![]() ![]() Learning to play banjo from Gerry, who is an infinitely patient and gifted teacher, enlivened the world of music for me in a way that my childhood years of dorking on the electric guitar never even approached. ![]() Whatever it was, I had the great fortune of learning to play banjo from Gerald Milnes, a nationally renowned folklorist, West Virginia historian, and consummate old-time fiddler, banjo player, guitarist, and singer who lived in the area and worked at my school. I don't know what planted the seed initially perhaps it was West Virginia's refreshing and definitive lack of concrete sprawl and low-flying military aircraft that was the hallmark of my hometown in Maryland maybe it was having my heart broken by the right girl at the right time or maybe it was a shift in perception that remains altogether intangible to this day. ![]() This is where I first became interested in old-time banjo & fiddle music. When I was 18 years old, I moved to West Virginia to attend a teeny-tiny college in Elkins, Randolph County. Local musicians playing for a square dance at our house in Elkins, WV Reflections on a Summer Spent Playing Old Time Music Perfect Sound Forever: Old Time (American) Music examined Searching for Truth in the Musical Crockpot of America: ![]()
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