Friday, July 21, 2006
From Pittsburgh..
Summertime here keeps our banjo club busy with concerts and our regular Wednesday night banjo rehearsals at the Elks Lodge has become a show in itself with huge crowds attending, simply enjoying the music and having a good time. Often local jazz musicians pop in and sit-in with us.
We also get visiting banjo players coming by. In fact, next Wednesday, Arno Hagenaars and Erwin Liejs are coming by here on their way back to Holland after the FIGA Convention this weekend. They did the same last year...they love Pittsburgh and what we do on Wednesday banjo nights.
Recently, I had put together a small group to do a gig for Major League Baseball at the All-Star Baseball Game Fan Fest that ran for 5 days prior to the big game last week. It was a swell gig with over 106,000 fans coming to the event. We had 3 banjos, trumpet, clarinet and bass. They gave us baseball uniforms to wear...it was, not only profitable, but a fun event to play at. Here's a picture. Note we put the banjos in the front! (not like those other bands!!).
Frank Rossi
