Playing in Bands vs Solo | Banjo Q&A

[@dwaingibbs93]

I have lived in rural middle Tennessee and now live in rural west Tennessee and I've never met but maybe three people that knew the banjo as anything other than a bluegrass instrument. Besides that, think of the amount of people that you know and then how many of them are musicians. I feel as is changes in technology have severely affected both the amount of musicians and the way everyone else experiences music. It's hard times to find someone else who has pursued the same music as you when there are so many distractions now

[@CliftonHicksbanjo]

The situation in "old time" music has declined significantly in recent decades; hostile ignorance and blatant nepotism have become the norm. Meanwhile, their leadership (for the most part) actively ignore, exclude, and even slander nonconformists to the point that the subculture has become remarkably sterile.

[@gb747gb]

I've been binge watching your videos from 5-6 years ago! I love these talks

[@tomwoodley3744]

Having much of the same experience I have concluded that the problem with playing music is that you have to do it with musicians. The key is to enjoy what you can and learn to tolerate the rest.

[@watsjd1]

That pretty much reflects my experience also. Bands can't work together because one is a drunk, another wants to do commercial music, etc. I took out advertisements few years ago looking for a guitar player that would share my interest in acoustic guitar music and would follow my lead in a duo act and maybe get some gigs in small venues. I got nothing but flakes replying. One guy bragged to me that he was the greatest jazz player since Django. I told him I wasn't looking for the "greatest" and wished him good luck and hung up the phone and gave up.

[@benmogerman8230]

"and now look where im at, alone in the woods with two dogs, and a camera and a laptop...so, you may not want to take my advice here" dude you killed me here hahahahahaha

[@robkunkel8833]

Love the use of the voice in “it:s gonna be the death of me.” Adding to this in playing alone,, singing along with KZbins and other favorite music. Can’t beat that!. A great show.

[@K31JAN]

The "Aw hell no" face when the Eagles came up😂 God bless the Beatles and Floyd

[@juanziegler1471]

As we grow older our priorities also change ,Im a classic rock ,blues guitar player since 1984 stopped playing bars 18 years ago ,no regrets , would and have played some open mic nights ect . but am enjoying DAW recording as my main hobby now ... Thanks for your honesty ,It was no different in rock bands for me ,, people are people

[@Yallquietendown]

I play the keyboard/piano, organ, and now starting the banjo in the past couple months thanks to your helpful videos - the only people around me that really like the music other than my parents (of course your parents and especially your mom will love everything about you 😂) are two people I know over 75 years old. One of them is an older lady I went to her house recently and we flipped through an old song book and just sang (out of tune but who cares) for 2 hours it was so much fun. Next time I will bring my instruments. older folks are a good group to share music with and it can bring them joy also talking and praying with them. people my age (30s) really suck too it’s like they aren’t real people the country really is going to hell in a hand basket - we’re gonna go up in flames here soon lmao

[@nathanielrossi9659]

Clifton id totally play with you brother i feel your position none of my friends are into the music i like.

[@jeremyreagan9085]

Your comments are exactly my experience Clifton here in Texas in East Texas I mean is the only place I ever found folks who even know how to play overhand or two finger style banjo and believe me I have searched along time for old time music is so rare here you only find blue grass pickers. Which to me musically is extremely boring. I do not mean to detract from it I love John Hartford because he mixes old time with more modern stylings but I as a player myself find the two old styles of overhand and two finger the most interesting because of the off time tempos you do by playing in that way. And yes women can be an issue! I play alone and never have been in a band I have no desire to do it because no one beside me in Texas has an interest in this music so us banjoists will soldar on alone then and to hell with this vapid non culture we find ourselves all stuck in! Keep it up brother!

[@ProfileP246]

I used to hang out with a load of pickers before I knew better. I too now pic alone or occasionally with a guitar picker/ singer friend in the woods with a mobile phone lol

[@CM-dp5mw]

I just want to play and write songs by myself anyways. Maybe one day I can do a set at the local bar. Otherwise I’d be happy just messing around at home I have zero experience in either so.. lol

[@daveclarke05443]

I think you’ve just explained my life 😄👍🎸🪕🪕 only difference is I’m in Uk 👍I’m playing bass and singing in a band ! Love the old style banjo /folk music

[@daveclarke05443]

Oh and an ex Iraq vet 👍🎸🪕

[@chadhawkins2520]

I feel you on the crazy and boozin'... I jumped from band to band for years trying to escape that madness. It's almost impossible. Other side of the coin is; you do find the right group, they come to depend on you and they want to be on the road year round and you never get a darn weekend off. That crap is the reason I started learning guitar and banjo. Book Your Own Life!!! haha

[@hothands955]

Makes me so happy to know you lived in Gainesville and I was born there

[@nathanielrossi9659]

I like your style mate. Alone in the woods with 2 dogs i feel that bro haha

[@garycowger9579]

I know this is a little late ,But I play a 4 string fretless banjo My arthritis wont let Me play 5 string but people keep telling Me it still sounds like a 5 string the way I play it I only play the old traditional music mostly folk and gospel I make all My own banjos and play them on the street or in church here lately I been going in the local stores and playing to cheer people up from this COVID-19 stuff I love how You play so please keep it going thanks

[@gringogreen4719]

Clifton. Good advice. I'm mainly a guitar player and I love your banjo playing. No matter the instrument you run into this problem. I'm mainly a punk rock/Psychobilly/Post Punk/Americana type of player (think The Clash meets The Cramps and add some Billy Bragg) and finding people who want to tap into just one or two of those is rare. I use reliable instead of crazy and reliable is difficult to find. I will advocate that as a musician you should both play alone and with other people. If you end up playing in a band with music you don't like it will not last long. That said it is still a valuable experience as you might learn different styles or techniques that you might incorporate into your playing at a later date. This also sends a clear message to other people you play with, "I don't need you but I like to play with you." If you are with solid people and players this will drive up respect on both sides. Also playing solo vs duo vs a band is good because the dynamics change and the needs of the song change even if you are playing the same song. Now I can tell you that there are quite a bit of banjo qualities to my guitar playing. One day I would like to get a pelectrum 4 string banjo but to be honest I would rather develop my own style. Not that I look that hard but I have not come across a pelectrum banjo yet. Twenty years ago I did like the Deering Calico Pelectrum model but at over $2k at the time it was too much to swing for a guitar slinger. Keep up the great work.😎👍✨

[@Silver7481]

Excellent.

[@48ford8n]

It’s tough to find people that share your interest, are easy to deal with, and dependable. I was lucky ten years ago to meet a guy at a local jam session that shared my interest in music. He is an amazing talented musician that plays guitar, fiddle, and mandolin but he doesn’t play banjo and loves the old timey stuff. I learned so much off of him my playing improved 1000 fold. Sadly I had to move away for work after a couple years. I never found another “match” and have given up looking: it’s almost impossible even attending jams. Luckily clawhammer banjo is perfectly suited for solo playing: one reason I gave up on bluegrass 3-finger picking early on. The constant rolling of 1/16th notes will drive you crazy unless you’re blended into a band.

[@mattw4065]

I play VERY differently when I'm with my group vs when I'm alone. Alone I love playing old tunes in a clawhammer style but in my group I only do Scruggs style, I just find it easier to play three-finger with the band. I see it as getting the best of both worlds.

[@slowerpicker]

Been a year since this came out, I wonder if Jane found her tribe? Though the jams that I frequent have their shortcomings, they do offer a social aspect that I love about old-time. I put up with the singalongs and Jackson Browne covers to get my dose of the other. The 3 criteria for good bandmates is so funny and true! Advice born of lived and bitter experience, clearly - I hope the project with the Strugglers is working out!

[@alexcaufield4541]

Great video as always! Thanks!

[@laurenjones3264]

I really like singing harmonies so I'm looking for a solid front person to play with who will let me make them sound good!

[@cjrukstad6500]

That right there is the absolute dream, I've got a house full of instruments... maybe it's time to build a looping rig.

[@kentaylorsympatico]

I think 2 banjos playing together or a little off step from each other( in the round) would be cool or like one high or backup and both do the solo sections. It might be cool.

[@JohnyG29]

My trouble playing with/listening to a band is that the fiddle tends to drown out most of the other instruments, so you can hardly hear the banjo (in my opinion).

[@CliftonHicksbanjo]

Yes, we have a problem in this country with violin supremacists. They also need to go back to some kind of imitation gut strings and give up on this insane practice of tuning the damn things up to A.

[@DovidM]

It is the guitarists who drown out everyone else.

[@darkmysterytemple]

@@DovidM The guitars do not come close to drowning out my resonator banjo. Now if they want to use electric , that is fine as my banjo has an amp inside the resonator lol. Anyhow I play solo, I'm a banjo supremacist ha ha

[@dfeodosia]

@@CliftonHicksbanjo Many tunes I grew up learning from the old timers in key G , people these days seem to think they are key A tunes now ..... I like to play my banjo without capo and tune my fiddle down so I can at least sing a little .... I can't sing these tunes in high squeeky A or D LOL

[@emilbecker8970]

Im already insane so thats a plus for me, i just play with whomever feels like it and if i aint got nobody to play with, ill just annoy the birds :)

[@alanwann9318]

I tried 4 guitarist's in succession here in the U.K.to back my vocal/banjo none could play bum ching or keep time I gave up bluegrass music and now busk/sing clawhammer alone.this reminds of the time I was in a duet with a druggie and we,d do whole gigs without him speaking to me that night.

[@CliftonHicksbanjo]

YEP... I've worked with guys like that. The best were a couple of guitar players (I led with banjo/vocals usually). One was a drunk, the other a pill head & a thief--to make matters worse they both loved married women and left broken waitress/bartender hearts all over the Southeast. One can only do that for so long.

[@ianlaughlin9281]

oh whoa I went to high school with Lars Prillaman, small world!

[@ClawhammerDude]

Wow, if you guys are having a hard time, finding other players with the same interrests in America - Try Denmark. However, im having NO troubles finding crayzies... 🤪😂 Thanx for another inspiering video 👍🏼

[@jrgenkocbachblling9052]

Ha ha, try having this interest in Norway :-) Good stuff!

[@petterbossum4716]

Eyyy Norway! :D

[@jamesantkeegan83]

Hey there clifton! James here from Ireland! Could you please do a video on singing in the right key! Thank you sir!

[@eoghancasserly3626]

I'm also from Ireland. Any banjo recommendations?

[@evankerry]

this is great advice, i gave up looking for people in Philadelphia, though there are a number of old-time musicians, i can only tolerate melodic clawhammer for 2 minutes. if you love the music it shouldn't matter to form a band, suits me just fine as a hobby

[@thesohnly]

I'll jam with you. Also in philly

[@alanwann9318]

At my last band audition,I was requested to play waggon wheel which I played ok,then strum to pokey lafarge for the rest of the evening.I declined to join later out of boredom

[@CliftonHicksbanjo]

If they mention W*gon Wh**l at all they're probably not serious people.

[@gausscone]

@@CliftonHicksbanjo To be clear about that song, it's just guilty of being extremely uninspired "country" music, right? The censorship makes me feel like I'm missing something.

[@JakeTolbert]

Here's another thing: bass players for this kind of music are hard to keep around. You gotta find someone who's talented enough that they don't need a lot of hand holding, but who's not going to get bored and start doing slap or something stupid. Or they just stop showing up.

[@mikegager]

The downhill strugglers are awesome. Been listening to them a lot lately. I really enjoyed your album with jake book, are you two going to ever do another? Oh and one question i had related to janes question, when playing with others, how do you deal with your tuning since you tune lower? If say the guitar is tuned to g but your in f doesnt that cause an issue or is there a way around that?

[@CliftonHicksbanjo]

Well, I can either tune up to standard G or the guitar or fiddle player can just as easily tune down a step or so to meet me.

[@mikegager]

Clifton Hicks thats exactly what figured happened, just thought there might be another solution i wasnt aware of. Does tuning up cause any issues with singing? If i remember correctly you down tune to match your voice right?

[@adamreynolds1291]

Man I ended up in Central Oregon in the woods 6 years with my dog,2 400 pound hogs 4 bad ass roosters and 6 cats and a gallon of 100 proof every 2 days then my mom has a stroke and one of my boys went crazy and killed his self ,covid my girl kicks me to the curb !!! This Close to a dert nap

[@ScotchIrishTarheel]

Well, watching this I learned there's three things Clifton and I have in common: 1. We both served in the Army. 2. We love the same kind of music. 3. People who know me eventually stop returning my phone calls.

[@CliftonHicksbanjo]

I haven't made a phone call since 2012.

[@ScotchIrishTarheel]

@@CliftonHicksbanjo Huh? What's a phone?

[@MrAflac9916]

you look so much like Gregory Alan Isakov

[@Orourkebanjo]

In your next Q&A can you explain how to not be crazy 😂

[@morganacres9360]

In UK it's reeeal hard to find any other like minded musicians at all!! So I'm destined to play alone by default. However the ones that are here are either the young hipsters who dress up like huckleberry Finn 😂 or the old folks who just play cripple creek for 7 hours straight. I know no-one who likes to do the likes of Holcombe or the good good stuff that got mixed up and changed up from place to place with all the different lyrics and vocal styles. For me that stuff is like an endless voyage through the minds of those people. And I guess when you do it alone you then add just a little something to the mix for someone else to hear and so on

[@DC-gh1ds]

whereabouts you based? haha I'm in London and feel exactly the same - if its not round peak clawhammer its bluegrass when really I just wanna play some roscoe holcomb

[@vanceox]

I myself prefer these days to listen to solo artists. Acoustic duos are fine, a trio (IMHO) is stretching it too far!

[@jimsatterfield8748]

you need to get casted in a hillbilly movie...

[@CliftonHicksbanjo]

My agent will consider all offers.

[@Stoplossed]

yo clifton do hotel california

[@rcg5317]

WHAT?!? Women and booze causing trouble? They aren’t trouble, they are song inspiration.