@W6KME @tsherrygeo @ai6yr

Surely you mean the Accordion, Banjo or French Horn (impossible to play- ask me)…

@Ericthebeeover2 @tsherrygeo @ai6yr Would you believe I play accordion AND banjo? And I actually majored in french horn.

You know what else? I really am a hit at parties 😂 👍

@W6KME @Ericthebeeover2 @tsherrygeo @ai6yr

add bagpipe and i think you win. :)

@paul_ipv6 @Ericthebeeover2 @tsherrygeo @ai6yr Helll, I BUILT my personal set of Scottish smallpipes. And played in a competition pipe and drum band for years.

@W6KME @Ericthebeeover2 @tsherrygeo @ai6yr

nice!

i can play a chanter but have never gotten a full set of pipes.

having to use your own lungs instead of a bag is a useful self-limiting on how much i play it. :D

@paul_ipv6 @Ericthebeeover2 @tsherrygeo @ai6yr Check out smallpipes...chanter is an octave lower than Highland pipes, and you blow with a bellows under your right arm. Nice decent indoor parlor instrument. And absolutely hysterical to try and coordinate everything for the first few hours.

@W6KME @Ericthebeeover2 @tsherrygeo @ai6yr

there are various "parlor" pipes in many places in EU and every so often i think of getting a set. so far, my partner has managed to pull me back from the brink.

@paul_ipv6 @Ericthebeeover2 @tsherrygeo @ai6yr there's one instrument in my life I have never played, and it's still the one goal in my life that I hope to fulfill is Irish uilleann bagpipes. I did have a very poor quality homemade practice chanter and bag/bellows, so I've got some background with it, but I've never gotten my hands in a real set of pipes. I swear I will not die without mastering that instrument though

@W6KME @Ericthebeeover2 @tsherrygeo @ai6yr

a piper i know did say the learning curve is a bit ugly but it is a really cool instrument.

as an instrument geek, just the build/mechanics of it fascinate me.

@W6KME @paul_ipv6 @Ericthebeeover2 @tsherrygeo LOL W6KME is a ringer... (professional musicians, lol)

@ai6yr @W6KME @Ericthebeeover2 @tsherrygeo

wait a minute... you can get paid money to play accordion, banjo, bagpipes, or french horn? since when?!? :)

@paul_ipv6 @ai6yr @Ericthebeeover2 @tsherrygeo 😂 get paid...that's funny

I have indeed been paid to play banjo and bagpipes, but never accordion (but I knew a superb accordionist I could call for jobs, Noni Chaffin.)

I quit the horn after a bicycle accident in 1979 and transitioned to tuba and trombone for my career.

@W6KME @ai6yr @Ericthebeeover2 @tsherrygeo

i'm just an amateur but the best paying gig i got as a banjo player in a bluegrass band was a free dinner, 1 free drink, and 1/4 of the tip jar (about $30 i think?).

didn't quite cover the cost of parking in downtown SF for the gig.

@paul_ipv6 @W6KME @ai6yr @Ericthebeeover2 @tsherrygeo lets get weird al on mastodon so he can explain how he got rich playing the accordion

@Viss @W6KME @ai6yr @Ericthebeeover2 @tsherrygeo

LOL

same way steve martin got rich on banjo and jethro burns got rich on mandolin. :)

@paul_ipv6 @Viss @W6KME @ai6yr @Ericthebeeover2 @tsherrygeo
Luck, persistence, talent combined with work ethic on writing clever material for an audience he understands and appreciates, being a really nice guy to everyone around him, and never paying too much for an accordion (he told me he buys his on Craigslist) 🪗

@W6KME @paul_ipv6 @ai6yr @tsherrygeo

Bicycle accident? Did your horn get squashed like David Brain’s Bb horn (now restored).

Glad you survived, unlike David Brain (RIP😢)

@Ericthebeeover2 @paul_ipv6 @ai6yr @tsherrygeo Dennis Brain...yes, died crashing his Triumph TR2. I fell off of a bicycle, and while it was a pretty serious crash, it was not life threatening. And I did not have my horn on board either.

@W6KME @paul_ipv6 @ai6yr @tsherrygeo

Whoops! Dennis not David!

Glad to hear you ended up ok 👍

I also had a crash just over 20 yrs ago, but on a 1000cc Kawasaki. Almost killed me so now I have a 250 Watt 25km/hr electric bicycle that usually gets ridden on nature trails, not on the road.

Only picked up the horn in 2022 and I’ve not made much progress, ashamedly!

Stay safe! 😊😊👍

@W6KME @Ericthebeeover2 @tsherrygeo It was only after joining the Fediverse did I learn that Steve Martin got his start playing banjo!

@ai6yr @W6KME @Ericthebeeover2 @tsherrygeo

totally hellacious player.

john mccuen (of the nitty grtitty dirt band) and he used to do this gag where steve would be playing a fast banjo tune, then would grab a glass of water and drink while the banjo playing went on, then resume playing without any break in the music.

this was because john was behind stage and steve and john were able to play exactly the same notes in sync...

@LPerry2 @W6KME @Ericthebeeover2 @tsherrygeo I thought Knott's Berry farm? Or was it both?
@ai6yr @W6KME @Ericthebeeover2 @tsherrygeo I don't know about Knott's Berry Farm (maybe?) but I know he played at Disneyland because he occasionally played with my now brother-in-law. My brother-in-law, who has played banjo in bluegrass bands for 60 years, says Martin was always better than he was, even when they were teenagers.

@LPerry2 @ai6yr @W6KME @Ericthebeeover2 @tsherrygeo

ask your brother-in-law if he knows evan marshall. evan plays mandolin, played for years at disneyland. his speciality is a solo version of the william tell overture.

evan is a fun guy at parties, aside from being a scary good mando player.

@ai6yr @W6KME @Ericthebeeover2 @tsherrygeo he also blew his chance to get with Linda Ronstadt back in the early days
@ai6yr @Ericthebeeover2 @tsherrygeo In his early day,s and on his first couple of albums in the 70s, banjo figured heavily.