Last night was a quite fitting end to our adventure in India. We decided to visit some of the folks that Jo works with and so stopped by their house for a photo session with Annie. They were so cute, grabbing her as soon as we walked in the door and starting their own photo shoot!
After a few hundred (in all seriousness) photos of them and Annie we were able to squeeze in a group shot.
and then I noticed this really beautifully back-lit wall adornment, and well...you guessed it.
But the larger excitement of the evening was that we got an unexpected call early that day from our friend Adam G. at Fulbright who was extremely gracious, and perhaps a little crazy, inviting Jo, Annie, and I to a small function Fulbright was having, and requesting that I bring my banjo! So we invited our friends Adam and Em for one last hurrah, and all trouped over to CP.
This was my first "invited" public performance. I stress invited as I have (un)willingly exposed countless thousands across the world to the banjo, harmonica, fiddle, and mandolin over the years. And to you all, I'm sorry. But this was an invited performance, complete with full sound system. I had a lot of fun performing and played for.... maybe a half hour? Maybe less. I tried to expose people to a little bit of banjo history and humor in the performing style of Banjoists such as Tony Trishka (I also realized I really really need to purchase the Pickin' on the Banjo: The Original Banjo Jokebook for future performances) For those of you who couldn't be there check out this video.
After a few hundred (in all seriousness) photos of them and Annie we were able to squeeze in a group shot.
and then I noticed this really beautifully back-lit wall adornment, and well...you guessed it.
But the larger excitement of the evening was that we got an unexpected call early that day from our friend Adam G. at Fulbright who was extremely gracious, and perhaps a little crazy, inviting Jo, Annie, and I to a small function Fulbright was having, and requesting that I bring my banjo! So we invited our friends Adam and Em for one last hurrah, and all trouped over to CP.
This was my first "invited" public performance. I stress invited as I have (un)willingly exposed countless thousands across the world to the banjo, harmonica, fiddle, and mandolin over the years. And to you all, I'm sorry. But this was an invited performance, complete with full sound system. I had a lot of fun performing and played for.... maybe a half hour? Maybe less. I tried to expose people to a little bit of banjo history and humor in the performing style of Banjoists such as Tony Trishka (I also realized I really really need to purchase the Pickin' on the Banjo: The Original Banjo Jokebook for future performances) For those of you who couldn't be there check out this video.
My favorite part of the video is Jo's face when the camera pans by her; if you couldn't read it, that was the "that's not my husband" expression. Annie was making a "that's not my daddy" expression as well, but her face was buried in her snuggly purple suit.
From this event I took the following lessons: 1) always have an array of banjo jokes to legitimize your out of tune playing (note: most banjo jokes revolve around a banjo's finnicky tuning; i.e. what's the difference between a banjo and a chain saw? Answer: A chain saw has a dynamic range.....ohhhhhhhhhhhhh no!) and 2) wear a funny combination of clothes, like a dressy Indian outfit with crocs to distract folks from the music.
It was a last night to remember.
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