Fretmentor’s Blog is for Everyone
Here you will find music related articles of interest to all musicians and music lovers. We provide product reviews, concert, places and event summaries, historical topics, profiles on current or past artists, music theory and more.
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Category Archives: History
Heading to the Delta .. With the Blues in Mind
I recently attended a guitar and bass workshop at the Crossroads, the cradle of the Delta Blues in Clarksdale Mississippi. I have never been a big blues guy, not that I disliked it, just never overly exposed to the … Continue reading
A Night To Remember
August 18, 1965 at 8:15 I was sitting in the Fulton County Stadium in Atlanta Georgia waiting to see The Beatles. That’s right, The Beatles. The story I recount below is pulled from the dusty memories of an impressionable 11 … Continue reading
Posted in Concerts & Festivals, Guest Columns, History, News & Events
Tagged The Beatles
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Memphis Blues
Memphis is the home of the delta blues sound and here I was, walking with my ten feet off of Beale. Walking in Memphis, but do I really feel the way I feel? While on a recent business trip to … Continue reading
Posted in Guest Columns, History, Musical Places of Interest
Tagged BB King Blues Club, Beale Street, Elvis Presley, Memphis
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The Minstrel Show & the Banjo
This morning, I watched a segment called “Blackface” on the Sunday CBS Morning Show. The show accurately portrayed this time in history as “Unmasking the racist history of blackface”. It reveals the sad and disturbing portrayal of racist stereotype in … Continue reading
Posted in Banjo, History
Tagged Carolina Chocolate Drops, David Holt, minstrel show, Rhiannon Giddens
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A Musical Journey In Phoenix
A trip to Arizona for spring training baseball offered my buddy Jim and I the opportunity to visit the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix last week. It was our first visit there, but certainly not our last. Located just north … Continue reading
Leo Fender – “Quiet Giant Heard Around The World”
A Memory-Filled Journey Into The Life Of Guitar Legend Leo Fender On November 1, 2017, a new book entitled “Leo Fender: The Quiet Giant Heard Around the World” will be released. I have had the chance to briefly review this … Continue reading
Country Music Hall of Fame
The Country Music Hall of Fame A Visit Down Memory Lane My wife and I spent the weekend in Nashville for our anniversary. We live an hour and a half south and believe it or not, had never been to … Continue reading
Posted in Banjo, Fiddle, Guest Columns, Guitar, History, Mandolin
Tagged Bill Monroe, Country Music Hall of Fame, earl scruggs, Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson, Nashville, Tennessee
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Matchbox Blues
Matchcovers & Music What is the Connection? Over the past number of months, I have been busy working on a new blues instructional program for fretted instruments. One of the songs incorporated in my lesson plan is “Matchbox Blues”, which … Continue reading
Posted in History, Other, Uncategorized
Tagged Cavern Club, John Lennon, Matchbox Blues, matchcover collecting, The Beatles
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Six More Strings Silenced
Guitar Legend Doc Watson Passes Away Not everyone gets to claim the title of being a living national treasure. Yet, Doc Watson was a true American artist who made significant contributions to the development of bluegrass and folk music. Sadly, … Continue reading
Posted in Guitar, History
Tagged Doc Watson, Merle Watson, Merlefest, Newport Folk Festival, Will The Circle Be Unbroken
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Earl & Doug – Gone But Not Forgotten
Within a couple of months, we said goodbye to two of the great banjo players in the world. Earl Scruggs, the father of three finger picking, and Doug Dillard, one of the great melodic banjo players and an artist who … Continue reading
Jens & Uwe Kruger & Fretmentor’s 2010 Workshop
April 9-10, 2010 Jens & Uwe Kruger’s Banjo & Guitar Workshop For months now, I have been working out the details for Fretmentor’s First Annual Banjo & Guitar Workshop – Featuring Jens & Uwe Kruger, to be held in Southeast … Continue reading
Good Bye Les
Today the Music World Lost a Legend & Pioneer Earlier today, August 13, 2009, I received news that my friend Les Paul died at age 94. When I say my friend, I should clarify that unfortunately, I did not have … Continue reading
Posted in Guitar, History
8 Comments
Banjo Rap
Does The Banjo Get A “Bad Rap” At Times? Is the banjo and instrument that sometimes receives undeserved or critical judgment from non-musical observers? At times, I notice references made on television or in public, to the banjo or banjo … Continue reading
Posted in Banjo, History
Tagged ballad of jed clampet, banjo history, banjo music, banjo players, dueling banjos, earl scruggs, foggy mountain breakdown
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Motor City Bluegrass?
I remember that first festival as though it was yesterday. Of all places, it was held outside of the Motor City. That is right, just outside of Detroit, Michigan. The home of Motown and automobile production, was taking a back … Continue reading
Posted in Banjo, Guitar, History, Mandolin, News & Events
Tagged Bill Monroe, bluegrass festival, bluegrass music, Doug Dillard, John Hartford
8 Comments