this will surely make me famous

[mickey_one]

Manna - have you thought this 'fame' thing through? What will you do for your encore? Can you juggle?

no, but she can jiggle, which is better.

[damellon]

and were it true, undoubtedly more lucrative

[Manna]

Oh, I don't want fame. Well, not too much, anyway. A little fame might be fun, as long as I don't have to work for it.
I started my new job today, and I am pleased that it involves both juggling and jiggling.

~

Matj! You're the foxfire guy?! Woohoo! I remember a brief mention of the series some time ago, so I went a'looking, and it was when we were discussing whisk(e)y, and I drunk as a monk - remember? I didn't know you at all then. You said you made some 10 banjers, but then only accounted for 1 or 2. Does that mean you still have a few hanging around?

love
M

[Jimmy O'Connell]

This could be the start of.... Casablanca....

[mat james]

You said you made some 10 banjers, but then only accounted for 1 or 2. Does that mean you still have a few hanging around?

Manna.
Not many.
Once I managed to make the "sound" I was after, all motivation ceased. I'm hopeless that way!
I Have a couple left. They have different size heads. 6 inch and 8 inch.
I do love the plunky sound.
Your picking style was a treat to watch!
Matj.

[Paula]

Nice video Manna.

Click on the link for the banjo duet from Deliverance. One of my all time favourite film moments


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esl2NNOtHQE

[lizzytysh]

Hi Manna ~

I've been having such a great time listening to Wily Milo this weekend. For one thing, hearing your voice and your banjo and knowing it's you ! Another, listening to one of our own [American], rich, musical traditions. The feeling is so down home that I can smell the straw and see the brownish-gold lighting in a barn, where bare lightbulbs hang overhead... and I can feel the fresh air of the musicians sitting in scattered chairs around the remains of the campfire the night before, as they've returned to greeting the mid-morning, their cups of coffee at hand, with their music.

Some of the songs make me want to slap my knee to keep time. Not as a caricature of this type of music, but just because the configuration of the human body lends itself so naturally to, knee to palm/palm to knee, joining in the rhythm with exuberance.

It's all so natural. Your a capella is so distinctive with your true-to-form pronunciation and emphasis on particular words and phrases, and the way you wind your phrases to fit the meter. You carry the songs true. You tie each one up with a bow. The one seemingly meant to be with your husband in the kitchen is such a for-real sounding treat .

Yep. I'm enjoying the heck out of this and really thank you for it, Manna . I'm a mud-between-my-toes type, too... and regret the lack of mud where I live.


~ Lizzy

Ironic, as I walked away from the computer just now, to get my final cup of coffee and start getting ready to leave for an appointment, they mentioned Bela Fleck (banjo player) on NPR [fundraising time there] and had a snippet of him talking about music and what it means to him. They also mentioned that he's heard playing at least several times a week there in the close-outs of segments, and that he's someone who plays classical music with the banjo .

[Manna]

Hi Lizzy, glad you're enjoying it. I haven't listened to it in its intirety for a long time. The one about eating too many eggs is sung by Jodi with her husband, Howard. She also sings One Morning in May, I'm doing the harmony bit on the last verse. I sing Fox Hunt by myself, and I don't remember if My Native Home made the final cut. If it did, I think I'm singing melody. (Don't have a copy with me just now.) If it did, it's not our best version of that song. Later we had Jodi singing melody and I was on a third harmony. We eventually got it sounding pretty rich. Oh well. Someday I'll have to go back and learn some of the songs on this album. I really like how George Booker came out. I had to grow a couple extra arms for that one.

Jodi grew up in Alabama, so her accent is authentic. When she and I are ending a phone conversation, she always says, "Bah, nay-o."

[Red Poppy]

Thoroughly enjoying the CD Manna. Great stuff and thanks.
You both (women) were brave to pose in that state of undress for the inner cover photos!

[Manna]

Oh, not at all, we jusy Photoshopped our heads onto a coupla models' bodies. Easy peasy.

[lizzytysh]

Okay... I need to listen again. The kitchen one I thought was about apples... or at some point, it morphed into that, as I've not heard of eggs coming in bushels . I confess that I've been thinking it was you singing that song... "Best Old Man." The way it's printed with just first letters of your names and the commas, semi-colons, it can get a little difficult seeing who's singing/playing what. Okay, just listened and he does say "eggs" in the beginning. Yes... I think a bushel of eggs would be more likely to "kill ya" than a bushel of apples ... though, an apple-stuffed corpse would do the corn better than an egg-stuffed one. Too heavy on the sulphur with the latter.

I'm still imagining different scenes for all this. Wooden porches with various types of chairs and maybe a porch swing, and maybe a wrap-around porch. A kitchen table with people more or less around it. A living room with hardwood floors... some on a sofa and in an overstuffed chair; more chairs pulled in from other rooms. All very appealing scenes for get-together singing, which this kind of music really evokes. At least one old man musician, as I love old men musicians. They bring so much history, experience, and authenticity.

The more I listen to this, the better I like it, too . I had a friend about 10 years ago who talks like yours, you've phonetically nailed her speech, as well. I used to love just listening to her talk. So much warmth in her style.

Now back to the inner cover photos. Maybe I can get a poster made of it .


~ Lizzy