How To Get Even When Your Husband Brings Home a Banjo

Banjo. I never thought I'd write that word with any sort of seriousness. And I certainly never thought I'd have one in my house.

Billy Redden

Let me start by saying that I love my husband dearly. Let me add that when I hear the word 'banjo', my mind conjures the scene in Deliverance where the spooky-looking hillbilly is sitting on his porch swing playing "Dueling Banjos" opposite Ronny Cox on guitar. It's a great scene, even with the banjo, but we all know where the movie goes after that, don't we?


I was dubious from the moment my husband mentioned wanting a banjo for trad jazz gigs (traditional jazz - think Louis Armstrong and Jelly Roll Morton) and hoped this was a phase that would soon pass. When I married a professional jazz musician, I understood what I was getting into. Smokey clubs, coming home in the wee small hours, endless practice, roadie duties, and tons of equipment. Guitars, double basses, a cello, a piano, amplifiers. All would be right with the universe as long as the musical-instrument-to-handbag-ratio remained in balance. Never, as I was pondering marital bliss, did I imagine that my husband would want to bring home a banjo.

Before we went in search of said instrument, he played a track of Chuck Wayne playing be-bop banjo on his album Morning Mist, which was bearable. In fairness, it was better than I expected, but still, it was a banjo. Off we went to Banjo Haven in Longview, Texas. The shop's awesome proprietor, Vinnie Mondello, senses my hesitation over having a banjo in the house, and assures me that the tenor banjo my husband has picked out is nothing like the banjo from Deliverance. (It looks the same to me, but I'm no expert.) Just to cement the deal, he tells me that things could be worse: my husband could want to play jazz accordion.

 

Point taken.

Martyn and the banjo

We're now the proud owners of a 1928 Vega Professional tenor banjo and my husband is delighted, as evidenced by the amount of time he's spent playing the thing and the equal amount of time I've spent with The Kinks blasting through my headphones. My husband usually plays jazz guitar (think Joe Pass, Barney Kessel, Jim Hall), which is a very mellow sound. This is in sharp contrast with the plinky-plinkness of the banjo.

It's been a few days now and I'm starting to thaw, but the whole banjo thing has been a shock to the system, so getting even on two fronts seems a reasonable response. First, the instrument-to-handbag-ratio requires re-balancing. Therefore, shopping.

Second, I've just decided to write a banjo playing jazz musician into my current book. Since I write crime fiction, chances are the banjo will be the first to die, and I'm pretty sure it'll be a violent death. (I can't kill the player now, can I? He's got gigs to play and handbags to buy.)

Anybody want to book a New Orleans' style jazz band with banjo player? Send me an email.

Thanks Vinnie!

(I suppose I should come clean. I'm not totally opposed to the banjo, but I am a selective listener (my husband is sounding pretty good, by the way, and he's taught me the first bar of "Dueling Banjos"). Check out "Stone Rollin' Home" by one of my favorite groups, The Sonny Walters Band, and listen to local bluegrass band The Blake Brothers - amazing guys and great musicians.)

photo credit: twm1340 via photopin cc
photo credit: MSH* via photopin cc

Love Is In The - Oh, Wait, It's Under The English Channel...

So, here we are in June on our 13th anniversary, sweltering under the Texas sun, and my husband Martyn and I have recently had the chance to reminisce about how we met. At the time, it all seemed perfectly normal, but looking back, I guess it was a little strange.

Me, a Texan, him, an Englishman. Both of us in France. Or, rather, under the English Channel.

Fourteen years after we met and I'm still so glad he offered to buy me that cup of coffee. A lot has changed since that fateful Sunday in March 1999 - I joined Martyn in England for seven years and then we decided to escape the corporate life and pursue our loves, writing for me and jazz for him. Somehow, we ended up on a ranch in East Texas, taking care of a herd of Black Angus cattle and a donkey, with two books published and a successful music career underway.

Many thanks to Gary Borders for taking the time to interview us and tell our story, and to Piney Woods Live Magazine for running the article back in February 2013 (click here or on the pages below to read the article). Stop by the Piney Woods Live website to catch up on all things art in East Texas. You'll meet up and coming musicians, painters, seamstresses, poets, sculptors, writers, etc.

Surprised at the thought of creative rednecks? Then visit the website to discover what you're missing!

Physical Books and CDs: Alive and Well in 2012 England

It's hard to find a bookstore or a CD shop any more. Have you noticed? Barnes & Noble are still around, along with a (very) few independent bookshops, re-sale CD shops, and in our area, the highly addictive Half Price Books (who do a mighty trade in CDs). In this neck of the woods, that's about it.

As a writer, the demise of the physical bookstore doesn't bother me - customers find me in a variety of digital venues. As a reader, it definitely does bother me. Same holds true for my musician husband when it comes to CDs and his recording / listening habits. He can distribute digitally, but prefers to have the physical CD (or even the vinyl, in some cases) for listening purposes.

Although this change might be a bit slower coming to other parts of the world, the digital age continues to gain ground. In this August 6, 2012 article, Michael Harper notes that in the UK, Amazon is selling 114 ebooks for every 100 paperback or hardback books sold, and the British are buying approximately four times more books now than before they owned an ereader. (That's good news for those of us who so far, only publish our books electronically.)

Two of the things I enjoyed most about living in England were the ability to walk to many of the places we wanted to go and the number of bookstores and music shops we came across on our walks. In June, my husband and I had the pleasure of traveling to England to visit his family in Norfolk County. One of the things we worried about before we took flight was how many of those lovely stand-alone book and CD shops we'd find, now that we've been away for five years. So much has changed in terms of the world's digital lives that we had serious cause for doubt.

It was with some trepidation that Martyn and I walked down London's Charing Cross Road in hopes of seeing Foyle's Bookshop and Ray's Jazz. To our delight, both exist and appear to be thriving.

The Stage at Ray's Jazz is still on Foyle's first floor, but with a larger seating area for the café. (If you have a chance, stop by for a great cup of coffee, scrumptious scones with clotted cream and strawberry jam, and free Wi-Fi.) The record shop is upstairs on the third floor now, with an expanded selection of music. Yup, you read that right: expanded selection. Music to Martyn's ears, so to speak.

With the exception of the Borders bookstores, we found almost all of the stores that we remembered open and doing quite well, in both Norwich and London. All the bookshops down Cecil Court were open, along with the Waterstone's on Oxford Street, Hatchard's on Piccadilly, and many of the independent shops.

The bookshops on Cecil Court

On the music front, although the Virgin store is long gone from Piccadilly Circus, HMV lives on in London and Norwich. We were pleasantly surprised to find the funky Fopp on Earlham Street still open (they're somehow linked to HMV now), and all the instrument shops down Denmark Street thriving.

The Earlham Fopp Shop

Denmark Street

What does the presence of all this populated brick and mortar mean? Although the digital age marches on, it seems there are a few holdouts for lovers of physical books and CDs. Across the pond, anyway. Given the rise of the ereader and other digital devices in England, it may not last. But hopefully those physical shops will hold on long enough for us to make another trip back - maybe next year...

Does having access to physical shops for books and records matter to you?


Girl Reading Book photo credit: Βethan via photo pin cc
All other photos via yours truly.

Miss Marcy and Her Texas SugarDaddy’s

Miss Marcy

There are many perks related to being a musician’s wife, but tagging along to gigs has to rank near the top of the list. A few nights ago, Martyn played upright bass with Miss Marcy and Her Texas SugarDaddy’s at the Hot Jazz on The Red concert hosted by the BarnwellCenter in Shreveport, LA.

Dave Burris

It was a gorgeous night – temperatures in the 80s with a breeze blowing off the Red River. The Hot Jazz gigs bring out a great crowd of live music enthusiasts who love to dance. When you add Miss Marcy’s hot "drinkin and cheatin tunes for the woman who's had enough", you’ve got the makings of a fabulous evening.

Martyn Popey

If you like your music down and dirty, soulful and sexy (think the gritty feel of Janis Joplin or Elkie Brooks), you’ll love Miss Marcy and her SugarDaddies. I’ve posted a few videos from the Hot Jazz gig here, but for a better taste of what she has to offer, visit Miss Marcy’s website (www.missmarcy.com). You can sample her music, buy her tunes, and find out where she’s playing next.

Steven Hitt

Miss Marcy is based in Dallas, but - like any gal earning a crust as a musician - travels for gigs, so book her early and often! These songs were filmed by yours truly, are copyright Miss Marcy, and are included on this blog with her permission.

Put your dancing shoes on, click, and enjoy! Then tell me - what's your favorite music?

O.C. Blues
 

 

Stand By Your Man

Restraining Order