shay Garriock and Mac played twin fiddles with Hanna, banjo and Rory Mullennex, son of WVa banjo great Ron Mullenex on guitar along with Sam Linkous on bass. It was a memorable experience once again for father and daughter. A week later Hanna played in her first ever clawhammer banjo contest at the even more famous Galax Fiddler’s convention. A lively rendition of the Hobart Smith tune ‘Last Chance’ won her 8th place out of the 80 or so contestants and helped introduce her name as a likely ‘contender’ should she ever play in another contest.

The last music milestone was to get her to record a few ‘mountain’ banjo fiddle duets for posterity with her dad in a studio setting just before she left a few days later to begin a new life in the Pacific Northwest, ie: Seattle, Washington.

She says she’ll eventually settle back near us after she gets some things accomplished towards her career of becoming an upper level art teacher following a Master degree from UW. We’ll see.

Summer 2011

Summer has arrived and I will try and recap the last 6 months both musicially and non musically for us. There were a few jaunts at the Floyd Country Store playing for avid flat footers who carry on the tradition of moving to old-time music not just watching and listening. Mac gathers a few daring souls willing to play for such flatfoot dancers, slow dancers as well as listeners for 90 minutes. So a blend of fast tunes and slower country classic numbers are played for such purpose. Most recently Mac had his Blue Ridge Thunderbirds play at Mabry Mill on the Blue Ridge Parkway for tourist and dancers who happened by on a Sunday afternoon. We’ll be back again in October.

As for the Winter of 2011, in February we performed for a small crowd at the Front Porch Gallery owned by artist extroardinaire Willard Gayheart. It was a nice venue sponsored by Willard and son-in law Scott Freeman.
Appalachian Awareness Day at Radford University on a weekday involved us with Shay Garriock playing and explaining to students and others about our music and it sources as it related to the the Appalachian Region. I hope we helped with the understanding of why we sound the way we do.

Over the past months we have been participating in an all volunteer recording project for Floyd’s local country singer, Janet Turner. Several musicians from Floyd’s acoustic, bluegrass and old-time worlds laid down tracks to be mixed into a collection of songs sung by Janet. A virtual band of local pickers and singers will be heard backing up her youthful sounding voice in a big way. Release should be later this summer. Check the Floyd Country Store’s website in coming weeks as owners Woody and Jackie Crenshaw are backing the project recorded and mixed by Dave Fason of Floyd County.

In March, we were part of a special show at the Floyd Store featuring the music of two young women who have been making names for themselves. Elizabeth LaPrelle and Anna Roberts-Gevault are professional performers who appeal to all ages in their
use of a visual aid that they made themselves called a ‘Cranky’. It is a backlit box in which a scroll is mounted through which sillouets are moved as traditional tunes and songs are performed. We opened the show for them and participated in a final rousing version of ‘Keep on the Sunnyside.”

A Friday trip to Danville to perform for the Dan River Region Bluegrass association was long but worth the trip as the audience seems to love old songs and the way we do them. The last time we played for the DRR folks we had Shay Garriock with us but since he’s become such a busy music store owner and fiddle repairman we have gone back to our duo sound lately.

Our April appearance involved singing with Janet Turner at a Maundy Thursday service at the Methodist Church in Blacksburg where Reverend Reggie Tuck had us be a part of the service just before Easter. Reggie loves and supports old-time and gospel music and is a true fan.

Mac had a big gig in early June in Michigan as a clawhammer banjo instructor at the Midwest Banjo Camp near Lansing Michigan. Its was an intense weekend of workshops for banjo enthusiast of all levels and styles. The staff consisted of mostly full-time professionals and part-timers who were considered good pickers by their peers.

The following weekend we both were part of a long running festival in Whitesburg, Kentucky called Seedtime on the Cumberland. We got to hear some great music there.

Other wise we have been working on improving our farm to get set up for raising cattle and more flowers and vegetables.
Mac has made a couple of banjos and has more almost done as well cabinetry jobs to do. Another big part of Mac’s time has been building a pickin shelter in the Warren G Lineberry Park in the Town of Floyd. Too busy for our own good it seems.

More later so check back.

An eye for wood, an ear for tone

Floyd County banjo maker takes his time Crafting instruments the traditional way

By DON SIMMONS JR./Correspondent

Mac Traynham eyeballs two roughly shaped pieces of bird’s-eye maple like an archaeologist uncovering an ancient mythical artifact.

The wood’s quilted-looking grain stands out prominently as the afternoon sun light shines through a window in Traynham’s workshop in the Willis community of Floyd County.

Ices glazes over the small pond outside the shop. A deer makes his evening journey across a small pasture. It’s quiet and peaceful out here. It’s a feeling that flows from the landscape into the shop and out of Traynham.
The 53-year-old makes his modest living building cabinets, but his heart belongs to his banjos.
Traynham has been hand-crafting old-time banjos for about two decades and playing them even longer. He was nursed in the craft by some of the region’s most legendary instrument makers: Albert Hash and Wayne Henderson from Grayson County; Kyle Creed from Ferrum.

Traynham said he only makes three or four banjos a year. He likes to take his time to make sure the wood is right and matches perfectly rim to neck. He figures he spends around 40 hours per banjo. First, he laminates thinly shaven layers of maple for the rim. Then he chases down traditional nuts and bolts and trades his wood for the parts (old-time banjos use a couple dozen hooks, nuts and shoes to hold the skin tight rather than the less detailed flange units used on modern resonator banjos). Finally, he carefully sets the hand-shaped neck to the rim, eyeballing and playing each one for tone and volume.

“There are some folks around here set up to make a living making them,” Traynham said. “They have machines set up for each step in the process. That makes it a lot quicker, but I just like doing them the old way, taking my time.”

His banjos sell for around $1,500, but he makes his living working in square shapes (custom cabinetry). When it comes to banjos, though, he doesn’t like a lot of customized demands.

“I like to let them kind of come together on their own,” he said. “I also like to know they’re going to someone who loves the music and intends to play them.”

Hanging on the wall to one side of the upstairs part of his shop, a wall full of fiddler convention ribbons attest to Traynham’s own love of the music.

A Southside Virginia native who found his way to the mountains as a Virginia Tech student, Traynham and his brother played guitar and banjo in bands during high school, but it was at a Blacksburg crafts fair that he met Wayne Henderson and ended up asking Henderson to make him a guitar. It was the 31st guitar Henderson had ever made and Traynham loved it. And somewhere inside he must have known he could do similar work.

He and his new wife, Jenny, moved to Grayson Country for three years, listening, watching and learning the music and the craft.
“Albert Hash told me making fiddles was just finding a good piece of wood and carving away everything that didn’t look like a fiddle,” Traynham said in that vague way artists have of knowing but not quite being able to say exactly how their art comes to them.
But he isn’t stingy with his craft. He’s taken on several apprentices and taught many a banjo student.
“I usually have them on a kind of work-study program,” Traynham grins. “They chop wood or do other chores on the farm for a few hours then I teach them for a few hours.”

Wayne Henderson said Traynham’s instruments come out so good because of his mastery of the music. “He’s an incredible banjo player and that’s a lot of what makes him such a good banjo maker.”

New websites in the works

We finally have made a commitment to create new website for ourselves. It will be one that will cover all our various enterprises including Jenny’s paintings, her natural organic soup business, Spurlock Gardens, as well as Mac’s Custom Cabinetry, Banjos and more. You really didn’t think we made a living at playing music did you? We tend to be homebodies and only travel for a music gig when there’s a great opportunity. Otherwise, we are pecking away at something when not being lazy.

Check our calendar. We have a few things already in our local area.

However, its looking like we’ll be around home more this year. We have several outside projects that need finishing on our place including the rock spring house. That project has been shut down since early December with the early onset of Winter here in the Blue Ridge.

New fences are in order as Mac wants to be able to have cattle on our land again. Hopefully, we’ll have an early Spring and get back to these two projects in particular before the grass gets too long in May. We aim to produce ‘ gourmet’ Grassfed Beef and direct market to folks who appreciate the benefits of eating such a local product.

Mac has a couple of music camps coming up. He’ll be on the staff for the first time at the Midwest Banjo Camp held in early June in Michigan. He’s also going to be returning to Augusta Old-time week in late October as a advanced clawhammer banjo instructor. We’ll see what else comes up in the way of banjo playing or banjo making as the summer season approached.

Mac has already agreed to display a sample of his banjo work in the new Heartwood Artisan Gateway Center just off I-81 near Abingdon VA slated to open this Summer. He has several orders for his banjos to be completed by summer as well. One was recently sent to New Zealand and another to Georgia. A banjo website is in the works so check back in a few weeks for more info and the address.

later aligator

Thanksgving 2010

Thanksgiving found us here at our place in Floyd County this year. We had both our grown-up kids Ben 25 and his new wife Lisa and Hanna 22 and her boyfriend Dan share our 17 pound fresh free range turkey for a wonderful traditional family reunion. The beautiful weather continued. While the turkey was cooking Hanna and Dan helped out with the progress on the rock springhouse for our spring fed water system. Jenny and I started this back in early October when we had the area around the spring excavated by backhoe so we could proceed with the upgrade of the spring. This job has been needing to be done for years. Such a great watersource deserves a bit of protection from the elements. We hope to have a roof on it before 2011 weather permitting. Rocks of all sizes from our property and from our neighbor’s have been coming together to make a permanent fixture to our property. We can’t help but think that our efforts with the rocks could last forever.

After dark while the turkey was still cooking, a new Mac- banjo was born in the shop on Thanksgiving as well. Hanna and Dan helped out on this as well. They installed the tuners while I made a nut. Strings were put on and Hanna gave it a good try-out. She made it sound pretty good for the first tune on it.

This one is #53 and is bound for New Zealand. It has been in the works since I got the order back in the summer. Abie Horrocks will be the proud owner. This banjo is made of apple wood / birdseye maple and a black material made from recycled paper call “paperstone’.

Another one recently was ‘born’ but is staying close by. It is made of curly maple and paperstone for the fingerboard . It was made for Tom Deceasar who just turned 60. Such a milestone deserves a special gift. Tom’s wife, Mindy, was instrumental in getting me to complete the banjo on November 19th. When other shop work is slow, the banjo making gets more attention.

More banjos are in the works for other deserving people with milestone birthdays. Keep checking back for a progress report.

Fall 2010

Last Sunday PM October 10th was our last real gig for the season which was a hour long set on a small stage in the Roanoke Mt Campground on the Blue Ridge Parkway near Roanoke Virginia. We performed as a duo as we have done at this location for the past 4 years in October. It was at the end of a beautiful Fall day so there was a big crowd present with lawn chairs positioned for a mini-concert. Like a house concert we used no microphones and simply stood while we played to project our vocals better to those in the back of the crowd. One reason we especially like this gig is that folks really come to listen and see to really enjoy the music. There is always someone in the crowd we discover who has a link to a person or family whose music we are familiar with.

One year there was a relative of the awesome old-time musician Hobart Smith who was from Saltville, Va. Another year there was someone related to the musical Kimble family of Laurel Fork, Va. whose music we revere from our home area in the Blue Ridge. This year there was renown banjo picker Gene Parker who had toured and played with the local Franklin County bluegrass band, The Lost & Found. So we always feel great after doing our performance for people who have such a love and connection for the music and its traditions. So at home we are hard at work to get our place ready for anyone who may find us through the “Round the Mountain” program which features our home and crafts. We hope to have a nice website for anyone to visit and find out more about us as artist and farmers which is what we do more for a living than music. So keep checking us out here and we’ll mention it prominently when we have a better website that will encompass our music, banjo making, cabinetry, artwork and gardens. 2011 should be a big year for us here at home.

Minnesota Bluegrass and Old-time Music Association

MBOTMA is the acronym for the big festival that happens every August at a beautiful location west of the twin cities in the “Land of 10,000 lakes”. This was the 30th annual event for the organization of almost 100 bands or groups throughout the state. Having been booked for about 18 months in advance, the time came and we went and did our ‘Professional’ gig of the Decade. Shay Garriock met us there having flown from NC. Jenny and I elected to drive instead of flying so we could bring more of our instruments and comfortable. We spent the best part of two days driving completely through 5 states to get there.

We visited our music friends Doug and Jean Herr near Battleground IN the first evening. Along the way we saw hundreds of miles of cornfields and occasionally a modern wind mill farm of 50 to 100 units. With a big sky and rare sight of land forms, we got a feel for the effects the ice age on the topography of the mid-West by the time we got there.

The MBOTMA festival itself is on a large tract of land with facilities for RV campers complete with a bathhouse and large lake. It seems to be someone’s horse farm who happens to love string music and people. There were open fields with RV and trailer campers as well as wooded areas for so called ‘rough’ camping. The summer temperatures felt like the Deep South. On Thursday evening a tornado watch was issued making for some anxious excitement. Rain did come and soak the festival site ripping up the circus tent used for the showcase events. Unlike our last time playing at this festival in 1997 there were fortunately NO MOSQUITOS. The place had been sprayed a few days earlier. ugh.

We arrived a day early to be instructors in a one day music camp with folks who wanted detailed instruction on how to play old-time fiddle and clawhammer banjo. Although the turn out was small we loaded the participants up with lots of tunes from good old Southwest Virginia. We were hosted for a meal by the coordinators of the music camp: Doug Wells banjo and Katy Olsen – fiddle. We appreciate all they did to make it a success.
The duet singing showcase that we prepared for was canceled unfortunately. Our Friday evening performance on the mainstage just before dark was well received. The late afternoon sun lingered long on the summer evenings. We sold several CD’s which wound up paying for the gas we used on the trip. Our other main stage set was on Sunday afternoon in which we did all gospel songs from our large gospel song repetoire.

Among other things, I participated in a banjo builder’s demonstration on Saturday afternoon. Builders of banjo from both ends of the spectrum ( gourds with skin heads and fretless necks to super modern space age designs) were represented. My antique Victorian era -inspired designs fell some where between which made for an interesting contrast. Many questions were asked and answered by all three of us who participated. I brought a work in progress which helped demonstrate my method of building better than just a working model did.

Shay Garriock and I participated in an old-time fiddle showcase along with Garry Harrison, Bruce Molsky, and Rafe Stefanini.
We played tunes from our various influences. We did our best to represent the Blue Ridge area of Southwest Virginia’s under- recognized traditions of old-time fiddling.

Shay caught a flight early on Sunday having elected not to ride with us due to time factors and logistics.
Jenny and I spread our return trip over 3 days taking a slightly different route which led us into the backwoods of Ohio.
We were awed by the major rivers we encountered on the whole trip including the Kanawha, the Ohio, the Scioti, and even the Mississippi. We saw so much of America as we passed through that was rural but not Appalachian. The low elevation, high heat and humidity and the serious lack of mountains and forest help kindle a new appreciation for our home in Floyd County. If you read this you are invited to stop by sometime and check us out. Let us hear from you!!!

Swanannoa Gathering 2010

Wow! We just returned from a SUPER gig The Swanannoa Gathering held annually at Warren Wilson College near Asheville NC. Our daughter Hanna went with us and assisted in beginning level banjo class as well as playing for a flatfooting class. She made lots of new friends and started to get recognition for her fiery clawhammer banjo style. For just two years of learning and playing around her current homebase of Harrisonburg Va., Hanna is a dynamic force and has helped start up a couple of regular jams in the area. Of course, we love to play the old mountain tunes with ourselves on fiddle and guitar with her on banjo. We have already made it to you-tube. We hope to be active with her when we can but we just aren’t next door so its tough.

Shay Garriock also had never been to Swanannoa Gathering before and had the duty of teaching two levels of old-time fiddle. He impressed many people with his style of fiddling rooted in Southwest Virginia. We had a great concert experience although only a 10 minute set before the 300 or so participants. It was good practice for our next super gig as a trio at the MBOTMA festival in Minnesota in a couple of more weeks. I will write about it when we get back so check back!

Swanannoa was a great getaway for us as we had been working so hard in our other professional lives of gardening and cabinet making.
We got to reconnect with and know better several old-time musicians of our generation many of whom we go back with to the 70′s and 80′s when we were Hanna’s age (mid 20′s). Jenny and I had a great duet singing class with 20 participants. We taught several songs including some that we have wanted to perform but never had quite worked up to that point.
I had a great level 3 banjo class with players who were quick and even in their playing ability. I was able to challenge them with some great tunes and tunings from the mountain traditions I so dearly love. Jenny was challenged as a teacher with an afternoon Level 1 guitar class with a wide range of abilities. I helped her out as she taught the students how to make simple transiton runs as one keeps time and changes chords in the course of backing up a song or tune. It was tough but we felt
like we made good progress. What one makes of these courses at a music camp is up to them. Recording devices are vital and developing a love for the music of old masters is essential.

The evenings were filled with concerts by all the instructors, square dances, and late night jamming. There was an open mike for anyone who wanted to perform a song in the honky-tonk style backed by a live honky tonk band.
All in all it was a great work party. We should be fully recovered soon.

Spring music Tonic

Our daughter Hanna has become a force in the OT scene around Harrisonburg, Va playing her banjo and hosting a regular potluck jam at her place. We managed to attend one around the end of March as we were on our way to Ontario for a visit with Jenny’s family. We took Hanna (and her banjo) for a week to the annual Maple syrup gathering where we had a bit of a reunion with family and friends. We were able played some tunes for one of the celebrations are are now posted somewhere on you-tube playing an old tune from our local area called Merry Mountain Hoedown.

After returning from the visit in Ontario on April 6, we came back to a vibrant Spring season at our Floyd County home. Of course, there are lots of projects to keep us busy and we’ve been working through an extensive list of mostly garden-related preparations and early planting. Getting potatoes in on Good Friday was a positive thing according to the old-timers and we managed to really do it this year.

Musically, we have been a bit inactive as a duet. Mac, of course, has attended several jams including monthly one at the Appalshop in Whitesburg KY and the weekly one at the Stringbean Cafe in Galax VA. He has played regularly at the Floyd Country Store’s Friday Nite Jamboree this winter with various configurations of friends at different times. As for the future Jenny and Mac along with fiddler Shay Garriock are gearing up for some decent summer gigs in near and faraway places. see the updated calendar.

This past weekend we along with fellow Floyd musician, Tina Liza Jones, hosted a special concert of our peers from the traditional music world. Eric and Suzy Thompson from Berkeley California came to Floyd to be our guest at the wonderful space in Zion Lutheran Church. They are longtime professionals in the west coast music world and drew a decent crowd of live music supporters who the thoroughly entertained with their repetoire of roots music. Mac. unfortunately, had to miss the show since his band, The Mountain Boomers, were scheduled to play for the monthly dance at the Floyd Country Store. Several concert goers including Eric and Suzy came to catch the final set of mountain dance tunes and old songs that are the mainstay of any good dance band. The enthusiastic crowd stayed to the bitter end. Musicians in the band include Shay Garriock with whom Mac twin fiddles, Trish Fore on clawhammer banjo, Chester Macmillian on guitar, and Sam Linkous on bass. The after party at our place went on til 2:30 AM.

On the weekend of May 1 , Mac and Shay are scheduled to conduct workshops in Old-time banjo and fiddle near New York City. Jenny will stay home to tend to plants and animals while they go have a blast and get some perspective on life in a northern city area. It should be a fun to see our music buddies who we’ve met at the local fiddler’s conventions who live up that way.

Enough for now but there’ll be more to come so please come back…

Waiting for Spring

While waiting for Spring Jenny and I have gotten plenty of exercise shoveling snow on a regular basis. We had a house concert scheduled for us and Shay Garriock in the DC area that got cancelled due to the record snow that still haunts the area. Several other events featuring music of related genre were cancelled on weekend previous to and the one after February 13th when we scheduled. Oh well, there’s always a chance of something weather related coming in to dominate the situation to the point of changing plans. We have been spoiled by several mild snowless winters but we never heard about El Nino’s eminent return this year. If I would have read and heeded the farmer’s almanac (which apparently was right on) then I wouldn’t have had to cut more firewood to make it through the winter. Hind sight can make one feel stupid. Musically, February may turn out a couple of gigs after all. Jenny and I haven’t done a restaurant gig in a long while but are scheduled to do a 3 hour time slot at a Giles county establishment called the Pallisades restaurant on the banks of the New River in downtown Eggleston. This place has been featuring live music on the weekends for the customers. Sunday nights have been featuring old-time music from a young group called Old Sledge who are unavailable and offered us to do the gig in their place. So we agreed to help out. It should chance to play some of our old and new repetoire. Check us out if you can.

We are also scheduled to play the following Friday Feb 26th in historic Chatham Virginia for the Dan River Region Bluegrass Music association. Shay will join us in some stringband numbers. The crowd that we played for in 2007 was very receptive and seem to understand the roots of Bluegrass music. NPR radio host of ‘Back to the BlueRidge’ on WVTF , Kinney Rorrer, has been associated with that group and for many years in the Danville, Virginia area.

In the meantime, I have played for dancers at the Floyd Country Store which seems to always get a crowd on the coldest nights. I will fiddle with a bunch of seasoned Galax players on Feb 19th and expect it to be a fun and easy time. Timing is everything as the saying goes.

’09 ends with a Georgia/Florida tour

We recently returned from a musical excursion to the Deep South following a long break from our late July trip to Morehead Old-time Festival near Morehead, Kentucky. Mac managed to get to a bunch of the late summer festivals and fiddler’s conventions like Clifftop in West Virginia, the Galax Fiddler’s Convention and the Fries Fiddler’s Convention. We met up with our daughter Hanna and had a fun jam with her at the Rockbridge Festival near Buena Vista in September. Mac also was a beginning Clawhammer banjo instructor at the annual Augusta October Old-Time Week in Elkins, West Virginia.

So with some advanced planning we left for the South on Dec 2 and arrived at our old bass player friend Dick Daniels’ place outside of Athens Georgia. We had not see him or his wife Mary in almost 30 years. He had played with Mac a couple of local bluegrass and old-time bands based in Blacksburg, Va in the late 1970′s. We had fell out of touch, however, in recent times Dick had found out about Mac’s banjos on-line and was interested in purchasing one. The wonderful ability to send photos help with his decision having seen some photos Mac sent of a recent one made of beautiful Canadian birdseye Maple. Being a wonderful bass player and overall music supporter he and Mary decided to fufill a dream to create a music venue where they could feature acoustic music for the general public. In recent months they had purchased an old country store building with a house attached in their rural community east of Athens. They named the place the ‘Doghouse’ for a variety of reasons. Checkout their website . Our professional trip to the Suwannee Old-time music weekend as well as the banjo delivery to Dick prompted us to set up a house concert at the “Doghouse’ on our way to Florida. This was also a great way to break up our trip and to share our music with old friends and new folks in Georgia.

We arrived at our destination in White Springs,Florida late afternoon on Dec 3 only to find it overcast and cool in the mid 40′s. We met up with our fiddling buddy Shay Garriock and his wife Leslie who had traveled from central North Carolina with featured former Florida musicians Dwight Rogers and Gail Gillespie. Our contact person, Tampa area DJ , Jim Strickland, met us and got us settled in to a cabin on the grounds of the Stephen Foster Folk Cultural Center operated by the Florida State Parks. The Florida Folk Festival has been held there annually in the Spring for over 50 years. There is a Southern Mansion set up as a museum to honor the famous northern songwriter Stephen Foster.

The camp didn’t officially start until 2 PM on Friday so we got to explore around the famous Suwannee River itself before having to be ‘on the job’. We were to teach advanced classes in detail focusing on our local Blue Ridge Style of old-time fiddling, banjo and guitar playing and singing. The camp was small in attendence yet we were busy with public performances on Friday nite by some of Florida’s best Old-time musicians.
Our trio with Shay was featured on Saturday night along with some other Florida masters. We had a great time and got a lot of pleasure playing for an enthusiastic audience. Both evenings following the performances there was jamming at the local Telford Hotel. The Telford is a classic Southern Hotel with a wonderful buffet type dining room where some participants stayed. It was built in the 1800′s with an elegant decor for wealthy folks to stay at while visiting the actual natural mineral spring nearby.

Following our last classes on Sunday we left heading South to experience some of the ‘real’ Florida in the way of a canoe trip at a place called Ichatucknee Springs. We highly recommend folks experience this place for themselves. It was an amazing confluence of natural spring waters into a flowing stream through a natural area brimming with wildlife and Spanish Moss with no effort made other than to take photos and guide the canoe around natural obstructions. It was still a cool time with temperatures still in the low 50′s at best. We headed back that evening and arrived home on Dec8 following an overnight visit with Jenny’s cousin Dan Walden in Covington Georgia. We drove all day in the rain arriving home to an ice storm which took out a couple of our best trees near our house by morning. Somehow we failed to find the Sweet Sunny South on our trip and yearn to go back in late Winter but probably won’t this winter.

Thanks for visiting this blog

Fall 09

Late Summer 09 found Mac playing independently at several of the local fiddler’s convention. We live in great location for his old-time music addiction. Over the past couple of months several custom banjo orders were filled and other new banjos were produced and sold as well. Not bad for a secret banjo maker/player who keeps trying to top the sound of the last one. Jenny put lots of effort into her gardens and flower bed.

In late August, we hosted a gathering of local long-time women musicians, most of whom are in their 70′s 80′s and 90′s. These women are still active players of old-time and country music and included Sue Edmonds, Irene Harris, Chloe Bishop,
Rhoda Kemp, Iva Sue Stillwell and Janet Turner. It was time full of great memories as well as great songs by these lifelong dedicated folks most of whom began when they were children.

Following a late September trip to Ontario where we played for a family member’s wedding reception,
October finds us gearing up for some upcoming events both local and on the road. Roanoke Mountain Campground near the Blue Ridge Parkway is always a nice venue for an intimate 5 PM concert with local music lovers. We hope the Indian summer temperatures hold and the rain comes another afternoon.

After an October 17th dance at the Floyd Country Store with Mac’s all-star group The Mountain Boomers, he will head to Augusta Heritage Center in Elkins, West VA to teach banjo at October Old-Time week beginning October 25th.

We also are supporting the effort of a group of Floyd concerned citizens known as SustainFloyd by participating in a October 24th concert at the Floyd Country Store to help raise awareness of the environment and the dangerous levels of CO2 in the atmosphere presently.
350.org is a website for more info on that serious issue that we are pushing to get addressed by world leaders.

‘Fiddlin’ Shay Garriock has been performing with us as of late following the release of the acclaimed CD ‘Turkey in the Mountain’ . For more info visit macandshaycd.homestead.com . We have a couple of road trips involving the 3 of us first to the Northern Virginia area where we will conduct a day long workshop for those interested in old-time fiddle and clawhammer banjo followed by an evening house concert. Thanks to our good friend and DJ Hubie King for hosting us. Hubie will conduct an interview with us to be aired later on his radio show at WAMU in Washington DC. I may post more about this after it gets recorded.

Our second road trip is Dec 2 -6 to Northern Florida to be the guest artist at the 5th annual Suwanee Old-time Music weekend held at the Stephen Foster Folk Culture State Park in White Springs. We will be conducting advanced workshops and perfomances for the attendees as well as the public. On the way down we hope to do a small house concert in Athens Georgia as well, hosted by our old friend Dick Daniels.

Thanks for your interest in our happenings. Keeping updated is a challenge. For more information please Check out myspace.com/macandjennytraynham

Summer 09 Rolls on

Upon my return from the Appalachia Stringband Festival at the George Washington Carver facility near Clifftop West Virginia
I am getting ready to deliver 3 new banjos to 3 patient local players who ordered them from me since last Fall. The Galax Fiddler’s convention time was to be my deadline for completion. So far so good, although I still have hours of set up time and tweaking to do before delivery.

I find that banjo making is enjoyable as long as I can make them to suit me as I have my particular basic style set after 25 years. I sold one at the Clifftop festival to a banjo junkie last summer and another one to the same guy in January. The one I had with me this year was admired by many people but I had someone committing to buying it before I left Floyd last Friday. The folks who made these custom orders I am now finishing were respectful my style choices generally. The banjos are alike in their construction and set up yet they vary slightly in their appearance. However, one is left-handed and another has the request of a pearl inlay of the state symbol of the South Carolina ie, quarter moon over the palmetto tree. I found that inlay job to be a challenge over the simple stars , dots, and diamonds which don’t involve much labor to cut and inlay. Cutting out and inlaying the palmetto tree allowed me to practice some engraving technique for which I am a beginner. It is for Amy Boucher, banjo player for the Buck Mountain Band and wife of our 9th district Congressman.

Since Spring 09, I have been deemed a master banjo builder and have been working with an apprentice through the Virgina Foundation for the Humanities apprenticeship program. My apprentice, Bob Browder, and I are each building a banjo out of some amazing birdseye maple heartwood. Upon completion by the Spring 2010, I hope to have a beautiful natural birdseye maple 12″ open back banjo decorated with some engraved classic pearl inlays and a ‘Whyte Laydie’ tone system. It has my name on it for me to keep (assuming it has a better tone than the ‘Little Wonder’ one I play now). Whyte Laydie and Little Wonder are names for the metallic part of the banjo just under the head on top of the wooden hoop. Each has a design difference and a specific patent as well as a track record for a great tone since their invention in the early 20th century. They are forever associated with the famous Vega banjo company. I have other types of ‘tone rings’ that I find work very well and cost less to make and install which helps to keep the overall cost lower.

Music wise, since last the post Jenny and I performed in July recently at a small revival at the Indian Valley Presbyterian Church. We were honored to have Janet Turner sing some trios with us. We love her honest and youthful sound so much.
Fiddler Shay Garriock joined us a few nights later for our perfomance at the Oak Grove Pavillion
behind Zion Lutheran Church in the town of Floyd. We got great responses and saw many people who we had not seen in years. The next weekend found us on the road out to Morehead Kentucky for a nice old-time fiddler’s convention that hired us to be a performing band for a set on Saturday night just before the band finals. We met many nice people and heard a lot of great music by the young Kentucky musicians who are proud of their area’s musical heritage. We were not at Floydfest as the Floyd Press mistakenly said so I hope they get it right next time. We don’t have anything else until Fall and I’ll post again by then. Thanks for your support.