Posts Tagged ‘banjo to beatbox’
Black Banjo Gathering, Tenor Guitars
BLACK BANJO GATHERING-April 24-26
As banjo players, banjo lovers and banjo-aholics, we attended the Black Banjo Gathering Reunion in Boone, NC. Five years ago, a large handful of banjo players and folklorists gathered to explore, discuss and and discover mutual interest in the early African roots of the banjo. The Carolina Chocolate Drops, now a major label touring group, met each other there and decided to start a band. We really enjoyed visiting with them and with Greg Adams, David Holt and a slew of cool new friends, young and old. We hope there may be annual gatherings in the future.
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- Marcy & Corey Harris
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- Black Banjo Gathering
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- Songwriters
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- Luthiers @ National Steel Guitar Co.
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- Cheick Hamala Diabate-plays NGONI from Mali
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- Cigar Box Akonting (a banjo-like instrument of the Jola people) made by Clark Buehling at BBG
AND THEN-off to California. One of the highlights was a trip to the NATIONAL STEEL GUITAR COMPANY. Marcy met Don from National at the NAMM convention while she wowed the crowd at the Martin Guitar booth player “Little Ginger”, a vintage mahagony tenor (4 string). Don invited us to the National headquarters and we spent an energizing day playing EVERYTHING from steel ukes to steel mandolins and all kinds of guitars. She came home with a prototype steel tenor guitar-it’ll go back to National eventually with her ideas on setup. It was so cool to tour the factory and see how the instruments are made-bending the steel, creating the cones, building necks, fancy inlay and engraving. We loved every minute of it and gave the staff a concert on the instruments they made.
We threw in a photo of Cathy’s Songwriting Class at the Writers Center in Bethesda, MD with special guest for the last class, Tom Paxton. The students were inspiring and we look forward to another series of classes in the fall.
And, if you made it this far,we spent a day in Palm Springs, CA, where we experienced the earthquake on Easter Sunday. 7.2 shook the houses, made the water in the pool splash, swung the chandelier, and luckily, did no more local damage than a big scare. We know how lucky we are and if you are still active in helping out victims of the devastating quake in Haiti, CLICK HERE
ALOHA SNOWSTORM
Aloha Snowstorm!
Click on each photo for larger version
ALOHA In the Hawaiian language means affection, love, peace, compassion and mercy. Since the middle of the 19th century, it also has come to be used as an English greeting to say goodbye and hello.(wikipedia.org)
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- Flowering Tree in Wailuku
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- Stonefish
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- Hula Brand Ice Cream
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- Sunset @ Beach
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- Volcano
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- Marcy & Ginger Johnson
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- Nene Crossing
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- Groovy sign
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- Aloha Santa
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- Auntie Emma’s 80th Birthday
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- Relax!
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- Hula Honeys @ Hana Hou
While the east coast was getting slammed with 30+ inches of snow, we went directly from the GRAMMY Awards to the land of sun, sand, whales & Aloha – Hawaii. We spent lots of time in the music community-taking in a Slack Key Guitar concert with George Kahumoku and Ledward Kaapana, writing songs and jamming on ukuleles, guitars and harmony singing for hours and hours with Ginger Johnson and Robyn Kneubuhl of the Hula Honeys, visiting Keola and Moana Beamer (gorgeous slack key guitar and hula dancing), meeting songwriter/producer Melinda Caroll (who has compiled lots of CDs of Girl Scout Songs) and even meeting up with our local friend, Paul Reissler of Kid Pan Alley. We’ve got lots of ideas for a recording and brought home plenty of new material to work on.
Cathy took her first Hula lesson and is hooked-now looking up where to take classes in Maryland. Marcy taught Ginger of the Hula Honeys some CELLO BANJO and left one behind so Ginger could practice.
Meantime, we saw humpback whales up close and personal! Right now, the locals call it “Whale Soup”, not cause we’re gonna eat them (Cathy is still very vegetarian), but because the ocean is FULL of whales. We took a Pacific Ocean Foundation whale watching boat and marveled at 45 solid minutes of a boat side visitor-a baby whale (only 2 tons), playing with us. Then some star gazing, volcano trails, snorkeling, and a visit to a fabulous aquarium.
Whale MovieCLICK TO SEE WHALE MOVIE
Cathy lived in Winnipeg, Manitoba for 5 years and Marcy in Michigan for more than 15, so we apparently had already survived enough monstrous snow storms. As big as this was, neither Winnipeg or Michigan would have closed down. But, we’re shoveling now-both through the mail and the snow.
GRAMMY Stories, Taylor Swift & More
It was a whirlwind weekend for the GRAMMY Awards. We started Saturday, Jan. 31 with a networking breakfast @ 8:30am with nearly 100 folks involved in children’s music. The more the merrier! Then Cathy, Marcy & Chris Bacon were part of a Children’s Music nominees concert at the GRAMMY Museum. Standing room only created a special feeling and we were honored to perform with our fellow nominees. Later, at the Lifetime Achievement Awards, we saw Thomas Edison’s GREAT grandchildren accept an award. WOW! WOW! Real descendants of this inventor genius who’s phonograph and 1000+ patents changed much of the course of history. Banjo to Beatbox Team: Charlie Pilzer, Trevor, Cathy, Marcy, Christylez @ GRAMMY Museum
Sunday, the pre-telecast event gave out 100 awards. And the winner is…….Ziggy Marley in the children’s music category.
Saw friends Bela Fleck, Sharon Isbin and quirky Loudon Wainwright win (High, Wide & Handsome).
MEANTIME, my nephew asked me to get Taylor Swift’s autograph. Nine year old Laila, part of our entourage, also had that in mind. So, when a friend pointed Taylor out in the crowd, we headed her way to request the autographs. We were stopped by her body guard who told us we couldn’t go near Ms. Swift. I said, “This nine year old simply wants an autograph. Are you gonna break the heart of a little girl?” He said, “There’s lots of little girls in the world.” I reminded him this was the price of fame and Taylor was more than happy to sign 2 autographs for us, JUST before winning her first GRAMMY and becoming the big winner that evening.
If you saw the TV show, just know that we saw it LIVE-along with 14,000 of our closest friends at the Staples Center. We were touched that our friend Mike Seeger’s name and picture were amongst the group the academy said goodby to this year.
At the GRAMMY party, Chris Bacon and his date led the dance floor in some cool SE DC line dancing moves. A few hours later, we were headed to the airport for Maui to work on a new cross cultural CD with our friends Ginger and Robyn of the Hula Honeys.
Long as we’re making music and life is interesting and we think we can make people happy, or thoughtful, or both, we’ll keep on doin’ it. Aloha for now.
Cathy & Marcy
Happy New Year- Cathy & Marcy’s 2009 in Review
Out with the old, in with the new. But how did we spend 2009? It’s amazingly difficult to choose 1 highlight per month but it beats writing a whole book, so here we go:
JANUARY: We performed at the Smithsonian’s American Indian Museum the day before Obama’s inauguration in a pre-inaugural multi-cultural party.
Marcy produced a CD by Kellie Allen & Pete Peterson
FEBRUARY- At the GRAMMY Awards we announced about 20 awards, handed the GRAMMY to 2 friends (Bill Harley and Art Rosenbaum) and Cathy had her photo taken with Paul McCartney, REALLY.
MARCH- We launch the Brownie Troop of Kensington, MD Ukulele Orchestra
APRIL- BANJO TO BEATBOX plays Philly kids fest and CD is released on our SongShop™ label
MAY- Can’t do just 1. Birchmere Mother’s Day show with Deborah Tannen (NY Times Best selling author), Peggy Seeger & the dynamic duo AND
While in Maui for business (ha, ha, ha) we meet the HULA HONEYS, jam for days on end with them and vow to produce their next CD
Film JUBILATION MUSIC VIDEO
JUNE- Perform tribute to ELLA JENKINS at Smithsonian Folklife Festival’s Ralph Rinzler Memorial Concert
JULY- gotta do 4
*Old time Banjo Festival at the Birchmere includes Cathy & Marcy, Bruce Molsky, Mike Seeger, Adam Hurt, The Old 78′s- Mike’s last Washington DC performance
*Ukulele Festival- James Hill, Victoria Vox, Cathy, Marcy, local friends & 3 uke orchestras-WOW
*Wolf Trap Theater in the Woods w/ Chris Bacon & BANJO TO BEATBOX
*Kennedy Center Millenium Stage w/ James Hill & Adam Hurt
AUGUST- Clifftop Appalachian String Band Festival gives a chance to chill & play old time music with friends from all over the country. BUT, we lost good friend and old time music torch bearer Mike Seeger to cancer. 
September- Record 2 DVD’s (Meet the Instruments) and a CD (Michele Valeri’s “Little Ditties for Itty Bitties”) for our SONGSHOP™ label. February releases.
October- Favorite show was the Tribute to Utah Phillips celebrating the 2 CD set, “Singing Through The Hard Times” honoring his music & raising $ for the homeless shelter he helped build.
NOVEMBER- The dynamic duo sold 110 ukuleles to pre-school teachers at the National Association for the Education of Young Children Conference in Washington DC, plus plenty of C&M CD’s & DVD’s, but most importantly, loved hanging out with pre-school teachers and teaching ukulele at our booth. 2 chords makes you ready to sing 100 songs! 3 chords=500+ songs
DECEMBER- gotta mention a few
*BANJO TO BEATBOX becomes our 14th consecutive GRAMMY nominated CD, for Best Musical Recording for Children
*24th Annual Winter Family concert including Scottish fiddle virtuoso Bonnie Rideout and the Rockville High School Bagpipe Band. Some families bring 3 generations of Cathy & Marcy fans
*Then a memorial & music party in honor of Mike Seeger
Then- Marcy’s mom has major surgery and lives to tell the tale
Then- 17th Annual Gingerbread House decorating party
Then- Xmas party at rehap center for Marcy’s mom with musical friends
Then- Xmas dinner & music party
Then- Hank Williams Tribute nights at the Birchmere Music Hall & Court Square Theater (Harrisonburg, VA)
Then- HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Someplace in there we also contributed to the National Geographic’s new Documentary on the Appalchian Trail on dulcimer, banjo, guitar and mandolin. Cathy got a new bike in trade for banjo lessons. Marcy collected a few tenor guitars and we each rescued some special instruments from gloom and doom on ebay and elsewhere. Cathy became more active with the Washington Area Women’s Foundation and Marcy built up the Girls with Guitars and Ukulele Social Network social websites. There’s always more, but now that it’s 2010, we’ve got new work & projects to get to.
Here’s to a year of CHANGE, HEALTH CARE FOR ALL AT AFFORDABLE PRICES, GOOD HEALTH, SONGS, PEACE, HAPPINESS, PEACE and ever expanding hat collections. Keep your sense of humor-you’re gonna need it. Get up and do something and it’ll get done!
Cathy & Marcy
Today’s Hats
Dust Collector, Human Snow Plow, Bookkeeper, Philosopher, Mosaic Artist, Buddy, Shipping Clerk, Secretary, Label Manager, Artist Rep., Grammy Winner, Banjo Player, Pro Bono Advisor, Satirist, Content Creator, Dishwasher, Songwriter, Activist, God-Mother, Aunt, Chameleon
JUBILATION NEW LYRIC CONTEST
KIDS/TEACHERS/FAMILIES
Sept. 1- Sept. 30 with COOL PRIZES
We’ve gotten so much fun response to the song and video “JUBILATION” from the BANJO TO BEATBOX CD. The first time we performed it, for a 5th grade class, the teacher said, “Wow, we could use that song as a lesson plan on rhyming and vocabulary.” A week later, we got 3 pages of new verses to the song from that class.
That gave us the idea to invite everyone in on the fun. We’ll read every submission and choose some of the best for publication in the blog. We will even record some of the best for folks to hear in the blog and on the website.
We encourage kids, families and even teachers to have as much fun with this as possible!
Watch the JUBILATION MUSIC VIDEO below
PRIZES: Top 5 will receive FREE CD of their choice from www.cathymarcy.com AND Cathy & Marcy SongShop Washboard.
Here’s how to join the JUBILATION LYRICS CONTEST:
1)Write a new verse to JUBILATION and email it to: info@cathymarcy.com
PLEASE INCLUDE
Name of entrant
Age of entrant
Your new verse
2) YOU MUST INCLUDE AND AGREE TO THIS IN YOUR SUBMISSION:
I understand that by submitting my verse to the song JUBILATION, Community Music, Inc. has the right to print, record or otherwise use and distribute my verse. It becomes the property of Community Music, Inc. Though Community Music, Inc. will attempt to credit and thank each entrant if their material is used, there are times that this may not be possible. Community Music, Inc. has permission to use my submission regardless of credit.
____ AGREED Name___________________________________
_____Parent/Guardian Agrees for entrants under 21
Name of Parent/Guardian__________________________________
Email:_______________________________________________
That’s it-let the word fun begin.
And, you can also have fun with the JUBILATION WORD SEARCH HERE
Family & Folk Concerts – Schwenksville, PA – 08/16/09
12:30pm – Family concert in the Lobby Tent. Special guest, Christylez Bacon
3pm-3:50pm- Folk, swing, eclectic concert on the Camp stage
| Who | Family & Folk Concerts |
| When |
Sunday, August 16, 2009
11:00am
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time 11a and 1p
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All Ages
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| Where |
Old Pool Farm
Corner of Salford Station Rd. & Clemmers Mill Roads 1323 Salford Station Rd. Schwenksville, PA, USA 19473 |
| Other Info | 11am- Family concert on the CAMP stage. Special guest, Christylez Bacon 1pm-2:15- Folk, swing, eclectic concert on the Showcase stage |
FREE FAMILY CONCERT-Cathy & Marcy w/ Special guest Christylez Bacon – Gernmantown, MD – 08/15/09
| Who | FREE FAMILY CONCERT-Cathy & Marcy w/ Special guest Christylez Bacon |
| When |
Saturday, August 15, 2009
7:00pm
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FAMILY
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| Where |
12901 Town Commons Drive
Gernmantown, MD, USA 20895 |
| Other Info | FREE Family concert. Special guest, Christylez Bacon. |
Vienna, VA – 07/25/09
| Who | BANJO TO BEATBOX-Cathy & Marcy & Christylez Bacon |
| When |
Saturday, July 25, 2009
11:15am
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All Ages
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| Where |
1645 Trap Road
Vienna, VA, USA 22182 |
| Other Info | COOL songs, sing-alongs, with GRAMMY winners and young hip-hop artists with songs from the new BANJO TO BEATBOX CD in beautiful outdoor ampitheater. |
Vienna, VA – 07/24/09
| Who | BANJO TO BEATBOX-Cathy & Marcy & Christylez Bacon |
| When |
Friday, July 24, 2009
11:15am
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All Ages
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| Where |
1645 Trap Road
Vienna, VA, USA 22182 |
| Other Info | COOL songs, sing-alongs, with GRAMMY winners and young hip-hop artists with songs from the new BANJO TO BEATBOX CD in beautiful outdoor ampitheater. |
Vienna, VA – 07/23/09
| Who | BANJO TO BEATBOX-Cathy & Marcy & Christylez Bacon |
| When |
Thursday, July 23, 2009
11:15am
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http://www.wolftrap.org/Education/Childrens_Theatre-in-the-Woods.aspx
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All Ages
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| Where |
1645 Trap Road
Vienna, VA, USA 22182 |
| Other Info | COOL songs, sing-alongs, with GRAMMY winners and young hip-hop artists with songs from the new BANJO TO BEATBOX CD in beautiful outdoor ampitheater. |