Homemade Walnut Stain, Tail Pieces & More | Q&A
Added 2018-09-17 10:04:35 +0000 UTCAnton, Jane, Patrick and others have asked me to explain how we make our black walnut banjo stain. Since it's now walnut season here in north Georgia/east Tennessee let's get started on a new batch!
Also, Michael and Timothy have a few questions about strings, tailpieces and "down tuning," and young Ned from Michigan wants to know how I started learning to play the banjo.
Intro song: "Boats up the River" from Ola Belle Reed (gCGCD).
https://patreon.com/cliftonhicks | http://cliftonhicks.bandcamp.com
Comments
100% Agree.
Clifton Hicks
2018-10-11 17:11:16 +0000 UTCI'll say this to help answer Ned too: you might be surprised what's out there. A couple years ago, I didn't think there was really anybody playing old time music around me. I started reaching out, going to the one jam I knew about, etc, and within a year, I found out that a person could go to a different old time jam every week within an hour's drive of my house. Going to the local music store and asking around (like you would if you played guitar) is usually worthless--those folks aren't tied in to the old time, or even usually the bluegrass, scene in your area. Find a jam or two, even a bluegrass jam if that's all you can find, and go and ask around. Bring your banjo--MOST jams are REALLY welcoming of new players and it doesn't really matter if you can keep up (they'll play loud enough to drown you out). Ask around, particularly the fiddle players--a lot of folks, especially the older retired empty nest type folks, love playing so much that they go to any jam they can find, so they might really be an old time fiddler, but they'll play with the bluegrass guys for fun too.
Jake Tolbert
2018-10-11 17:04:50 +0000 UTCDoh! Clif mentioned that. Didnt see it
Joe
2018-09-19 16:56:14 +0000 UTCSumac berries soaked in water and mixed with sugar make a pretty good drink too!
Joe
2018-09-19 16:55:34 +0000 UTCI recall that much of the Confederate army and Revolutionary War troops were clad in sumac-died uniforms. We have a lot of it growing around here and sometimes during the summer we make "lemonade" from the berries. Just make sure you don't use the POISON sumac.
Clifton Hicks
2018-09-19 16:29:51 +0000 UTCI don't notice that they drift any more or less than when tuned up higher, so no.
Clifton Hicks
2018-09-19 16:28:18 +0000 UTCI have heard (from an old trapper) that Sumac berries (the red clusters), when boiled down, will make a dark dye that can be used as a stain as well. I have not tried this, but it might make an interesting experiment on wood...
Justin Hoffmann
2018-09-19 01:31:45 +0000 UTCClif, do you do anything special to keep your banjos from drifting out of tune when you tune low?
Joe
2018-09-18 22:42:09 +0000 UTCI certainly had the benefit of two good parents. And yes, Gibson's archaic and hyperlocal playing style was pretty much snuffed out before he was finally recorded in the late 1990s. He called that album "Last Possum Up the Tree" because he really was the last one left. Since then, through his own efforts and those of us who've tried to participate, some of that precious knowledge is still alive and developing.
Clifton Hicks
2018-09-17 15:10:33 +0000 UTCSounds like your sweet mama also had a lot to do with keeping the banjo heritage alive, even if behind the scenes. Amazing how taking the time to find mentors and driving a banjo loving kid to meet them, evolved into hundreds/thousands of people being inspired and taught by you. I think it's especially interesting how George Gibson's unique playing style is being preserved and shared because of you. It sounds as though George's particular style from a bygone era was almost lost. It all started with a mama who took her son's banjo passion seriously and a Kentucky banjo player who was willing to mentor a kid. Thanks for mentoring all of us, Clifton. BTW, I'm liking the looks of this organic walnut stain so much, I'm sanding down my "good banjo" and giving it a rustic makeover.
Banjo Jane
2018-09-17 14:53:23 +0000 UTCI've just got one Walnut tree in my yard in town, but it produces an abundance every year. I've heard that Walnut tree have a good year followed by a slow year, I've had one slow year in the last 6 years in the house. If anyone needs any nuts, I could ablige.
Elliott County Fiddler’s Convention
2018-09-17 12:45:46 +0000 UTCMick! This was the first time in my life that I noticed a poor black walnut harvest. We had unusually heavy rain this spring which I suspect knocked off their delicate catkins preventing most of the mast. Mulberries were even worse this year for, I think, the same reason. Maybe there's enough to send you a small bag again but I need to go out again and look--they just began falling and the harvest ain't gonna be great.
Clifton Hicks
2018-09-17 12:38:32 +0000 UTCHey Clif, are you going to be shelling any of those black walnuts this year?
Micheál Mac Labhrás
2018-09-17 12:16:49 +0000 UTC
