Schedule for the 2018 Banjo Gathering at Bristol, VA

I'll be leaving home in a couple days to attend the 2018 Banjo Gathering at the Birthplace of Country Music Museum in Bristol, Virginia. Below is the updated schedule of events for this year's gathering:

Thursday, November 1*

9:00am-2:00pm Exhibit space set up at Birthplace of Country Music Museum (BCMM)2:00-

4:00 pm Explore BCMM with curator-guided tour

4:00-7:00 pm Dinner Break

7:00-7:30 pm Welcome, Organizer Announcements, and Introductions​

7:30-8:00 pm A Digital Museum for Banjo History: New Opportunities for Curating Cultural Heritage by Marc Fields

8:00-8:45 pm Banjo Roots and Branches Panel with Bob Winans and contributors including Pete Ross, George Gibson, Greg Adams, Tony Thomas

9:00-11:00 pm Social**

Friday, November 2

8:00amBCMM opens to Gathering attendees

9:oo-9:45 am The Banjo in America’s Square Dance Revival (1930s-’50s) by John Hoft

10:oo-10:45 am Working the Root: Contemporary Banjo Music as Conjure by Jake Blount

11:oo-11:45 am Traditions and Transformations: The Banjo Speaks by Dena Jennings and Greg Adams

12:oo-2:00 pm Lunch Break

2:oo-2:45 pm Dixie Dewdrop: Uncle Dave Macon’s Banjos by Michael Doubler

3:oo-3:45 pm Vintage Banjos, Provenance, and Performance Panel with Cathy Fink and Bill Evans

4:oo-4:45 pm Playing Banya by Kristina Gaddy and Pete Ross

5:oo-8:00 pm Dinner Break

8:oo-10:00 pm The Banjo Gathering 20th Anniversary Concert featuring Adam Hurt, Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer, Bill Evans, Bob Carlin, George Gibson & Clifton Hicks, Jake Blount, Aaron Jonah Lewis, and Greg Adams. 

(photo by Kristina Gaddy)

Saturday, November 3

8:oo am BCMM opens to Gathering attendees 

10:oo-10:45 am Hula Dreams: The Influence of the 5-String Banjo on Classic Hawaiian Music by Michael Wright 

11:oo-11:45 am Stinson, Eas(t)on, and Lowry: Late 19th & Early 20th Century Show Business Banjoists by Tony Thomas

12:oo-2:00 pm Lunch Break

2:00-2:45 pm Current State of Banjo Building and Sales Panel

3:00-3:45 pm Unusual S.S. Stewart Banjos: The Early Years by Joe Hornung and Norm Peterson 

4:00-4:45 pm A Banjo Factory in the Bronx? New Findings About John Henry Buckbee by Reginald W. Bacon

5:00-7:00 pm Dinner Break

7:00-7:45 pm A Bang Or A Whimper: 19th Century Banjo Legacies in Commercial Country Recordings from the ‘Big Bang’ in Bristol and Beyond by Christian Stanfield  

8:00-8:45 pm Fisher Hendley: Recording and Radio Pioneer Update by Bob Carlin

9:00-11:00 pm Social**

(photo by Kristina Gaddy) 

Sunday, November 4

8:00-11:00 am Clean up at BCMM

1:00-4:00 pm  Uncle Dave Macon talk at BCMM by Michael Doubler**​Throughout the day and evening, there will be time between presentations for conversation and jamming, as well as viewing, trading, or purchasing banjos, other instruments, and banjo-related ephemera. 

​*Early-bird and other activities to consider in the area: Bristol’s historic and walkable downtown; Steele Creek Park in Bristol, TN; Sugar Hollow Park in Bristol, VA; Osceola Island (near South Holston Dam about 15 minutes from town); Virginia Creeper Trail in Abingdon, VA; Paramount Center for the Arts;  Abingdon Barter Theater (state theater of VA) and William King Museum of Art; Gray Fossil Site in Gray, TN; Rocky Mount Historic Site; Reece Museum at Eastern Tennessee State University.