I haven’t taken the time to post a single thing over here for well over three weeks now., but now I feel like I have the motivation to do so, with a bit more regularity. Let’s hope it holds!

Sometime in late 2023, Lickety started making suggestions that I take up the banjo. She recognized that I was need of a creative outlet, The banjo seemed like a curious suggestion, especially given that the musical background I have, doesn’t really contain the banjo in any form. But, her suggestions found root in my mind, and in late January 2024, Blanche arrived:

As I mentioned, the banjo has never really been a part of any of the music I grew up playing, or listening to. I started playing the violin at the age of 4, and played up until the day I graduated high school. But, my studies were strictly classical violin, or as my teacher would probably say, “proper violin”. Fiddling, never entered the picture, unless it was one of the few times in a school orchestra setting when we’d play a half-assed rendition of the Orange Blossom Special, or Wabash Cannonball. And sure, Charlie Daniels and The Devil Went Down to Georgia were somewhere in the auditory background, but this style of playing was always diminished, it was seen as “less than”, not the ideal, and certainly not an acceptable form of music playing.

Towards the end of high school, and up until my late 20’s, I played guitar. I won’t really speak about that here, except to say that the banjo did not really have a presence in the thrash scene.

Despite the lack of experience, and a giant lack of knowledge about the instrument and its history, I felt something special when I cradled Blanche in my arms. I knew I could do something with this, what that something is, I’m still kinda figuring out. After putting in a good deal of work over the last year and a half, I have a few ideas rolling around in my head, and so, I have the motivation I need to be a bit more active here at Visceraman1.

In future posts I’ll write about some of the difficulties and challenges I’ve encountered, what specific songs, or sounds spark my curiosity and interest, who I enjoy listening to (and even some that I don’t), my goals, and yes, even myself playing.

And away we go…. it’s going to get a bit noisy up here!