Playing Since: 1962
Experience Level: Intermediate

Interests:
[Socializing]

Occupation: Cultural anthropologist, retired

Gender: Male
Age: 79

My Instruments:
My main banjos are: (1) a custom frailing banjo (made in 2015) by Vermont luthier William Seeders Mosheim and (2) an Ashborn minstrel replica (made in 2014) by James Hartel of Franklin, New York. These two wonderful instruments are my "retirement banjos."

Favorite Bands/Musicians:
Banjoists: Mike Seeger, Pete Seeger, Buell Kazee, Tom Ashley, Ralph Stanley, Jodie Stecher, Dan Gellert, Guy Wolff, Stephen Wade, Greg Adams, and many more. Bands: Stanley Bros., Bray Bros., New Lost City Ramblers, Larry Sparks, Dave Evans and River Bend, Blue Highway, more.

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Profile Info:
Visible to: Public
Created 2/5/2014
Last Visit 3/12/2024

I've been playing old time and bluegrass music, off and on, since my high school days in Park Ridge, Illinois (1961-65) and my undergraduate years at the University of Illinois (1965-69). My subsequent journey as a graduate student, college professor, museum professional, and humanities administrator took me to several fertile places for traditional music-making: Tucson, Arizona; Washington, DC; San Francisco; Ann Arbor, Michigan; and back to the DC area where I currently reside. I owe a great deal of gratitude to two mentors along the way, folklore scholars Archie Green and Ralph Rinzler, both of whom are now out there somewhere playing with the Angel Band. I retired in August 2015 after 22 years with the National Endowment for the Humanities. I'm now back to playing music (mostly for my own enjoyment) and working on a couple of long-delayed writing projects on (1) traditional Korean potters and (2) the first Japanese entertainers in America (troupes of traveling acrobats that arrived on these shores right after the Civil War). I'm also very interested in early banjoists and vernacular music and musicians in mid-19th century America.