Mac's new Website / Jenny's new Facebook

Big news!  Mac has finally got a decent website about his business Mac's Custom Banjos Cabinets and More.  It was designed by our son Ben who is professional  graphic designer in the DC area.  Check it out   www.mactraynham.com  when you can.  It is a better explanation
of just who Mac is and what he does on a regular basis.  Let us know what you think.

Jenny has very recently joined Facebook and has had many friend request since so many of our friends and family are on Facebook.  She intend to show her art and summer flower and vegetable gardens that she has worked so hard for.  It will be interesting to see how having Facebook will affect our lives.  Maybe we won't be such hermits anymore.

We finally got our farm fixed up for beef farming and Mac got the opportunity to run some steers to eat up our grass in a management technique known as strip grazing.  35 grass eaters are something to see devouring up a new break of fresh grass.  These beeves belonged to alternative Floyd County's grazier supreme Larry Bright who is Mac's mentor in the effort to be a true grass farmer.  We intend to cooperate more in the future.  Anyone interested in buying pure natural all grass finished beef from Floyd county should get in touch with Larry or me ASAP.

Mac was again on the staff of Augusta October Old-time Week having a class of ten students for intermediate/advance level of traditional  claw hammer  banjo.  It was great fun with lots of good jams with staff and students.  The end of the week was the annual Augusta Fiddler's gathering which drew in some of the best  players of West Virginia rich traditional fiddle music.  I even sold a banjo to wonderful lady Pat Wilcox.

In June 2012, Mac will be on the staff of Blue Ridge Old-time week at Mars Hill College once again.  Shay Garriock, our long time fiddle buddy who Mac has recorded with will be there also.  I haven't updated the calendar yet.

December has found us again trying to finish of some building projects on the farm while working on cabinets and banjos for old and new customers.  Our Rock Springhouse is shaping up nicely and represents several tons of rocks, sand and gravel moved over the last year and a half onto a resting place that will preserve our water.  The spring is one of several on our property that was developed into a water source for our house by previous owners.  An ancient roadbed is beside it and  word has it that it was known in the old days as one of the best springs in our part of Floyd county which is reputed to have over 1000 springs.
We hope to get the roof on it next week.  Photos will be on Facebook.

Musically, Mac has been laying down some tracks at Windfall Studios for a future project involving our area's traditional string music style,  ie, Old-time clawhammer banjo and fiddle duets and trios.  Hanna, who resides in Seattle, Washington recorded 8 tracks of  rare banjo tunes with Mac playing  fiddle in a traditional duet fashion before she left.  So stay tuned for more about how these tracks get mixed and fixed for a final sound.

Jenny and I hope to learn new songs in 2012 and share them when we can. Check the calendar  for an update soon.

A chip off the old Block

Summer of '11 was great because of having our daughter Hanna around. Her enthusiasm for playing banjo inspired by Blue Ridge Mountain masters ie the old-timers,  led Mac to play his fiddle with her several times one on one.  Hanna's ability to learn tunes quickly and play with a driving rhythm has been a mountain music fiddlin father's dream come true.
     We   managed to get around together to some of the local summer music events together.
Elk Creek Fiddler's conventions continued to be a winner for Mac as a last minute entry in the band contest yielded a chance to put our music out into public. Trish Fore, a fine mountain style clawhammer player in her own right, was our band's guitar player.  She backed us up in her signature hard driving style that matched up with our basic 'lick' on fiddle and banjo.  It was good enough to garner us a 3rd place win.  An even bigger honor was to play for the flatfooting contest on Friday night. Grayson County and around the region is such a place  that has such a deep rooted tradition of great music and dancing so reflected in the rural string music documented by  folklorist  who came to find the native music in the 60's and 70's.  As one who learned to play banjo around the fine traditional dancers that frequented the public music venues of the region, Mac seems to have passed on his love for the regional 'sound' of his chosen home area to daughter, Hanna now 24.
        August found us playing in a band called the Mountain Boomers for the Thursday night dance at the annual Clifftop Festival.  Shay Garriock and Mac played twin fiddles  with Hanna, banjo and Rory Mullennex,  son of WVa banjo great  Ron Mullenex on guitar along with Sam Linkous on bass.  It was a memorable experience once again for father and daughter.  A week later Hanna played in her first ever clawhammer banjo contest at the even more famous Galax Fiddler's convention.  A lively rendition of the Hobart Smith tune 'Last Chance' won her 8th place out of the 80 or so contestants and helped introduce her name as a likely 'contender' should she ever play in another contest.
        The last music milestone was to get her to record a few 'mountain' banjo fiddle duets for posterity with her dad in a studio setting just before she left a few days later to begin a new life in the Pacific Northwest, ie: Seattle, Washington.
        She says she'll eventually settle back near us after she gets some things accomplished towards her career of becoming an upper level art teacher following a Master degree from UW.  We'll see.