# General Mandolin Topics > General Mandolin Discussions >  Random mandolin sightings

## journeybear

Saw a mandolin on network TV last week in a most unexpected place - Matchbox Twenty on the Tonight Show 10/4, then the next night on the Jimmy Kimmel Show. (Yes, they've changed their name from Matchbox 20 after their hiatus.) The acoustic player switched back and forth from guitar, but took a decent cross-picking lead on the mandolin. Something like an A-40, A body w/ F-holes.

Anyway, this got me to thinking about the seldom-occurring but usually thrilling experience of seeing a mandolin unexpectedly on TV or elsewhere, like in a movie. I was wondering if anyone else has had any simlar experiences (discounting country or bluegrass bands, as mandolins are more expected there) or related musings. By the latter I mean something like ... When REM's "Losing My Religion" went to #1 it was the first time that happened for a song featuring a mandolin since Rod Stewart's "Maggie May."

I know I've seen mandolins showing up on TV occasionally, besides when it was a clue on Jeopardy a couple of months ago. There was the Paul McCartney commercial for ipod or whatever it was, of course - and wasn't it nice for a Beatle to play a mandolin finally! I'm blanking right now about other appearances, though I keep remembering that there was a prop mandolin in Norah Jones' video for "Sunrise." And it's been more than 2 1/2 years since the Ditty Bops had their brief fling with notoriety on TV. I'm all for elevating mandolin consciousness in any way possible, so I find this stuff fascinating.

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## adgefan

Mandolin has been all over the BBC recently in a new trail:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/amazingmusic/brand.shtml

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## Snakebeard Jackson

journeybear
there are often mondolin sightings found here on the message board. some can be fun. a far as matchbox 20 goes at least they brought it into popular music.

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## f#54

Well, I never thought I would see it but there it was. A mandolin on American Idol, held by a contestant. I listened hard but I never heard a note from it. Lilly Scott was the performer singing Patsi, I fall to pieces. I think it was a Gibson.

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## Greg H.

I believe I saw a mandolin during a Roger Daltrey show last night. . . .if it is I've never seen one of these...it looked like an ES335 that had been through the laundry on hot. I was a way off so it could have been a bit larger (e.g. an octave or an electric mandola). Sounded good whichever it was.

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## The Mandolin Store

( American Idol ) It was definitely a Gibson Fern..................preceded by Gibson Les Paul................preceded by a small Gibson acoustic guitar.   Do we see a theme here?   The Gibson guys sure now how to get stuff into the right hands to get attention.

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## journeybear

That was pretty bad singing, though. She might have done better to have played the song rather than sung it.  :Disbelief:  Gee, that came out kind of snarky ... Oh well ...  :Whistling: 

Oh, all right, better than nothing.  :Wink:  Hopefully a sighting on a show with as big an audience as this gets will get a fair amount of people interested in the instrument.  :Mandosmiley: 

Hey - thanks for resurrecting this thread. Been a while ...

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## Ben Milne

Here's a pretty random mando sighting... a pic of a reso-mando being played at the 1977 Port Fairy Folk festival.  bonus points for the lagerphonic content i should think.
  I came across it in an email from a pro-Audio retailer.

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## journeybear

Don't know whether to resurrect this thread or just post these things as has become customary at the Mandolins On TV - Advance Notice thread, so I'll do both.  :Smile: 

Josh Groban's new album has been out a couple of months, and he is making a whirlwind publicity tour (of New York, anyway), appearing on three TV shows in one day - Regis, Today, and Letterman - announcing a tour beginning in the spring. Illuminations, produced by Rick Rubin, recasts him as something of a singer/songwriter. On Regis, he sang an original song called If I Walk Away, backed by a throng of string instruments, including a string quartet, two guitars, and - a mandolin.  :Disbelief:  Didn't recognize the player, but it was an Epiphone A style with f-holes and a tuner clipped to the headstock (just in case an adjustment needed to be made during the 2 1/2 minutes the song lasted). It was mixed well enough to hear it, which was nice, and just seeing it perked me up a bit on this day after Valentine's Day. Hopefully the same musicians will be playing tonight on Letterman.

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## KristinEliza

Last Fall...2009...Barrage came to my area and I took a group of my students to the performance.

I was excited when I saw a mandolin on stage...until I heard the girl play it...

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## Londy

Here, here on elevating mandolin consciousness!  You gotta love the gathering place here at the Cafe.
I just got done with practicing my mando skills...I keep wondering when am I going stop sucking at this!  Sip, sip...winding down with a cold one.

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## journeybear

Not a sighting, per se, but an interesting mention. Today on Jeopardy, in the interview segment, the current champion talked about playing acoustic blues-rock in a band with his father-in-law (brave lad) at a bi-weekly gig at a restaurant in his home town of Denver. He plays viola, which he says he plays "like a fiddle in this band, kind of bluegrass style," and his father-in-law plays guitar and ... mandolin!  :Mandosmiley:  I about let out a whoop when I heard that. Millions of people watch this show, and heard the name of our beloved instrument. Never mind that he ended up losing today; he had done his bit.  :Mandosmiley:

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## journeybear

Well, I'll be! Another Jeopardy appearance within a week, this time as a clue: in the first round, the first category was "Stringed Instruments," and the third clue for $600 was: "This instrument heard here precedes "Rain" in a Bruce Hornsby title." An audio clip played of a bit of Irish music (I think), and a contestant answered correctly. For once it didnt draw a blank, which hopefully shows some improvement in public awareness.

I want to vent a bit about the $200 clue: "The OED says this word for a violin is "only in familiar or contemptuous use."" I may be willing to let the (assumedly) British writers/editors slide on this, but those of us in the know - including UK residents - know there is a stylistic distinction in the term, irrespective of attitude. If anyone wishes to tilt at that windmill, please be my guest!

BTW, the correct answers were, in order: fiddle, viola, mandolin, harp, cello. No guitar or banjo.  :Mandosmiley:

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## Lukas J

I saw that same ES-335 inspired mando in '06 on The Who's Wire and Glass tour. It was Pete's brother Simon playing it then, though I don't know about whether it's still the remaining members of the Who now that Pete's retired due to hearing loss.

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## brianf

Amandolin shows up on Celtic Thunder Heritage.  They are one talented bunch!!!

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## journeybear

Just saw Pirates Of The Caribbean IV, and was surprised to hear and see something mandolinesque in the movie. First in the tavern scene about ten minutes in, then later on board the ship, about 53 minutes in, during what passes for a romantic scene. It is larger than a mandolin, not as long as an octave I don't think, so my guess is it is a mandola with a deep bowlback, and a pegboard like a classical guitar - but definitely four double courses. I waited until the credits to see who played it but I did not see any mandolin-type instrument mentioned.

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## Didge

I was watching The Voice tonight, and was rather surprised to see a mandolin during the show. I believe it was during Dia Frampton's performance. Hard to tell what it was besides an F-style with a sunburst, as it was out of focus during the practice scene, then too dark to see during the actual performance, but you could hear it throughout most of the song.

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## Willie Poole

Not a sighting but I believe on a Jack Daniels whisky commercial the music has a mandolin taking the lead....Also many years ago in the movie, "20,000 Leagues Under The Sea" didn`t Kirk Douglas play a type on mandolin in some of the scenes?

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## Beanzy

Hi Willie 

He plays a 4 string something or other and a turtle shell one at 2:08
http://youtu.be/NXRWdySrjDc

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## Paul Merlo

I saw a mandolin being played last night on "The Voice" during Dia Frampton's version of Losing My Religion.  They showed some studio rehearsals and the picker had a F5 (couldn't tell what maker).  Then, it was an Ovation being played during the performance by the same guy.  I immediately thought of this thread ;-)

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## journeybear

Here is an enormous bit of PR material for "Pirates Of The Caribbean IV." In it we see the list of songs, but no mandolinists listed in the credits. However, later on in the blah-de-blah, the following: 

The Queen Anne’s Revenge was not only the setting for numerous scenes of action and supernatural mayhem, but also for a moonlit dance of romance, deception and double-dealing between Captain Jack and Angelica, choreographed by Executive Producer John DeLuca to mandola music played by Stephen Graham as Scrum. (Graham actually learned how to play the mandola for his role with several preproduction lessons.) 

So those of us who guessed mandola get to pat ourselves on the back.  :Mandosmiley: 

Here are the songs featured in the movie; the first two feature the mandola:

MUSIC/SONGS 
“Tripping Up the Stairs” 
Traditional 
“Jolly Sailor Bold” 
Arranged by John DeLuca, Dave Giuli and Matt Sullivan 
“Mermaids” 
Written by Hans Zimmer and Eric Whitacre 
“Tango” 
Written by Eduardo Cruz

BTW, trivia note: Hans Zimmer, the film's composer, was in The Buggles, known for the song ”Video Killed The Radio Star,” the first video played on MTV.

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## journeybear

On "America's Got Talent," in the Atlanta auditions that aired a couple of weeks ago, a bluegrass band called The Fiddleheads did a credible rendition of Cee Lo Green's recent hit,  the clean version, "Forget You." It runs from :40 to 1:40 in this clip of three auditions. Host Nick Cannon's reaction is priceless: "Rockin' out - on a mandolin!"

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## journeybear

Watching Letterman last night, the actor Tim Robbins performed as Tim Robbins and the Rogues Gallery Band - pleasant enough, notable here because there was a mandolin player, on an A model oval hole with no name on the headstock. He is in the back and not on screen much; up front with Tim are violin and flute players. It all sounds pretty pleasant, and the mandolin (rhythm only) is down in the mix but audible. They were also on The View this morning. In the interview segment this morning they showed some old photos on the screen, including one of Tim as a kid holding a mandolin. It looks like it's in a bar - glasses on the wall behind him - probably The Gaslight Cafe. In case you didn't know, his father, Gil Robbins, was a member of the 60s folk quartet The Highwaymen, and then became manager of The Gaslight Cafe, where Tim surely saw and heard a lot of music and musicians. His mother, Mary, was also a singer. Sadly, they both died in April, twelve days apart.

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## Ben Milne

Very random...

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## Bill Bradshaw

Hope this isn't old news and that I really saw it, but I'm pretty sure there was a guy with a mandolin case flailing around in the scene in King Kong where he stops the subway train while searching for Jessica Lange (1976 version of the movie).  Judging from the case it was probably a missing Loar, so now we know what happend to at least one of them.

BB

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## journeybear

Just saw "Magic Trip," the documentary that finally got pieced together from all the footage and recordings compiled on the now-famous cross-country bus trip by Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters back in 1964 - sure to become a cult classic, an encapsulation of some aspects of the cultural revolution of the 1960s. Just as I was thinking (mandolinist that I am), "But no mandolin!" (Ken Kesey playing his flute often, and a guitar and recorder/slide flute combo were seen often), Neal Casady drove the bus off the road into the sand in the Arizona desert, and they were stuck. So naturally, they decided to have some fun, took some acid, frolicked in a nearby pond, and there suddenly appeared a mandolin - a none-too-fancy bowlback, but still, groovy. (This is about 40-45 minutes in). It encored a bit later, when they showed up at somebody's friend's house before he got home from work and they had some fun running around playing every instrument they had - including the above, plus saxophone, trombone, and another recorder. Not that anyone seemed to know how to play any of these instruments, but that hardly seemed the point. Nor mine here. What I liked was learning that, in this nonsensical excursion that helped kick off the counterculture movement, there was a mandolin in the mix.  :Mandosmiley:

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## BlackChris

Aussie film called Mad Bastards - just new out - has two old musician guys who play different songs all the way through the film - first song up guitar and mandolin and the mando features later on too.  Good film as well

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## journeybear

Tuned in to Leno tonight because the listing said "Yo-Yo Ma and Friends," so I had no idea whom that meant - like Chris Thile. :Disbelief:  But it was thus a pleasant surprise, a song from the Goat Rodeo release. Not earth-shaking, nor mando-centric, but a pleasant ensemble performance.

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## Steve Sorensen

Mandolin playing "Brewer Boys" sadly, unfortunately, wrongly, foolishly cut from the "X Factor".  How could Paula Abdul be so cruel?

Steve

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## Ben Milne

> Just saw "Magic Trip," the documentary that finally got pieced together from all the footage and recordings compiled on the now-famous cross-country bus trip by Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters back in 1964 - sure to become a cult classic, an encapsulation of some aspects of the cultural revolution of the 1960s. Just as I was thinking (mandolinist that I am), "But no mandolin!" (Ken Kesey playing his flute:


I'm guessing then this ain't the Ken Casey of Dropkick Murphys fame then?

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## journeybear

Ummm ... no, mate - different Murphy - or should I say, McMurphy!  :Grin:

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## journeybear

Lady Antebellum on Ellen today, playing their new single, featuring an OM or mandocello. Nice enough tune, nicer still that this is a single - "We Own The Night." I doubt it will do as well as their smash hit "Need You Now" - not in the same league songwriting-wise, and it is hardly country, even by current Nashville standards - but I like that something featuring a mandolin family instrument will be getting airplay on the level this will. It is most prominent in the opening hook, and then serves mostly as a rhythm instrument, with repeats of that hook.

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## thewhitegts

> Mandolin playing "Brewer Boys" sadly, unfortunately, wrongly, foolishly cut from the "X Factor".  How could Paula Abdul be so cruel?
> 
> Steve


That wasn't a bad looking F Model Washburn the kid played on there...

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## journeybear

Love 'em, hate 'em, don't give a hoot about 'em, give them a little credit - The Band Perry won three big CMA awards - song of the year and single of the year for "If I Die Young" (actually, the awards go to the writers and producers), and New Artist Of The Year, an award in their own right. They did not win for Vocal Group Of The Year - that went to Lady Antebellum, who did feature OM in their performance, and of course mandolin was featured by The Band Perry. Mandolin showed up in other performances as well, by Faith Hill and others. It was a nice bump in visibility for our beloved instrument.  :Mandosmiley: 

PS: Biggest AWWW moment - Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert winning for Male and Female Vocalist Of The Year (respectively), the capper to a banner year for the happy couple. Best overall moment - Hank Jr. poking fun at himself, ably abetted by hosts Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood; good PR, yes, but good comedy, too.

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## mritter

And.....that Band Perry kid was playing an Ellis A at one time. Didn't see the show last night.  Can't be all bad.

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## journeybear

Another off-screen sighting - that is, an appearance on a soundtrack, this time in a recent episode of "Parenthood." The song played just after Christina has her baby is a pleasant little tune, fingerpicked guitar and nice vocal harmonies, with a bit of mandolin at the end. After some looking I found it was "Such Great Heights" by Iron & Wine from the "Garden State" soundtrack - definitely not the original techno version by The Postal Service nor the thrash version by Confide. Interesting to hear such divergent versions of the same song. I think they went with the right one.  :Wink:

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## Ben Milne

Saw a sigma mandolin with electric pickup being used on stage with Bright Eyes over the weekend.

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## KristinEliza

Saw a Banjolin/Mando-Banjo in a scene from _Breaking Dawn_ yesterday.  Only about 30 minutes into the movie, in the Rio Scene.

Probably not a lot of Twilight fans on this forum   :Smile:

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## journeybear

Prolly not.  :Smile:  though now that I know this, I am going to have to watch that. but first, I'll have to watch all three previous movies so I can get all caught up and put this in proper perspective. 

Or not.  :Wink: 

I saw _Higher Ground,_ an odd but oddly intriguing movie about a woman's involvement in a fundamentalist Baptist community in the 1970s - 1980s (seems - the filmmakers were careful to avoid time and place references). It seemed like the South, but apparently it was upstate (or Hudson Valley) New York - because as I was reading the credits, listening to a bit of mandolin in the hymns, I noticed thanks to the NY film commision and a reference to the Hudson Valley. Also a couple of music credits that included Amy Helm. That's the mandolin-pickin' daughter of mandolin-pickin' Levon Helm from The Band, dontcha know.

Also, there was an appearance at the AMA Awards last night - The Band Perry doing their smash hit, "If I Die Young." Also, Taylor Swift went out of her way to go across the aisle and hug Kimberly Perry before she went up to accept her award for Artist Of The Year. Sweet.

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## Mike Scott

Last week the old Bogart classic "To Have and Have Not" based on the Hemingway book was on TCM.  In a couple of the bar scenes there was an oval hole two point (as I recall) being played in the "group".  I was shocked.  All chordal strumming.

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## journeybear

Wow! How did I miss that? Maybe I was watching Lauren Bacall too closely ...  :Wink:  BTW, if you didn't know, that is Hoagy Carmichael at the piano.

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## F-2 Dave

Must have seen that movie a half dozen times. Mandolin sighting always slipped by me. Hoagy is the man and Bacall was definitely watch worthy.

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## journeybear

On SNL this past weekend, cast member Jason Sudeikas made two appearances as a minstrel of sorts playing a cheap Pac-Rim mandolin, during a parody of _War Horse._ Unfortunately, he strummed it a bit.  :Frown: 

Not like the old days, when band leader and guitarist GE Smith occasionally would play mandolin as they went to commercial. No great shakes, but no slouch, either.

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## Ben Milne

Local Beer company's Cider ad featuring a hipsters playing a tater bug

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## journeybear

Well, geez, I dunno ...  :Confused:  ... I didn't mention Jack White's upcoming appearance on SNL because I didn't expect there to be any MC. Well, there was, sort of ...  :Whistling:  ... For the first song he played an acoustic guitar and was backed by all female musicians. Nice, but nothing extraordinary. For the second song he played an electric guitar and was backed by all male musicians, including fiddle and mandolin. His guitar was turned up so loud relative to all the other instruments that they couldn't be heard, even the drums (just barely), and it had some effect that kept changing pitch, which was pretty annoying. In fact, the whole thing was. So, yeah, it was a mandolin _sighting,_ but not a mandolin _hearing._  :Frown:

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## SincereCorgi

> Well, geez, I dunno ...  ... I didn't mention Jack White's upcoming appearance on SNL because I didn't expect there to be any MC. Well, there was, sort of ...  ... For the first song he played an acoustic guitar and was backed by all female musicians. Nice, but nothing extraordinary. For the second song he played an electric guitar and was backed by all male musicians, including fiddle and mandolin. His guitar was turned up so loud relative to all the other instruments that they couldn't be heard, even the drums (just barely), and it had some effect that kept changing pitch, which was pretty annoying. In fact, the whole thing was. So, yeah, it was a mandolin _sighting,_ but not a mandolin _hearing._


Yeah, I saw this too and was wondering what people thought. What got me is that there was no place whatsoever in that texture to hear a mandolin, and the stuff that the guy was 'playing' on it seemed more like an excuse to make dramatic gestures rather than anything that would have any musical impact. Still, no denying that Jack White has a flare for visual impact. I thought the contrast of the white/female and black/male ensembles was pretty neat.

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## journeybear

Yep. I give him props for stage craft - casting, costume design, and such - and I did like the first song. The second was just too much guitar overwhelming everything else, and the effect he was so fond of wasn't working for me either. Music is still paramount in a musical performance, as far as I'm concerned (I may be a bit old-fashioned there  :Whistling:  ), so when it gets submerged or supplanted by other aspects I tend to lose interest. Still, this was a bit of an upturn after the last couple/few musical guests. Been a bit of a rough patch, and next week it's The Shins. Trying to be optimistic ...

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## Ed Goist

I've watched the Jack White SNL performance a few times now off the DVR.
I really liked both songs. However, I like just about everything Jack White does, and having been a big fan for several years, I'll admit to not being too objective.
All that said, I'm pretty sure that's a mandola being played during the second song...Talk about rare.

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## GDAE

He had one of the most expressive fiddlers in the world playing on that second song, Fats Kaplin, and you couldn't hear him at all.  What a waste of a talented performer.

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## journeybear

Last night on Letterman there was a performance by the cast of the Broadway musical, "Once." I was surprised to learn there had been an attempt to cash in on the rather limited success of this delightful independent movie - Oscar winner for best song notwithstanding - and approached with mixed feelings of curiosity and apprehension. It opened with a bunch of lively musicians dancing around and playing instruments, more theatrically than musically, even pushing an upright piano around while playing it - with a string section of fiddle, banjo and mandolin. Not that it could be heard, mind you, but this was a random mandolin sighting, for sure. At least when they settled down and segued into "Falling Slowly" things got better. Even then, it was odd to see the male singer play an intentionally distressed guitar - nicely polished except for the worn areas around the soundhole -  even though the intent was to recreate the original from the movie. All in all, pretty weird, taking a pretty low key movie and trying to jazz it up for Broadway. Must have been quite  challenge to turn a quiet little movie about a busker into a musical with splashy dance numbers.  :Disbelief:  Of course, Broadway rarely misses a chance to try and make a buck.  :Wink:  Sometimes this works, but this seems so counter to the spirit of the movie. Oh well, there was a mandolin on the tube. Woo hoo!  :Smile:

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## Terry Allan Hall

> Hi Willie 
> 
> He plays a 4 string something or other and a turtle shell one at 2:08
> http://youtu.be/NXRWdySrjDc


Kirk Douglas is a fairly competent tenor banjo/tenor guitar player, and his instrument he built is kinda a tenor or a mando-turtle-ola...  :Grin:

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## journeybear

Well, this is a first for me - a mandolin sample in a live performance. At least I think that is how it was done. Right at the start, to kick off the song, you will hear mandolin, but there isn't one to be seen. The instrumentation is drums, guitar, keyboards and DJ. The mandolin sound is being produced by - I dunno.  :Confused:  Guitar through midi? A disc on the turntable? A sampled sound on the keyboard? That's my guess. Maybe someone more up on this sort of technology or music can give a more informed opinion. But if all you want to hear is mandolin, do yourself a favor and stop after the first four measures.




Also, there was mandolin (this time a real one) in The Lumineers' performance on Ferguson Wednesday night. Just rhythm, but nice enough. Still waiting for that to show up on youtube.

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## journeybear

OK - Couldn't find a clip of just The Lumineers; this segment includes the end of Jeffrey Tambor's time. There's a bit of language, so you'll have to go to youtube for it. Their performance starts at 6:00 in.

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## Ed Goist

My money's on a midi
_"...two of the most acclaimed musicians around..."_?!
*Please!* Ellen, you're killing me!...Acclaimed performers maybe, but not acclaimed musicians.

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## journeybear

:Smile:  Ellen IS very proactive with praise.  :Smile: 

I'm still thinking sample via keyboard. These things have gotten very realistic. Another possibility is backing track. Remember Ashlee Simpson on SNL, when she forgot about the "live" part?  :Grin:

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## SincereCorgi

> My money's on a midi
> _"...two of the most acclaimed musicians around..."_?!
> *Please!* Ellen, you're killing me!...Acclaimed performers maybe, but not acclaimed musicians.


If rapping well is so easy, perhaps you should give it a shot and tell us how it goes.  :Smile:

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## Ed Goist

> If rapping well is so easy, perhaps you should give it a shot and tell us how it goes.


SincereCorgi, I do not think rapping well is _"so easy"_. Moreover, I believe that there are many rappers who truly are/were acclaimed musicians. Some (but not all) I'd put on that list are: Ludacris, Kanye West, Eazy-E, Notorius B.I.G., Nelly, Tupac, Ice Cube, Snoop Dogg, Ice T, Dr. Dre, Chuck D, Mike D, MCA, Ad-Rock, and of course, _The Bill Monroe of Rap_, Eminem.

Colbie Caillat and Common are not on that list. My issue isn't with Rap, it with the elevation of these two performers to the statue of _"acclaimed musicians"_. 

We seem to live in a time of ridiculous hyperbole. I think the use of hyperbole here minimizes the stature of the truly great (like those mentioned above).

P.S.: I should add here that, in my opinion, Eminem is the greatest lyricist in the history of American popular music. ( Sorry Bob Dylan, this statement isn't hyperbole  :Smile:  )

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SincereCorgi

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## Larry Mossman

> SincereCorgi, I do not think rapping well is _"so easy"_. Moreover, I believe that there are many rappers who truly are/were acclaimed musicians. Some (but not all) I'd put on that list are: Ludacris, Kanye West, Eazy-E, Notorius B.I.G., Nelly, Tupac, Ice Cube, Snoop Dogg, Ice T, Dr. Dre, Chuck D, Mike D, MCA, Ad-Rock, and of course, _The Bill Monroe of Rap_, Eminem.
> 
> Colbie Caillat and Common are not on that list. My issue isn't with Rap, it with the elevation of these two performers to the statue of _"acclaimed musicians"_. 
> 
> We seem to live in a time of ridiculous hyperbole. I think the use of hyperbole here minimizes the stature of the truly great (like those mentioned above).
> 
> P.S.: I should add here that, in my opinion, Eminem is the greatest lyricist in the history of American popular music. ( Sorry Bob Dylan, this statement isn't hyperbole  )



start the video and at :16 seconds and check out the guitarist on the right playing way up the neck.  He is clearly in rhythm with the mandolin-sounding instrument....  pushed thru some effects/synth type deal...  that's got to be the source of the "mandolin" sound. 

There is lots of great stuff out there, acclaimed or not.  I have a 17 year old who has exposed me to all kinds of hip-hop - including Common. I think I recall that Colbie gal singing something with Jason Mraz (another musician introduced to me who is very good)... never heard that song before but I liked it and the performance - mandolin or no mandolin.  

Ain't music grand.

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## Ed Goist

> start the video and at :16 seconds and check out the guitarist on the right playing way up the neck.  He is clearly in rhythm with the mandolin-sounding instrument....  pushed thru some effects/synth type deal...  that's got to be the source of the "mandolin" sound. ...snip...


Very good catch! I think you're right.
Oh, I should add that I think this is a very fine performance...Maybe these two are more acclaimed than I initially thought.  :Smile: 
Music is grand!

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## journeybear

The phrase "acclaimed musicians" is composed of two elements. Regardless of my estimation of their talents, I assume that both performers have received a good amount of acclaim; record sales on their level don't come without a lot of notice and commentary, both positive and negative. But when it comes to calling singers "musicians," perhaps I get a little pedantic on this point. I tend to think of a musician as someone who plays an instrument. In my experience, singers who don't also play an instrument are often quite clueless about what it takes to learn how to play music, and also seem to feel they are somehow special, in a curiously egomaniacal way, as if they are in possession of a marvelous gift. This attitude may arise from a singer's belief that since their voicebox has been configured in an extraordinary fashion, this attribute is somehow extrapolated to include the whole person. Some sure act this way, anyway, which can be frustrating for those who have put in years learning to play an instrument.  :Mad:  Oh yes, singing is a skill (one which I have in much less quality or quantity than mandolinning, such as that is  :Wink:  - make of that what you will), and can be developed through effort from what one has to work with in the first place. But in performance, most of the audience's attention tends to be focused on the singer, and singers tend to revel in this attention and (ahem) acclaim.

So I don't much care for these two being termed "acclaimed musicians" on this basis. I probably would not have thought twice about this if Ed hadn't pointed it out, and he probably wouldn't have noticed anything if Ellen had said something like  "acclaimed performers."  But she didn't, he did, and here I am embroiled in the most significant discussion ever, about the most outrageous misnomer ever. I agree with Ed about this being an age of ridiculous hyperbole, the worst such situation ever. This even includes a time over a century ago when flowery language was all the rage; at least those pretentious polemics arose from a desire to use descriptive terms, different from just gushing. Additionally, there seems to be an astounding abundance of short attention span and short memory, as attested by the overwhelmingly often repeated locution "the best" ( or "greatest" or "worst" (or "whatever")) ever. "Ever" in these cases seems to go back perhaps a week, or however far back the speaker or writer can remember without thinking too hard - which is the shortest span of time "ever" has ever referred to. _Ever._




> start the video and at :16 seconds and check out the guitarist on the right playing way up the neck.  He is clearly in rhythm with the mandolin-sounding instrument....  pushed thru some effects/synth type deal...  that's got to be the source of the "mandolin" sound. 
> 
> There is lots of great stuff out there, acclaimed or not.  I have a 17 year old who has exposed me to all kinds of hip-hop - including Common. I think I recall that Colbie gal singing something with Jason Mraz (another musician introduced to me who is very good)... never heard that song before but I liked it and the performance - mandolin or no mandolin.


Good eye! That seems like the best explanation - some kind of pedal that gives a string-doubling effect for a guitar (eliminating the need for an actual 12-string) - which when played an octave up would duplicate a mandolin sound. I recall Colbie Caillat doing some duets with Jason Mraz on his big hit, "I'm Yours," one in a long line of pop songs with the 1-5-6m-4 chord progression that have flooded the airwaves for the past decade or so. She is a pleasant, charming, engaging singer (and also plays ukulele occasionally), one whom I always tune in to see when she is on the tube.

Common, and his colleagues, not so much. I am not too keen on rap or hip-hop, for what it's worth. I find the attitude with which it is presented off-putting, as well as the lack of melody. I just don't care for being shouted at, which is how the net result affects me. I tend to gravitate toward listening to something pleasant, and while I can handle challenging music, it still has to draw me in rather than be thrust at me. But, as always, YMMV. And Ed, if you _really_ consider Eminem a greater lyricist than Dylan, and dozens, scores, perhaps hundreds of other lyricists, and are not kidding ... well, you are of course entitled to your opinion, however wrong it is!  :Laughing:

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## Ed Goist

Eminem has gone places with his lyrics that (to my knowledge) no one else has ever gone in the history of popular music.
I believe there is genius at work here...Dark and sometimes angry genius, but genius nonetheless.
Every time I listen to his lyrics I'm overwhelmed by their density, imagery and the style with which they are composed.
In my opinion he's operating on another plane...
JB, to use the name of one of your favorite performers as an adjective, I'd say Eminem is damn near _"Hendrixian"_ when it comes to being a lyricist. ( _Of course, this is all opinion...No debate is desired, and I shall not engage in one._  :Smile:  )

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## journeybear

You know i respect your opinion, so I have to consider I may have missed something there. I have no desire to delve further in debate on the subject either; I doubt much is to be gained from such an endeavor.  :Smile:  As I said or implied, I find the whole effect of this kind of music so off-putting I have listened closely to very little of it, certainly not with the discernment necessary to educe lyrical content. I have one rap/hip-hop album - Arrested Development's first album - which is so categorized but seems too melodic to fit that categorization. Other than that, I like two rap songs - Tone Loc's "Wild Thing" and Blondie's "Rapture" (if you want to call it rap; it is more of an ironic take on rap that somehow failed to kill the then-new music form). Both of those have a vastly softer vocal approach than is common today, or for rap's entire history, as far as I know, as well as use humor to a greater extent than most of what I've heard. But since you set such store in his work, I will put Eminem on my to-do list. I make no promises where on that rather lengthy list it will land, but since other friends of mine whose tastes I respect  also have given Mr. Mathers a modicum of acclaim  :Smile:  it behooves me to give him a try.

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## Ed Goist

I Love Tone Loc's _Wild Thing_! (with that classic EVH guitar sample from _Jamie's Cryin'_)
Oh, and _Funky Cold Medina_ too! (from the same album, _"Lōc-ed After Dark"_)
Those are some old school jams right there!
...Now back to Random Mandolin Sightings.  :Smile:

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## journeybear

As promised/threatened/mentioned in Part *2* of Post #52  :Smile:  - The Lumineers on Ferguson last Wednesday, with their song "Ho Hey" (yes, that's its name, though they are clearly singing "Hey!" then Ho!" by my reckoning. They are based in Denver, her name is Neyla Pekarek, and yes, she has a capo on the fifth fret.





Here is the official version. They get the words right here.  :Wink:

----------


## Martin Stevens

nevermind

----------


## MandoSquirrel

> nevermind


That was sort of my thought after clicking The Lumineers links.

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## journeybear

Hey, they can't all be Katzenjammer.  :Wink:  When _they_ finally get on American TV (which clearly missed the boat when they _were_ here), they will be featured here, you can be sure of that. Meanwhile, just reporting the news. Editorial is another department. Technically.  :Whistling:

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## MandoSquirrel

Understood; no problem; all good.

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## journeybear

Cool beans _(¿frijoles frias?)_. I just get a little giddy whenever a mandolin shows up unannounced in the media. That's all this thread is about. Wish it happened more often, but all in good time ...  :Grin:

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## journeybear

Well, this will teach me to keep my eyes, ears, and mind open. Jason Mraz had a mandolinist with him yesterday on Ellen; I assume he will do the same song the same way on Kimmel tonight.

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## journeybear

Just saw "Thin Ice," a very enjoyable yarn that is sort of a mix of "Fargo" and "The Usual Suspects," in which the maguffin is a supposedly very valuable violin. Early on our hero (or anti-hero) visits a violin expert's shop, and tucked away among the racks of violins is a mandolin, bowlback I think (mostly hidden behind a violin). A bit later he goes to a music store to buy a cheap violin, and there's a mandolin hanging on the rack as well. These are bit parts, walk-ons really, and not enough reason to see the movie - that would be the script and some of the performances, as well as the twist at the end - but always nice to see a mandolin in a movie.

----------


## journeybear

A friend of mine just posted this to facebook, a scene from the 1944 Bogey-Bacall vehicle, "To Have And Have Not," their first pairing, and the chemistry was obvious and volatile. Much of the activity occurs in a bar in a Caribbean island, and it is upstairs in a hotel room that Slim tells Steve how to whistle. That's Hoagy Carmichael at the piano, singing his own "Hong Kong Blues." The band appears to be much the kind of odd conglomeration of instruments one does indeed find down here - people who have made it this far and then can't seem to leave for one reason or other. So there is a plectrum banjo, violin, and mandolin.




Knowing this clip was on the web inspired me to find this one, as Bacall sings a sultry number:




 As far as I know these are the only times a mandolin shows up in a Bogart movie.

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## journeybear

One of the perks of volunteering at our local non-profit cinema is I get to see movies for free (plus free popcorn and soda, and we use real butter and have Mountain Dew), and since this is mostly an art house and we have four screens, I get to see a lot of movies that I probably never would otherwise. And so, sometimes I see things ...

"The Footnote" (nominee for Best Foreign Film Oscar, from Israel): There is a party about five minutes in with an acoustic band, and mandolin is the lead instrument);

"Salmon Fishing In The Yemen": mandolin featured prominently in the music in the trailer, though not in the movie (IIRC);

"Wanderlust": mandolin featured in the soundtrack, though not played by the hippie band that keeps jamming at the commune;

And as I mentioned last week, two appearances in "Thin Ice."

Somehow, no musician credits.  :Frown:  Oh well ... at least it's showing up ...  :Mandosmiley:

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## Marty Henrickson

I spotted a brief mandolin appearance on Episode 2 of The History Channell's _Hatfields & McCoys_ miniseries.  It showed up in a scene about 20 minutes from the end, just before Johnse Hatfield bursts into the saloon where his brother and uncle are enjoying some "quality time".  One of the characters (possibly Elias Hatfield) is picking out an unknown (to me), somewhat "fiddlistic" (to borrow a word from Darol Anger) melody on a flat-top, oval-hole mandolin.  I suppose it could be a Martin, but I'm not sure when they started building mandolins.

----------


## rgray

> I spotted a brief mandolin appearance on Episode 2 of The History Channell's _Hatfields & McCoys_ miniseries.  It showed up in a scene about 20 minutes from the end, just before Johnse Hatfield bursts into the saloon where his brother and uncle are enjoying some "quality time".  One of the characters (possibly Elias Hatfield) is picking out an unknown (to me), somewhat "fiddlistic" (to boorow a word from Darol Anger) melody on a flat-top, oval-hole mandolin.  I suppose it could be a Martin, but I'm not sure when they started building mandolins.


Episode 1 had a mandolin as well, though not being played.  I was wondering about the authenticity for the period.

----------


## Jim Garber

> One of the characters (possibly Elias Hatfield) is picking out an unknown (to me), somewhat "fiddlistic" (to boorow a word from Darol Anger) melody on a flat-top, oval-hole mandolin.  I suppose it could be a Martin, but I'm not sure when they started building mandolins.


That is also assuming that the program's producers truly wanted an authentic instrument. According to Wikipedia, Hatfield McCoy feud took place from 1863–91. I think the first Martin flattop mandolin would have been around 1914. This should have been a bowlback of it was authentic or no American mandolin in the 1860s. They should have just had a banjo or maybe a guitar.

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## Marty Henrickson

Just took a closer look, since I have this DVR'd.  I would say with 99.9% certainty that the instrument is NOT a bowl-back, although the scene is shadowy enough that it's not totally clear.  It is a slothead instrument, if that's any help for identification.

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## Jim Garber

Definitely not a bowlback. It looks like a eastern European instrument, they prob found it in the prop room. It was likely made in the 1950s, 60s or so. I did a screen shot but it is not too clear.

The tune sounds pretty much like random noodling but maybe I just can't hear it all.

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## rgray

> Definitely not a bowlback. It looks like a *eastern European* instrument, they prob found it in the prop room. It was likely made in the 1950s, 60s or so. I did a screen shot but it is not too clear.
> 
> The tune sounds pretty much like random noodling but maybe I just can't hear it all.


Seems to fit seeing as the movie was filmed in Romania.  :Smile:

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## journeybear

I haven't watched this much-anticipated production yet, so please don't spoil it for me/us/those few who care ...  :Whistling:  But The History Channel has been known to play a bit loose with historical authenticity, and has been taken to task for this before by some around here, people who seem to be a good bit more knowledgeable than those actually working in the props department. And rightly so - they should pay attention to period detail, if they have any intention to educate as well as entertain (and sell soap, of course). Or maybe change their name to The Infotainment Channel (eg., _Pawn Stars_ - really?  :Disbelief:  ) I have a feeling someone just grabbed something out of the prop room and put it in the actor's hands. Anyway, it's still a mandolin on the screen. Could have been worse - do I have to come right out and say how?  :Grin: 

Another possibility - could it have been a homemade instrument? Something someone whittled to resemble something seen in a Sears catalog?  :Confused:  

BTW, I thought it a bit odd that an interview with Kevin Costner on _The Tavis Smiley Show_ (PBS) seemed to spend so much time on this production. Guess there were some promo bucks to spend; just an odd venue. Or maybe not, maybe this is being aimed at an erudite audience. Seems to be working, a bit.  :Smile:

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## Marty Henrickson

> I haven't watched this much-anticipated production yet, so please don't spoil it for me/us/those few who care ...


That's why I didn't reveal any crucial plot elements.  :Wink: 

I'm enjoying this miniseries so far (I have only watched the first two so far, due to a strange work schedule[thank goodness for DVR!]).  The music that is being portrayed as being played by characters - as opposed to background "atmospheric" music - seems to be period-correct, with lots of fiddle and banjo.  There may be some prop inaccuracies, but the basic facts of the story seem to be intact, if condensed for cinematic purposes.  I think that, for me, the point of a "docu-drama" such as this is to create more interest in the subject matter.  For me, it has been successful, as I am already researching which book(s) I want to read to learn more about the Hatfield-McCoy feud.

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## journeybear

Mandolin showed up unexpectedly a couple times yesterday - in an appearance by Josh Turner on Good Morning America and by Jana Walker on The Tonight Show. Also the ACL episode from a couple years back of Elvis Costello/Band Of Heathens, Mike Compton in the first half, is still making the rounds..

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## journeybear

So there I was, watching yet another tedious French movie - in which it takes a long time for anything to happen and then when something does one isn't sure what it was, and the movie ends by just stopping (this style seems to be all too common in the French movies that come to our local art cinema; hopefully there are other better movies being produced by the historically _superbe_ French cinema industry) - when a song appeared in the soundtrack, in English, with a mandolin in the mix.  :Disbelief:  So naturally I had to stay through the movie until the end for the credits (well, I was still hoping the movie would add up to something more than a slice or two of life (it did not)), and learned it was "The Water" by Johnny Flynn, harmony vocals by Laura Marling. I had not heard of him, but have seen her on the tube a couple times, one of several British singers currently being touted as The Next Big Thing. In case you're wondering the movie was called "L'Amour De Jeunesse," somehow translated for the American market into "Goodbye First Love" (rather than "The Love Of Youth"), so you can plan to avoid it and save yourself from wasting nearly two hours better spent otherwise. Nice enough song, though ... Ironically, the video is like a four-minute French film as described above (my only other choice I could see for a studio version of the song is just a still photo) - footage seemingly randomly assembled with no plot or conclusion. No high hopes for the genre, mind you, but it seemed eloquently appropriate given the context. Additionally, the star of the video drives a Peugeot, another French connection.  :Wink: 




Also, last night, the musical guest on The Tonight Show was a band called Imagine Dragons, from Utah,and the opening riff was played on a single string electric, sampled, then repeated throughout the song, while that player switched to electric guitar. At least I think that's what happened. Waiting for the video to come up on hulu.com. Meanwhile this should hold you; same song, anyway.

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## journeybear

So there I was, watching yet _another_ tedious French movie - no, wait, that was the other one ("17 Girls," bit of a trivial trifle) - this was actually a very entertaining little film called "Chicken With Plums" (or "Poulet Avec Prunes;" it's in French), in which a master violinist gives up on his disappointing life and goes to bed to die (this is not as depressing as that sounds, as there is a lot of joy and humor as well, but that is the central theme). It's set in Iran (I assume it was an international production), and in an early scene our hero goes into a music store to find a replacement for his smashed violin (look, I am trying to keep to the mandolin-specific content (minuscule in the context of the film, but all-important within our_ petit milieu_) but there is a lot going on in this film). Hanging in the shop are various ouds and lutes and other mandolinesque instruments. These are seen rather briefly, as background set dressing, but nice to see all the same. The movie is really quite charming, full of small delights, well worth seeking out.

Also seen recently, a more mainstream if still indie production, "The Perks of Being a Wallflower," about a teenager who has ben through a lot, and keeps distant from others as he enters his freshman year in high school, until he makes a few friends. The opening sequence features an acoustically-driven song, in which after a little bit mandolin makes an appearance. It took a bit of sleuthing to find out what it was - "Could It Be Another Change" by The Samples. Here are two videos - the official version, with at least something to look at, and another with just the movie poster - and oddly enough, a great many more hits. The latter has better sound quality, or I would have gone with just the first. It's no great shakes, but my ears always perk up when a mandolin calls.








And finally, Brandi Carlile has been showing up on the tube lately, as she has recently released an album. She has added a fiddler to the touring band, and on at least one song he plays a pancake mandolin. Not expertly, mind you, but nice to hear. I have been a fan of hers since "The Story" - one of my favorite albums of the millennium - and following her ever since. So that was why I was tuning in, and was pleasantly surprised by the new addition. Not her best work, but nice enough.

----------


## TheArimathean

Notice the mandolin with Ronnie and Jimmy in the newest batch of GEICO commercials, I can't tell what type of mando it is but it looks cool!

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## Marty Jacobson

There is a thread about the GEICO commercial: http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/sh...t=ronnie+jimmy

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## mandroid

Link TV has world music segment, saw  some nice music, + 1 w a mandolin..

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## Jim

Miniseries ,"Storm of the Century" one of the charecters is playing Mandolin at the kitchen table just as he and his girlfriend & her kids decide to go to the comunity shelter. He seemed to actually be playing something but the scene was only 15 seconds or so.

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## Marty Jacobson

Ok. Mary Mack is hilarious.

----------

Rush Burkhardt

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## Charles E.

My wife was watching "Meet Me in St. Louis" and I happened to walk through when Judy Garland and Tootie are singing "Under the Bamboo Tree". There is a guy "playing" mandolin through the whole number.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXkeBI0ZDYQ

Sorry, about the link, I swear I will learn to embed.

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## journeybear

Saw "Life Of Pi" yesterday. Fascinating film, fine storytelling, and one of the most beautiful movies I've ever seen. Just amazing visually. If it doesn't win the Oscar for cinematography you can set me adrift in a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger.  :Wink:  But that's not why I'm posting. Sitting through the credits - not sure why, wasn't expecting to see anyone's name nor any other relevant info, probablu just wanting the experience to keep going on - I saw in the music credits the following: George Doering - mandolin and Glen Holmen - bass mandolin.  :Disbelief:  You could have knocked me over with a feather - not actually, as I was still slouched down in my seat, but figuratively ... This is a movie about an Indian boy who grows up with his family in a zoo they own which they have to sell and then they leave on a sea voyage with the animals and - well, what I'm saying is, the soundtrack was very Indian in nature, befitting the thematic elements, and contained no Western pop music, which was why I wasn't expecting to see anything in the credits. Then I saw that, and then I noticed there was indeed a bit of mandolin tremolo in the music over the credits right then, mixed in with the sitar and all. Plus seeing a credit for a bass mandolin was a first for me. So off to imdb I go, and find nearly nothing for Glen Holmen (literally - only one credit, soon to be two), but OMG - 847 titles for George Doering!  :Disbelief:  Dude's been busy! I've never heard of him. Anyone? Meanwhile, go see this movie, if you haven't already. It's excellent.

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## DataNick

This weekend I saw the chick flick "Safe Haven" with my girlfriend. At the end of the movie in the town 4th of July celebration scene, a country/americana band is playing and the camera pans and does a nice closeup of the mando player, and a close shot on his F5 style mando. Of course I immeadiately pointed it out to my girlfriend who just smiled...

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## journeybear

Well, maybe it's not really random if a band in which one of the main members plays mandolin regularly shows up on TV and the guy is playing mandolin. But if it's a pretty random mandolin, like an electric resonator mandolin, it's worth noting. Also, it's always nice when a mandolin is given a good level in the mix. This is The Band Perry on Letterman last night. A bit out of sync on my computer, maybe OK on yours.

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## Traveling Tracks

Watching TV with my kids...there is a new Disney Junior show called "Sofia the First" about a little princess in Europe I take it....wasn't really paying attention....until one of the supporting characters is playing the mandolin and then accompanies the main character while she sings a song.  My kids were freaking out....."Dad, she's playing a mandolin!!!"

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## rb3868

> Well, maybe it's not really random if a band in which one of the main members plays mandolin regularly shows up on TV and the guy is playing mandolin. But if it's a pretty random mandolin, like an electric resonator mandolin, it's worth noting. Also, it's always nice when a mandolin is given a good level in the mix. This is The Band Perry on Letterman last night. A bit out of sync on my computer, maybe OK on yours.


And it was the second time recently that Letterman has commented (positively) on a mandolin in recent months.  He has MIS - Mandolin Inquisitiveness Syndrome.

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## Drew Egerton

Was watching Letterman last night and I guess it was a re-run from a while ago with the episode with Steve Martin and Lonesome River Band. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3FD29iLlUo

At the very end he says "What is that? Oh a mandolin"

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## journeybear

:Confused:  Contact your TV provider. Something's wrong. Last night's episode was new, with The Flaming Lips. (Something was wrong with that, too, but in another way ...  :Whistling:  )

But yes, Dave has come a ways since Steve Earle's appearance way back when, in 1988. "Yeah, it's a real dumb question." Classic!

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## Drew Egerton

Could have been a couple nights ago...I forget  :Smile:

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## Charles E.

A mandolin in todays "Shoe" comic.......

http://www.gocomics.com/features/sea...ch_string=shoe

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## adamkavanagh

weird... i really hate this for some reason

[/QUOTE]

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## dwing2017

MATCHBOX TWENTY HAS BEEN MY FAVORITE BAND SINCE I WAS A KID!!! Nickel Creek and Thile's other projects give them a run for their money now but still a great band.  The guy's name is Matt Beck: he's a great multi-instrumentalist and I've been privileged enough to work with him a few times.  NYC based, same downtown scene that I play in.  He went to Juilliard.  I watched a tape of How Far We've Come a few years ago and noticed that too.  He plays the line in the bridge on a f-style.  ALSO, there was a Geico ad campaign a few months ago (fall 2012 I think?) featuring two guys playing a mandolin and a banjo.  SO COOL.  Glad other people are noticing this stuff too!

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## pheffernan

Cheryl Tunt of TV's Archer picked up an A5 in the most recent episode "Archer Vice: Southbound and Down." See the 1:03 mark: http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SfCUAodc7gw

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## journeybear

Heard mandolin in a Toyota Corolla ad last night. Nothing fancy, but nice to hear all the same.

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## Jim

Saw "My Darling Clementine" this week. It's a 1946 western with Henry Fonda as Wyatt Earp. There's a dance scene about half way through the movie and the band has a Mandolinist as well a fiddle and a pump organ. You only see its upper bout ,neck and enough headstock to see it has 8 tuners. It seems to be a flat top, maybe an Army Navy. Movie is worth watching if you like old westerns.

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## journeybear

Worth watching if you like movies! One of the best Westerns from the get-go, and learning there's a mandolin in it, I like it even more. (I admit to a certain bias.  :Wink:  ) In addition to Fonda's laconic portrayal, there's Walter Brennan's great acting, cast against type as the leader of the bad guys, the Clanton clan.

But what brought me here in the first place was seeing Beck on Ellen today, with someone in his band playing a mandocello!  :Disbelief:  Beautiful looking instrument, too. Not sure why he had it capoed at about the seventh fret - couldn't find a mandola, perhaps ...  :Whistling:  Anyway, you could have knocked me over with a feather. This has to be the first time I saw such an instrument on TV. Nice enough song, too, and there was also a dobro in the mix. (The album's been getting very good reviews). I expect ia video will be up on YouTube soon enough.

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## tmsweeney

I saw the Archer episode with Charlene playing an A style, they had no mark on the head stock, but they did a pretty good job of rendering it correctly

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## Timbofood

I watched part of "My Darling Clementine" this weekend too, wasn't the OO-15 an interesting guitar choice?

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## Chris W.

Just got around to watching Breaking Bad for the first time. Spotted a mandolin in season 3 episode 13 ("Full Measure").  The scene is when Gus goes to the apartment of his lab tech named Gale. I spotted an old oval hole A model propped up against the wall.

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## Timbofood

Ooh, I forgot about that, good catch!

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## journeybear

As promised ... 

Beck's April Fools Day appearance on Ellen, with a band member playing a mandocello or OM.

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## journeybear

OK, a couple of odd ones - there's random, and then there's *r*a*n*_d_om, you know? First the easily explained one. I was watching the new season of "Ice Road Truckers" (what a great way to spend an hour on a warm summer evening) and the episode led directly into the latest offering from The History Channel - "Pawnography." This is a game show featuring the younger generations of characters from "Pawn Stars" (Rick, Junior, and Chumlee) and a couple of contestants, hosted by the overly enthusiastic Christopher Titus. (THC must be desperate, trotting out this tripe.) I lasted not even all the way through the first question to see who came up with the answer (requiring the participants to pair Edward Teach with the multiple-choice-format possibilities of Blackbeard, Bluebeard, Redbeard, or Jamesbeard (I'm not kidding)). But I noticed, hanging from the shelves behind the host, among other knick-knacks and bits of clutter, an old Florentine- style bowlback. Don't know why, but always nice to see; they are very picturesque.

The second "sighting" is a bit harder to explain. I've taken to falling asleep occasionally with the TV on, set to the softest possible music channel, what my cable company calls "Soundscapes" - "Relax, relate, release and allow this uplifting Music Choice mix of new age, atmospheric, and world-positive music to soothe any mood." It's mostly pretty ambient and unobtrusive (ie, boring without being annoying, perfect for my purpose - lulling me to sleep and keeping me there), two of its main pluses being rarely vocal and nearly completely devoid of percussion. Every now and them something decent will show up - Paul Winter, for instance, or Indian flute from R. Carlos Nakai and others - but most of it just washes right by, especially at the barely audible volume I prefer. If I could only turn the visual component off, it would be nearly perfect. 

What brings me, in my typically roundabout fashion, to share this with you here, is that recently, switching over to this at the end of my viewing day, I noticed that the offering playing at the moment was entitled "A Million Mandolins."  :Disbelief:  This had exactly the opposite desired effect. I turned it up, but all I could hear was a flute with lots of reverb, and maybe off in the distance or down in the mix, a chorus of tremolo mandolins. Nowhere near a million, mind you, and nearly identifiable, but - possibly - mandolins. Of course, this is a first on this channel, where the most popular string instrument is the harp. The creator of this music is Tim Wheater, and the piece appears on his 1991 album, "Mistral: The Wind of Change." (I'm sorry; I neglected to mention the titles of most of the offerings on this channel are pretty hifalutin', and tend to refer to some aspect of nature, spirituality, or mythology - all very New Age-y) Not surprisingly, the generation that loves to post all manner of every kind of music has no interest whatsoever in this, so there is no youtube clip I can post for those curious enough to listen on a good enough sound system to suss out the mandolin contribution. And while this is available on Spotify and iTunes and other such websites, I'm not subscribing them just to hear this, either. But if someone is so inclined, and wants to share, go ahead. My curiosity hasn't completely waned. yet ...  :Whistling:

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## journeybear

A couple of sightings in the last 24 hours, quite out of the blue. This morning, on the weekly news magazine CBS This Morning, the Saturday Sessions segment featured Counting Crows. Their first song was their new single,in their typical rock style. But for their second song, they reached back to their debut album for Omaha, for which the keyboard player switched to accordion and one of the guitarists played mandolin. And a very nice one at that - an old Gibson A-2 or A-4, one of the nicest mandolins I've ever seen a rocker play on TV. I've been waiting for a video to show up on youtube. Not yet, but here's the link to the show's clip.

But the other sighting has my mind reeling. I tuned in to the new Meredith Vieira Show, something I had had no intention of doing since its creation was announced - there's an overabundance of these shows, and another entry seems quite unneeded and unwanted, as far as I'm concerned. But I was surprised to see she had a musical guest, for the first time, and this was to be Carole King. Such a notice will always get me to tune in, at least for that segment. Sometime during my glances over to it, I noticed one of the house band members was doing some rather swift strumming. Seemed a little different from usual. I also noticed a mandolin hanging on the wall behind the band - a pancake or bowlback by the looks of it. At some point, the camera lingered on the band long enough for me to see she was playing an electric mandolin!  :Disbelief:  Imagine my surprise and pleasure to see this. 

I have not yet been able to find out much information about the player or the mandolin. In fact, so far all I have learned is that the band leader is Everett Bradley, who has been a percussionist in Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band. The way most references I have found put it (repeating the show's press release), is that this is an all-female band led by him. I wonder how he, they, and females everywhere feel about that rather clumsy locution.  :Wink:  In any event, as far as I know, this is a first - a member of a house band on a TV show playing mandolin as a main instrument.  :Mandosmiley:  I'm guessing that is the case - she also played sax, and may have played guitar too, though more often than not I saw her playing mandolin. Yes, G.E. Smith would occasionally play mandolin when he was the bandleader of the SNL band, but his main instrument was guitar. I guess that now, much against my druthers, I will have to tune in more often to see whether this is really the case. I'll be sure to report on this when I learn more. Meanwhile, it is heartwarming indeed to see this. It bespeaks of a higher level of visibility for the instrument than I had anticipated or expected to see.

----------


## journeybear

OK, I've been scanning through videos on the Meredith Vieira Show site, looking for even the merest glimpse of the mandolin in action. It's been challenging, as the house band is not the focus of these short clips, of course, and the band is off to the side. But I have been able to find a few frames and do screen captures, and blow them up a bit. I feel vindicated, at last, and can now believe for certain that I was not just imagining this.

From the show I saw:



OK, so it's obscured by a music stand. But this is the best shot of the player. Does anyone recognize her?



From another show. You can see most of it here, and definitely see eight tuning pegs.



From yet another show. A good view of her arsenal - mandolin, guitar, sax, and fiddle. That looks like an acoustic, though, not the electric in the other two photos.

I know a lot of people may think this is no big deal. I am not one of them. Someone being hired to play mandolin (among other instruments) on a daily basis, on network TV, is new, and possibly unprecedented. I think this may help, in some small subtle way, to increase the instrument's visibility and introduce many formerly uninitiated to its capabilities, heck, its very existence.  :Mandosmiley:

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## farmerjones

Only because the Meredith Vieira Show is just getting over when I walk in the door for lunch, do I see what is it you speak of. And yes, indeed today, and many days, I've seen a dark haired female plays said mandolin. Sadly, the house band, sounds mostly percussion, and the poor mandolin gets stomped on sonically.  Ten seconds on national TV can change a life. I'm thinking total elapsed exposure time hasn't approached that threshold yet.

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## journeybear

Ha! I'm sure it's well over that much time, since it gets about that much on-screen each show.  :Wink:  Thing is, that's what she plays during the main theme at the start and end of the show. So there's that. I think it's actually mixed all right, it's just being used as a rhythm instrument, in a very fast funk-like strum, blended with the guitar doing the same thing. But I heard it, which caught my attention, and I then had to pay a LOT more attention than I would have normally. Sadly, she is stuck at the far end of the band area from the camera, so it's hard to see what she is doing. The keyboard player is closest to the camera, which makes no sense - most of the time keys players provide very little visual activity. Eh, no big deal. But it's nice to see, all the same. If she ever gets a solo I'll be sure to let everyone know.  :Mandosmiley:

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## jim simpson

I recognize the percussionist on Meredith's show from Daryl's House (Palladium).

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## journeybear

Interesting. All the publicity I've seen about the show mentions him only as playing in The E Street Band. (As band leader, he gets mentioned by name; so far, the same can't be said for the band members, AFAIK.) Haven't watched Daryl's show, or any web-based productions, yet (it's Palladia, BTW, FWIW), but poking around the 'net a bit turned up this tidbit "Daryl Hall purchased the building that formerly housed the night club “The Towne Crier” in Pawling, New York, in order to renovate and use it as the future set of the show." That  should warm the hearts of those dismayed when the club closed. At least it's still "in the business."  :Wink:

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## journeybear

Alrighty then! Had to go old school tech to solve this mystery. Taped the closing credits with my VCR, ran it back in slow motion a few times, and got the band members' names. Let's go to the videotape ... and on mandolin, Carmella Ramsey. Now, some folks around here may recognize that name, as it's come up before. She has toured and recorded with Patty Loveless and others, including Reba McIntire. She also is married to Kenny Vaughan, who has played guitar with Lucinda Williams, Kim Richey, and currently Marty Stuart. So there is a double mandolin connection, after a fashion. Still can't see what kind of mandolin she's playing, but I finally got a closer look at it without the swoopy tracking shots, and it's an acoustic F model. These photos are a little old, hoping some new ones will show up soon.

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## journeybear

Tuned in to the Today Show this morning to see what a solo spot by Kristian Bush would be like. After all, his Sugarland partner Jennifer Nettles has a solid solo career going, why shouldn't he? He plays mandolin, too, so I was curious ... Well, I dozed off but woke up in time to catch just the second half of what seemed a pretty snappy number, with him playing guitar, but he had a very pretty brunette playing an F-model. Couldn't place her, thought it might have been Megan Mullins, who shows up a lot backing up everyone from Big & Rich to Shakira. Then they ended the song with some hilarious choreography - line dancing while playing - and this mandolinist was awfully cute and dancing up a storm while singing and playing (just chords),  so I kind of lost my place ... But when I played the tape back, and noticed that over on the other side of the stage there was a blonde playing  lap steel (standing up), I realized who was playing there - Rebecca Lovell and Megan Lovell, aka Larkin Poe!  :Disbelief:  Good thing I was sitting down or I might have fallen over. Not up on youtube yet, but here is the link to the show's website. 

The song contains a pretty good lyrical hook. It's about sharing your wealth in this lifetime because you can't take it to the next one. It's called "Trailer Hitch" and it goes:

You can't take it with you when you go
Never seen a hearse with a trailer hitch

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## journeybear

Got dragged to the movies this evening by my dear young lass Clementine - the Disney documentary "Monkey Kingdom." As is often the case with Disney docs, there was a lot of anthropomorphic commentary and a bit of staged activity, along with some fine videography. But what made this cinematic excursion noteworthy was the music that rolled during the credits - a mandolin driving the song!  :Disbelief:  Nothing too outstanding, and certainly within the capabilities of many members here, but pleasant enough, and pleasant to hear in this context. The song is a typical current pop trifle, formulaic and predictable, even cloying in its earnestness, but still - mandolin in a Disney movie. Nice to hear that.  :Mandosmiley:

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## T.D.Nydn

In the movie"wild bill" with Jeff bridges,,there's a guy in a saloon playing a bowlback.also in the movie "hot shots part deux" with Charlie sheen,Charlies In a diner when a mandolin player and an accordion player walk in and start playing...he's got a bowlback for sure..

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## journeybear

OK, I think it's actually a charango, but it was a pretty random sighting. I have trouble getting to sleep, and this has gotten even worse for the last two months, as I have been terrorized by a bachelor mockingbird, who has nested in the tree across the street, and keeps calling for a mate all night long. One thing that helps with the insomnia and the noise is leaving the TV on, with the most mellow music channel playing, something called "Soundscapes." It's a lot of slow-paced New-Age-y stuff, mostly non-vocal, and hardly ever any drums. Pretty ho-hum most of the time, , and the titles are usually very silly, heavy-handed attempts t sounding philosophical,a though any channel that plays R Carlos Nakai's flute work is welcome in my house.

Well, just now, while trying to mellow out after throwing stones at the mockingbird to distract him and get him to stop long enough for me to drop off (it works), and chatting a bit here meanwhile, my ears perked up to hear a double-stringed instrument being played rather pleasantly. It was this:



It's  from Gustavo Santaolalla, Argentine-born musician now residing in Los Angeles, who won the Oscar for Original Soundtracks in 2005 and 2006 ("Brokeback Mountain" and "Babel"). I've heard his music in these and several other movies, but it not never registered with me until just now, by an odd happenstance. Interesting imagery.

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## k0k0peli

> OK, I think it's actually a charango, but it was a pretty random sighting.


 If charangos count then I'll report a young wild charango player in the plaza in Santa Fe NM about 3 weeks ago. I left paper money in his case even though he only played three plaintive chords. I also hear charango with Peruvian buskers on Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco; I haven't been there for awhile so can't report any specific occurrence. But they're there, usually trios with charango, panpipe, and drum. EL CONDOR PASA is played every ten minutes or so, just to keep the donations coming. I'd rather be a forest than a tree, or whatever...

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## Jim

Third episode first season "Laramie", 1959.  Hoagy Carmichael (Jonesy) plays a bit of "Swing Low Sweet Chariot" on what looks to be a Regal flat top.

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## journeybear

Really!?! How about that? So that makes at least two filmed appearances of the great Hoagy Carmichael in the presence of a mandolin. The other, of course, is the scene in "To Have And Have Not" in which Hoagy, playing Cricket, the piano player in the house band at the saloon, invites Lauren Bacall's character, Slim, to the stage to sing "How Little We Know." There's a mandolin player in the band. I risk saying this, knowing full well I may be inviting our resident film buffs to chime in and spin us off into a tangent ...  :Whistling:

----------

billkilpatrick

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## Jim

Hoagy was Kind of a local legend where I grew up, Bloomington Indiana. So I tend to watch material he's in when I see his name mentioned. Had no idea he had a part in Laramie til I saw his name mentioned when I was watching encore westerns while taking a break from chores on the ranch last week.

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## journeybear

You know what, I didn't know he was from Indiana. I did know another great songwriter of his era was - Cole Porter - though some say he was from Peru.  :Wink:  I didn't know Hoagy appeared on "Laramie" (only vaguely aware of the show, anyway, and never watched it), and I was surprised to see, when I looked him up on imdb.com, that he was a regular, with 23 appearances on the show during its four seasons. Also, his appearance in THAHN was only his second acting credit, his first as an uncredited piano player in "Topper" seven years earlier, in 1937. After THAHN his screen career took off, and he worked pretty steadily as an actor for the next 15 years. This is the appearance that sticks in my mind, though.

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## journeybear

Hmmm ... Guess I haven't been keeping up on this stuff, or been busy, or something ...  :Confused:  Anyway, this showed up on Conan a couple weeks ago, though I just saw it tonight while catching up via On Demand. It's from Ben Rector, based in Nashville, but this song is pretty pop, with a bit of country flavor. Right from the start my ear got caught by a mandolin, for once up in the mix. It's pretty well integrated into the arrangement, and even drives it to some extent. While I am very tired of the sort of anthemic group vocal refrain so much the current fashion in pop music, the overall performance is pleasant enough. Perhaps the presence of a mandolin so prominently featured in a pop song is a harbinger of a rise in its popularity. We do get glimpses of this sort now and then.

----------

Billy Packard

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## Marty Jacobson

There's some mandolin in M. Ward's new album. Check it out.

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## Charles E.

Thread bump....

While watching CBS This Morning, they had a duo called "Shovels and Rope".

http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/saturd...-annes-parade/

Nice harmonies, I think they tend to do more electric guitar - drums instrumentation.

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## FLATROCK HILL

Had a mandolin sighting the other night that was about as 'random' as they come. Flipping channels just as Conan introduced a group called Judah and the Lion. I was certainly surprised to see there before me a banjo and a mandolin (might even be a Gibson F5?) on national network late-night TV.*

http://teamcoco.com/video/judah-the-...eatured-videos

*I mention this 'mandolin sighting' only because it fits the description/parameters of this thread. I make no claim, nor do I suggest that the usage of the mandolin, banjo, or that any portion of the above linked video was good, proper, or even slightly worth watching.

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Timbofood

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## Mark Gunter

> *I mention this 'mandolin sighting' only because it fits the description/parameters of this thread. I make no claim, nor do I suggest that the usage of the mandolin, banjo, or that any portion of the above linked video was good, proper, or even slightly worth watching.


I hear ya, but I have to say that I think these guys have a good rock sound, and they do a really good job of incorporating the acoustic instruments into their electric sound, YMMV

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FLATROCK HILL

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## Timbofood

Brilliant disclaimer Flatrock!
It was not my cup of tea or anything else for that matter.
They have a "Sound" and that's about all I had better say.

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FLATROCK HILL

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## CES

I actually enjoyed the live version much more than the radio version. Hey, the Punch Brothers and Five Finger Death Punch aren't for everybody, either  :Smile:

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## CES

Fwiw, he sounds a little like Eminem to me...

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## JeffD

I kind of like the band. 

The first of their songs I ever heard was Sweet Tennessee, and I thought they did a good job of including the banjo and the mandolin in a way that let the instruments be themselves. The song actually leaned on the mandolin and banjo, and I thought it was good.

I personally liked Sweet Tennessee more than Take it Back, but that's me. I haven't heard a lot of their other stuff. 

I assume this is true and not mere truthiness, but copy from their website says "An independent band whose success has arrived not on the back of some big-budget major label, but through the band's own touring, Judah & the Lion have built a large, loyal fan base on the road."  That alone is a reason for me to give them a long hard listen.

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## Seter

Just had my first TV show mandolin sighting since joining the forum, courtesy of the Andy Griffith Show:




I don't it has been posted before but pardon if I'm wrong.

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## Timbofood

Dean gets a little attention here from time to time! There is  member here whit LOTS of information about the Dillard's through this little stretch of time. My bet is he'll ring in on this sooner or later.

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## CES

My wife and daughter are big 21 Pilots fans, so we trekked up to see them last night in Greensboro. They put on an awesome show, and are really talented guys who use some electronics but do actually play their instruments, sing, and write almost all of the songs they performed, with the exception of some fun covers they did with the opening acts...which leads me to:

Judah and crew were the opening act, and I've got to admit I really enjoyed their show. The banjo and mando aren't just novelty instruments, they're integral parts of the band that played on every song. They had great stage energy, didn't take themselves too seriously (at one point the banjo picker was dancing and playing in a Santa costume, and Judah's dancing is unapologetically hilarious), and I enjoyed the music. It was sort of an early Avett Brothers energy with rock/rap-tinged music. They're not the Avetts, who have become impressively polished performers, much better musicians through the years (I can still play most of it, but it's getting harder), and whose music has matured as they've been touched by marriage/divorce/ilness/life. But, I got that "genuine" feel from Judah and the Lion, which I find impressive. The negative for me is the banjo and mando tones could be a lot piezo-quacky, but at the volumes and current budget, I get it. I wouldn't recommend die hard grassers who only like Bill Monroe to go see them, but I was pleasantly surprised.

For the record, I'm a 21 Pilots fan, too, now...

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## journeybear

Our beloved instrument made one of its rare appearances on Jeopardy last week. In the Double Jeopardy round, in the category "Stringed Instruments," the $1600 clue read: "Bluegrass virtuosos of this small lutelike instrument include Bill Monroe & Ricky Skaggs." Contestant #2 said, "What's a banjo?"  :Disbelief:  The returning champion responded correctly, asking, "What is a mandolin?" For once, someone got it right.  :Mandosmiley:  Nearly every time contestants draw a blank  :Crying:  Ironically, Contestant #2 rebounded from this gaffe and went on to win.



I saw Judah And The Lion on Conan too, and thought they were all right, though I wouldn't go out of my way based on this. I thought it was odd how the electric banjo sounded kind of mandolinny for the most part, especially on the little interlude riffs. The mandolin was limited to chords for the most part, other than the two bars starting around 2:12.

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## Tobin

I guess this qualifies as random...

There's a new television advert for Fiber One.  About 7 seconds into the commercial, she opens the door to her "she-shed", and there's a mandolin on the floor.  That's the only time it appears in the commercial, and it's only for a split second.  But it caught my eye the first time I saw the ad.  Anybody know what make it is?  It's an A-style with F-holes, but the peghead isn't the usual snakehead shape.  It's hard to tell, but it seems to be flared more like a paddlehead or F5 style.

*edited to add: the peghead is seen again at about the 17-second mark, but I don't see a name on it.  And then there's a follow-up commercial where you can see the mandolin on the floor again, this time with a better view of it.  It looks like a modern mandolin, but I just don't recognize the style.

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## soliver

Any "Orphan Black" Fans?... The close of last season had Donnie playing a few chords on what seemed like a cheapo A style... couldn't tell the make and model.

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## soliver

Found a pic:

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## Mike Scott

I. The movie “Wild Bill” starring Jeff Bridges, he’s dancing with Diane Lane and the camera flashes the band and there’s a mandolin.  Looks sort of like a Seagull S8.  It’s on screen for maybe 3 seconds.  May have been posted before.  Didn’t want to read the entire thread again to see.

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## Seter

Just got back from seeing the western Hostiles, which nicely features a mandolin in more than just a wallhanger role. Nice little campfire song performance on what appeared to be a bowlback of some sort as would be appropriate.

Here is the song, in the movie it's just vocals and mandolin though: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2Wq-wrofQI

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## FLATROCK HILL

This was on PBS last evening:



Looks like a Gibson A2 maybe. Doesn't sound quite as "tubby" as some... almost "tinny" to me. 

(Not sure how it is that I was tuned into Lawrence Welk. The grandmothers who use to force it upon me are both long gone.)

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## F-2 Dave

Was watching television, late at night when the quality stuff is on. The movie was Sharknado: the 4th awakens. During one of the storms suddenly I spied a cameo by super musician Paul Schaffer. He was behind his piano preparing to flee the impending
Sharkpocalypse. In his hand was an A style mandolin.

While this appearance will likely do nothing to promote mandolin awareness in our world, it was enough to catch my attention. I couldn't keep it to myself. Don't judge me.

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## Miltown

Some classical mandolin in an IBM commercial: 

https://www.ispot.tv/ad/dKvK/ibm-smart-recycling

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## Chris W.

> Some classical mandolin in an IBM commercial: 
> 
> https://www.ispot.tv/ad/dKvK/ibm-smart-recycling


That’s Vivaldi’s Concerto in C for Mandolin.

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## John Aubuchon

I was watching 'F is for Family' last night on Netflix and there was a music shop called "Rusty's Trombones". Hanging in the window were three mandolins; an F Style, a bowlback and a flat back oval hole!

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Jeff Mando

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## Mark Gunter

Spotted this 1973 photo of Stephen Stills today

----------

Joe Bartl, 

journeybear, 

pops1, 

Timbofood

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## journeybear

Not a G chord!  :Laughing:  Kind of a D7sus, perhaps  :Wink: 

Hey Steve! If you're not sure what to do with with that fine if somewhat worn instrument, I'll be glad to give it a whirl.  :Whistling:

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## journeybear

This may not be an entirely random sighting, all things considered. But a few aspects of this experience, notably the performance, were a bit unusual.

The Martin Barre Band played at our local theater last night. I didn't know what to expect, but Jethro Tull was one of my favorite bands back in the day (there was a time my Big Three were, The Band, Jethro Tull, and Traffic, even with so much other suiff going on, Hendrix and Cream included), so I wasn't going to miss this. I volunteer as an usher there, so I made sure to sign up for this show. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that the evening's entertainment was going to feature all Jethro Tull songs. This was due to Martin celebrating Jethro Tull's 50th Anniversary, or perhaps his 50th year since joining the band, even though he doesn't play with Ian Anderson anymore. Also, Clive Bunker, the original drummer, was in the lineup. (And yes, he took a ride on "Dharma For One.")  :Cool: 

Before we opened the doors, I did what I often do - went to look at the stage setup. Along with the guitars to stage left was an F-style mandolin on a stand. I couldn't quite see what make it was. 

Someone came out from the wings and began tuning the guitars - an elderly man with longish white hair breezing back from a receding hairline, a wee wisp of a goatee, and glasses. When he was in between instruments I asked him what make of mandolin that was. He said "Aria." I said something polite but there might have been a slight tone in my voice that may have conveyed disappointment. He said, "I didn't want to risk bringing my good one from England just for one song. This does quite well." A light went on in my head - this was Martin Barre himself doing the guitar teching.  :Disbelief: 

We chatted some about mandolins and such. He has a 1917 Gibson F-4 with an oval hole. I said I have an A model, oval hole, same age. I like how it has a fuller low end. He nodded his assent. I commented on him doing his own guitar teching. He said, "I don't trust anyone else with it." That does seem a practical approach. I appreciated his downright, forthright demeanor in talking with me. Very cool, indeed.  :Cool:  And also, as I think back on it now - I believe he was not using a tuner. This always impresses me. Those are some good ears.  :Cool: 



After rocking their way through the repertoire in fairly chronological order for over an hour - and let me tell you, they were putting a lot of punch into the songs without the distraction of that fussy flighty flautist hogging the limelight  :Wink:  they switched over to acoustic mode for about twenty minutes, The last song of the set featured Martin on mandolin, the bass player switching over to Irish bouzouki, and one of the backup singers playing washboard and singing lead. I had been thinking they might do "Fat Man," that being perhaps the most well-known instance of mandolin in Jethro Tull's oeuvre. But then again, I believe that was Ian playing mandolin, so what Martin would play ... well, that could have been anyone's guess. The selection was "Locomotive Breath."  :Disbelief:  The classic rock riff was barely even suggested from time to time. Instead the driving force was provided by a descending minor scale motif doubled by mandolin and bouzouki. The overall effect was a sort of Olde English minstrel sound, quite refreshing in its innovation.  :Mandosmiley: 

 

There was an intermission, then another 45-50 minute set, with an encore of the classic rock version of "Locomotive Breath." Afterwards, contrary to the reportedly cancelled meet-and greet due to the late hour and loomimg 5-6-hour drive to the next show, Martin Barre was kind enough to delay leaving and meet fans. I was fortunate enough for him to grant my wish and pose for a picture with me. It was so kind of him, and a thrill for me to meet, however briefly, one of my all-time favorite guitarists. But the real thrill for me was the brief chat before the show. It's always pleasing to learn how unassuming and down-tp-earth and just bloody pleasant many of these extremely talented and fairly famous people can be.  :Mandosmiley:

----------

John Van Zandt, 

kegcrowe, 

Rush Burkhardt

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## journeybear

This is possibly the highest profile for mandolins in a commercial ever! And it's really cool,   :Cool:  with some nice-looking and -sounding mandolins.  :Mandosmiley:

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T.D.Nydn

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## Jess L.

> ... seeing a mandolin unexpectedly ...


Today I was surprised to see a *mandolin*/mandola/pear-shaped instrument in a giant *two-story-tall mural*  :Disbelief:   :Cool:  painted on the side of a building in Aberdeen WA. At first I couldn't tell what the mandolin was, initially it almost looked like a weapon or something (that's what caught my eye while waiting at the traffic light, I was like "Huh? What's that?"  :Whistling:  but after peering at it for a moment, it looked more like a mandolin. A mandolin? Really? Huh. I went back around the block and got a picture of it so I could study it in more detail. You can see in the mural's *upper left*, there's a guy playing a *mandolin*-like instrument, _and_ a lady playing a *bass fiddle* or something similar. Note the *bicycles* below the mural at the bottom left of the pic, to get an idea of the mural's size. Cellphone pics:  (click each pic several times to make 'em big enough to see)



*Close-up/zoomed* view of just the two musicians and instruments: 



Apparently that particular mural was painted in 2016 by Jenny Fisher who lives in the region.  

The mural features industries that were hugely important in earlier years of the region, including shipbuilding, fishing, logging etc. About all that's left of those industries is a little bit of logging but not nearly as much as in past years. 

Incidentally, some *possible* more *mandolin content*: I've heard from various people that, in earlier years, plenty of old-growth spruce (for instance, *tonewood*  :Mandosmiley:  for *musical instrument* tops) passed through Aberdeen and Hoquiam, on its way from the Olympic National Forest etc to (among other destinations) various musical instrument makers. Wait, lemme Google it... ok I found the following article about the town of Hoquiam which is about 4 miles (6.4 km) away from where the mural is: 

_Gibson and Martin guitars made from Hoquiam spruce wood.
Posey Manufacturing was producing 500,000 guitar tops annually at its height in the 1960s.

... all the major names like Gibson and Martin guitars were getting the Sitka spruce wood for guitar tops from Hoquiam.

"It's almost certain that Posey guitar soundboards were in guitars used by Bob Dylan, Elvis, the absolute cream of the crop of musicians," ...

Posey was producing 500,000 guitar tops annually for guitar companies at its height in the 1960s, according to former Posey Manager Frank Johnson.

Because the supply of spruce trees in the Adirondack Mountains was running out in the 1930s, guitar companies looked to the West Coast for spruce, and Posey was the first major distributor of thin Sitka spruce boards that were glued together and sent to guitar companies to be cut into the shape for the front face of acoustic guitars.... 

There were other companies selling spruce in the Pacific Northwest later on, but [Professor Chris Gibson] said Posey was the earliest and most important distributor between the 1930s and 60s. ...

"Posey was truly a sleeper industry here," said [Hoquiam's Polson Museum Director John Larson]. "They quietly went along, no one paid attention to them, yet they were doing this worldwide distribution of a very specialized product, that was very precise."

The Posey Manufacturing Co. has a long list of impressive products it made in the 1900s, from wooden spars used in the plane Charles Lindbergh flew for the first nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean, to piano soundboards for major piano companies such as Yamaha and Kimball, and other things like backgammon boards and bowls.

The piano soundboards were one of the primary products for Posey, and former workers said they recall Steinway Pianos sending its soundboards to them for repairs on occasion._
So... nevermind Dylan and Elvis guitar tops and piano soundboards,  :Wink:   :Laughing:  I wanna know if any of the Loar/etc mandolins were made with wood from the region.  :Grin:  The article quoted above, doesn't specifically mention mandolins, but one would think if that Hoquiam wood-supplier company was producing 500,000 guitar tops per year, there must have been a few mandolin tops in there too. 

Guessing here, the old spruce soundboard producer in Hoquiam might have some bearing on why the mural's creator included two musical instruments in the painting. The focus of the mural seems to be on the area's immigrants and their jobs, and the sawmills definitely provided plenty of employment (not the safest line of work, but work nonetheless). 

Anyway, I was definitely surprised to see that mandolin/pear-shaped instrument painted there on the side of the building. I've seen the mural before but had not noticed that particular feature until today. (The mural is on Heron Street a few blocks down from Safeway before you get to Walmart, or another landmark would be that it's across the street from the touristy Billy's bar. I don't know the exact address or cross-street, and I'm too lazy  :Redface:  to look it up on a map right now.)

----------

journeybear, 

Ranald

----------


## Bob Clark

What a great mural.  Thanks for posting it and the explanation.

----------

Jess L.

----------


## William Smith

I watched Rocky III last night and ya know the part where Rocky is training in "Style" to fight Clubber-Mr. T the house band has a mandolin player, looks like an Ibanez F-5!

----------


## CarlM

This ad was on the second page of National Geographic this month.

----------

Jess L.

----------


## mandohat

The Loars were earlier

----------

Jess L.

----------


## Jess L.

> ...seeing a mandolin unexpectedly...


This surprised me even more than my earlier mandolin mural sighting - I found this today on Michel Loiselle's "Gargoyles on Parliament Hill" webpage... 

The official *Canadian Parliament* Peace Tower in Ottawa Canada, has a *gargoyle playing a mando* or lute type of thing:   



Nearby on the same Parliament clock tower, a *concertina*:  :Disbelief:  



Well, why not.  :Grin:  Kinda cool!  :Mandosmiley:  

_Fair Use, cropped versions - the little pics above are low-res cropped zoomed-in views; whereas the original pics are much larger._

----------

Bob Clark, 

Ranald

----------


## Ranald

Yes, they're role models to us mandolin and accordion players in Ottawa. Maybe I'll start a group called "The Gargoyles.'

----------

Jess L.

----------


## Jess L.

> Yes, they're role models to us mandolin and accordion players in Ottawa. Maybe I'll start a group called "The Gargoyles.'


 :Grin:  Sounds like a cool name!  :Mandosmiley:   :Smile:

----------

Ranald

----------


## Mike Scott

Only went through the first 5 pages so if it was posted later-sorry.  Was watching Milagro Beanfield War for the concertina and noted about 2 seconds of mandolin (Harmony/Kay?) during the harvest party......

----------


## soliver

Was chatting with some coworkers recently about the new Disney Plus Starwars series called "The Mandolorian" and one of them just texted me this:

----------

journeybear

----------


## Jess L.

Sesame Street, S49 E27 "Little Bo Peep Lost Her Cow",  :Laughing:  has a mandolin-shaped prop/model of some sort being 'played' by one of the puppets. Screenshots below. Click pics to make bigger: 



As one might expect from a (presumably) casual scale-model that's not meant to be closely inspected by us mandolin nerds,  :Grin:  some of the structural details are unusual, for instance it has 6 'tuners' instead of 8: 



For context, here's a non-magnified (can't see much) view of the entire scene with the other 'vocalist' puppets: 


The show's soundtrack didn't seem to have any mandolin-type sounds in that spot though, at least not that I noticed.

----------

Ranald

----------


## Ranald

My sweetheart just hung up a poster that she's had since she attended The Pacific Northwest Women's Music Festival at Evergreen State College, Olympia, Washington in 1977. This lovely Art Nouveau style poster features a woman with a mandolin-related instrument -- you know, the one with four strings at the head and six at the tail. Oh well, the artist was promoting a festival, not a luthier. Enjoy.

----------

Jess L.

----------


## journeybear

Yesterday on Jeopardy, in the Double Jeopardy round, the category "Musical Instruments" came up. I said to myself, "Hmmm ... I wonder." Sure enough, the $1600 clue was 'In 1787 this pear-shaped lute was featured in "Don Giovanni"; nearly 200 years later, in Bruce Hornsby's "Rain"' And, sure enough, no one got it. No one even tried.  :Crying: 

Now, in fairness, there was a pretty big error in the way the clue is constructed, which may have hampered the contestants. If it had been presented correctly, as "_________ Rain," that might have helped jog their memories.  :Whistling: 

It's nice to be remembered, all the same.  :Mandosmiley:

----------


## journeybear

Well, this was a most pleasant surprise! Jimmy Kimmel Live was in repeats for the last days of the year, and this appearance by Sturgill Simpson came up. Somehow I'd missed it first time around. Now, I like him fairly well, he's brought some new yet very solid stuff to country music over the last few years. But I didn't know he'd ventured into bluegrass. Look who's kicking this off and taking quite a nice ride on it - Sierra Hull!  :Mandosmiley:  There's also some fine backup from Stuart Duncan and someone else you might recognize, sneaking in with a beard and guitar - Tim O'Brien.  :Mandosmiley:  Apart from the backing vocalists' mics being a couple tads too low, some mighty fine entertainment right here. Howdy howdy howdy!

----------


## allenhopkins

> Well, this was a most pleasant surprise! Jimmy Kimmel Live was in repeats for the last days of the year, and this appearance by Sturgill Simpson came up....Look who's kicking this off and taking quite a nice ride on it - Sierra Hull!...There's also some fine backup from Stuart Duncan and someone else you might recognize, sneaking in with a beard and guitar - Tim O'Brien....


*Recent thread about Simpson and his bluegrass back-up band* when they appeared on Stephen Colbert's show in November.

----------

journeybear

----------


## Jess L.

> Jimmy Kimmel






> *Recent thread about Simpson and his bluegrass back-up band* when they appeared on Stephen Colbert's show in November.


Yeah, Kimmel video was posted by me in post #54 of that thread, 3 weeks ago.  :Smile:

----------


## journeybear

And your point is?  :Confused:  Allen already apprised me of my "oopsie." I acknowledged that with a "Thanks" on his post. Anything more of that nature is piling on. But I appreciate your taking the time to construct a post displaying such fine skills. 

The thing is, even if I had noticed that thread, I still would have posted here, since it IS a rather random mandolin sighting.  :Mandosmiley:

----------


## Simon DS

> Yeah, Kimmel video was posted by me in post #54 of that thread, 3 weeks ago.


3 weeks ago?! 
Are you guys saying there’s only been one Sierra Hull vid in the last 3 weeks?

What is wrong in this world!  :Laughing:

----------

Jess L., 

journeybear

----------


## journeybear

Where's an eye roll emoji when I need one?  :Confused:

----------


## Jess L.

> 3 weeks ago?! 
> Are you guys saying there's only been one Sierra Hull vid in the last 3 weeks?
> 
> What is wrong in this world!


 :Grin:   :Smile:

----------


## Simon DS

https://youtu.be/T0Duhh4nHdE

----------


## journeybear

I think I'll try and drag  this thread back toward its original mission ...  :Whistling: 

One result of some unintended synchronicity - my curiosity and a friend's writing project - led me to conduct an exhaustive search for instances of mandolin use by Shocking Blue. These Dutch roots-rockers are known in the USA primarily for their smash hit "Venus," although they were major stars in their native country. But through a circuitous route which I've detailed elsewhere, I learned they had a lot more going on than that - no one-hit wonders were they - and in fact were early proponents of using American roots music elements in rock, something which became known nearly two decades later as Americana. 

A few years ago I discovered their interest led them to include mandolin in their repertoire, along with sitar and banjo. I've posted a couple of those to the Mandolins in Rock thread. But this above-mentioned research brought me to a youtube channel which features 98 video uploads of their first seven albums - including the one before the female singer Mariska Veres joined the band. Listening to all this on autoplay clued me in to the existence of ten songs featuring our beloved instrument, in varying degrees.  :Mandosmiley:  Remember, this was a time - late 1960s to early 1970s - when mandolin was used very occasionally, even in the wake of "Maggie May" and "Mandolin Wind." I believe no other rock band used mandolin that much other than Seals & Crofts until much later.

Scorpio's Dance (Scorpio's Dance)
I Saw Your Face (3rd Album)
Navajo Tears (Inkpot)
Jambalaya (Inkpot)
Who Save My Soul (Inkpot)
Rock In The Sea - Seems to be a stand-alone single
A Waste Of Time (Attila)
Will The Circle Be Unbroken (Attila)
Early In The Morning (Attila)
Wild Rose (Dream On Dreamer)

Their version of "Will The Circle Be Unbroken" is particularly interesting. It's driven by rhythm mandolin with a strength I've never known in rock before its time - 1972 - and rarely since. Robbie van Leeuwen takes a couple nice rides on it as well. No, he's no Grisman, but he's no slouch, either. He was their main songwriter and lead guitarist, both of which talents were stronger. Indeed, track down their first album with Mariska, originally released as "At Home." It's a classic, nearly every song as strong as or even stronger than "Venus." Enjoy!  :Mandosmiley:

----------


## allenhopkins

> And your point is?...Allen already apprised me of my "oopsie." I acknowledged that with a "Thanks" on his post. Anything more of that nature is piling on...


Didn't intend to point out an "oopsie," just thought people might want to read the somewhat extended/opinionated discussion in the other thread.  Clearly, reactions to Simpson's bluegrass efforts were quite varied, though opinions of his back-up band were uniformly favorable.

And thanx for the "thanks."

----------


## journeybear

Thanks for further clarification. I'm trying to make as little of this as possible in order to encourage staying on topic. So applying minimalism, I'll leave this here ...  :Whistling:

----------

allenhopkins

----------


## Zach Wilson

> https://youtu.be/T0Duhh4nHdE


Really neat sound! Man, even after all these years music still impresses and surprises me.

----------


## journeybear

Hi! Good morning. And thanks for contributing. However, I do want to say that, although this  video is quite enjoyable, it doesn't really fit here. The main reason I started this thread was to provide a place for odd occurrences of mandolins and mandolinning - in places, situations, and contexts where one normally might not have expected a mandolin to appear. Playing a mandola or oud or lute(whatever this is) in a forest is pleasant enough, and a bit unusual, all right, but not really surprising. It's that element of surprise that seems lacking here. I suggest this video might be better suited for inclusion in threads such as "Women With Mandolins" or one of the genre threads devoted to geography. I do not in any way mean to discourage anyone from contributing - contributions are the backbone of a forum - but I do want to remind you - and everyone - of the intent of this thread and to ask one and all to maintain its focus, as specified in the OP. QV. Thank you.  :Mandosmiley: 




> video

----------


## Zach Wilson

> Hi! Good morning. And thanks for contributing. However, I do want to say that, although this  video is quite enjoyable, it doesn't really fit here. The main reason I started this thread was to provide a place for odd occurrences of mandolins and mandolinning - in places, situations, and contexts where one normally might not have expected a mandolin to appear. Playing a mandola or oud or lute(whatever this is) in a forest is pleasant enough, and a bit unusual, all right, but not really surprising. It's that element of surprise that seems lacking here. I suggest this video might be better suited for inclusion in threads such as "Women With Mandolins" or one of the genre threads devoted to geography. I do not in any way mean to discourage anyone from contributing - contributions are the backbone of a forum - but I do want to remind you - and everyone - of the intent of this thread and to ask one and all to maintain its focus, as specified in the OP. QV. Thank you.


Oh, alright. I'll keep that in mind.

----------


## journeybear

Thanks. Not a big deal, and of course you are welcome here. That goes without saying, but I want to say so anyway, to emphasize your - and everyone's - welcome. I just want to maintain this thread's unique, odd, quirky nature. That's all.  :Mandosmiley:

----------


## Zach Wilson

> Thanks. Not a big deal, and of course you are welcome here. That goes without saying, but I want to say so anyway, to emphasize your - and everyone's - welcome. I just want to maintain this thread's unique, odd, quirky nature. That's all.


Yeah, that's fair.

----------

journeybear

----------


## journeybear

Yesterday on Jeopardy, the first game of the post-Alex-Trebek era,  :Frown:  there was this clue:



Given the clues - female painter, France, time period - the answer was Mary Cassatt, obviously. But I did not know that her career started, or entered the big time, with a painting on this subject. It is indeed quite an accomplished work.  :Mandosmiley:

----------


## journeybear

Last Thursday, Steve Earle appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live. He played this song, written by his son, Justin Townes Earle, who passed last year. It's a track on "J.T," his tribute album. I was a bit surprised to see him leading the way on an octave mandolin. Or should I say, pleasantly surprised.  :Mandosmiley:

----------

JEStanek

----------


## journeybear

And this bonus song was not aired. A regular size mandolin this time. Someone who knows more about him might be able to say whether he has been working mandolins into his act more lately. I knew about "Copperhead Road" and "Galway Girl," of course, from years ago. But these were new to me.

----------

JEStanek

----------


## Zach Wilson

Saw this Humira add while watching TV tonight. Mandolin sighting 8 or so seconds in.

https://ispot.tv/a/oXac

----------


## journeybear

Wow! Good catch. You had to be watching closely to catch that.  :Wink:  Being upstaged by a spoons player, to boot.  :Disbelief:

----------


## allenhopkins

Yeah, the ad cuts out just ten seconds before the mandolin player shoots the spoons player.  No jury would convict him...

----------

journeybear

----------


## Zach Wilson

> Yeah, the ad cuts out just ten seconds before the mandolin player shoots the spoons player.  No jury would convict him...


Haha! Probably  :Laughing:   :Laughing:

----------

allenhopkins

----------


## Ranald

This is from _Humber Magazine_ (Winter 2021), the alumni magazine of Humber College in Toronto, where I got a certificate from a correspondence program. There is no information about the photo, but it illustrated an article about a bus tour through southwest Ontario. The vehicle (car or truck) looks to me to be from the 1920's, though I have no idea whether it was new or old at the time of the photo. Some antique car buff may enlighten us about the approximate year of the vehicle. I don't believe anyone made a recording that day.  :Frown: 

If anyone can think of a more appropriate thread for historical photos like this one, please let me know.





Added: Regarding the instrument; thanks to Jim Garber, below:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octophone

----------

journeybear

----------


## Jim Garber

> This is from _Humber Magazine_ (Winter 2021), the alumni magazine of Humber College in Toronto, where I got a certificate from a correspondence program. There is no information about the photo, but it illustrated an article about a bus tour through southwest Ontario. The vehicle (car or truck) looks to me to be from the 1920's, though I have no idea whether it was new or old at the time of the photo. Some antique car buff may enlighten us about the approximate year of the vehicle. I don't believe anyone made a recording that day. 
> 
> If anyone can think of a more appropriate thread for historical photos like this one, please let me know.


Regal Octophone!

----------

allenhopkins, 

JEStanek, 

Ranald

----------


## journeybear

> If anyone can think of a more appropriate thread for historical photos like this one, please let me know.


Oh, I think right here is just fine! Pretty, dang random, I'd say!  :Wink:  You might consider Videos, Pictures & Sound Files, also. But yeah, I don't see a main heading dedicated to vintage photos. Surely there are threads in there.

Since it was a bus tour, that might actually be the bus steps he's sitting on. Old buses were often built that way. The blunt nose design came later, IIRC. Is that a separate photograph next to the player and his friend, or are those people listening? Or perhaps singing along?

----------

Ranald

----------


## Ranald

> Oh, I think right here is just fine! Pretty, dang random, I'd say!  You might consider Videos, Pictures & Sound Files, also. But yeah, I don't see a main heading dedicated to vintage photos. Surely there are threads in there.
> 
> Since it was a bus tour, that might actually be the bus steps he's sitting on. Old buses were often built that way. The blunt nose design came later, IIRC. Is that a separate photograph next to the player and his friend, or are those people listening? Or perhaps singing along?


Thanks. The bus tour that the article was about was in September of 2019, when students visited a museums and historical sites related to the Underground Railway and the settlement of black refugees in Ontario. (By the way, many free African-Americans came to Canada after the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act in the USA, which allowed slavers to capture people who'd escaped from slavery and return them to the South; many free people were afraid of being kidnapped and sold into slavery, as happened to Solomon Northup, who wrote in the book, _Twelve Years A Slave_, and fled from the American north to Canada) So the vehicle in the picture wasn't the bus referred to, though the photo may show a bus. The two people seem to be sitting on wooden stairs that aren't necessarily designed for the vehicle. Or perhaps someone made them so Grandma wouldn't have to stretch her legs when she climbed in. The photo of the young women is a separate one. In that photo, to the left, the clothes and hairstyles seem to be from the 1920's -- unless this is a contemporary retro look developed by Humber's Fashion students. The photo below seems to show farm workers standing by a steam tractor. I assume that these are museum photos, seen during the tour.

----------

journeybear

----------


## Roger Adams

Came across this on the net.  Yakatat Alaska Native group outside the Alaska Native Brotherhood building.  Photo attributed to photographer Shoki Kayamori circa 1930

----------

Ranald

----------


## Ranald

> Came across this on the net.  Yakatat Alaska Native group outside the Alaska Native Brotherhood building.  Photo attributed to photographer Shoki Kayamori circa 1930


Great picture. Roger. Thanks.

----------


## allenhopkins

> ...(By the way, many free African-Americans came to Canada after the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act in the USA, which allowed slavers to capture people who'd escaped from slavery and return them to the South; many free people were afraid of being kidnapped and sold into slavery, as happened to Solomon Northup, who wrote in the book, _Twelve Years A Slave_, and fled from the American north to Canada)...


_I'm on my way to Canada, that cold and dreary land,
The sad effects of slavery I can no longer stand.
I've served my master all my days, without a dime's reward,
And now I'm forced to run away, to flee the lash abroad.

_Chorus:
_Farewell master, now don't think hard of me,
I'm on my way to Canada, where all the slaves are free.
Oh Righteous Father, will Thou not pity me,
And lead me on to Canada, where all the slaves are free?_

-- George Allen, _The Underground Rail-Car,_ to the tune of _Oh Susannah._  I usually include this in programs of Civil War songs.

----------

Ranald, 

Sue Rieter

----------


## Ranald

> _I'm on my way to Canada, that cold and dreary land,
> The sad effects of slavery I can no longer stand.
> I've served my master all my days, without a dime's reward,
> And now I'm forced to run away, to flee the lash abroad.
> 
> _Chorus:
> _Farewell master, now don't think hard of me,
> I'm on my way to Canada, where all the slaves are free.
> Oh Righteous Father, will Thou not pity me,
> ...


Thanks, Allen. I'm not proud to tell you that there was slavery in Canada, but involving far smaller numbers than in the U.S. "In August 1833, the Slave Emancipation Act was passed, giving all slaves in the British empire their freedom, albeit after a set period of years." Canada became a (relatively) independent country in 1867. Up to that point, it was a series of British colonies with colonial legislatures. On the college trip mentioned above (Posts 191 and 194), the students learned about a former slaveowner turned abolitionist in southwest Ontario. As I heard someone say recently, _We (Canadians) learn about the Underground Railway in school, but not about slavery in British and French North America._ She said, _Canada had 300 years of slavery and thirty years of the Underground Railway_. That's not an exact quote, but the gist of what she said (for young folks, She was like, _Canada had..._). I prefer truth over self-righteousness, even when it's uncomfortable.

----------

allenhopkins

----------


## journeybear

> The bus tour that the article was about was in September of 2019 ... So the vehicle in the picture wasn't the bus referred to, though the photo may show a bus.


Thanks for clearing that all up. It sounds very interesting, all the same. I've been to Canada a whole three times - Montreal Expo '67 (where my brothers, Dad, and I got to see Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane play an impromptu show that fairly well blew this teenager's mind), July 5, 1986 (after seeing Grateful Dead open for Dylan & Petty at Rich Stadium on the Fourth, decided to go see Niagara Falls from both sides), and Winnipeg Folk Festival 1991 (my jug band got to open the Friday night show on the main stage and much more. No Grateful Dead this time, but John Prine, Guy Clark, and Townes Van Zandt; getting to see them made me grateful.) So each time music was involved.  :Mandosmiley:

----------

Ranald

----------


## journeybear

> Yakatat Alaska Native group outside the Alaska Native Brotherhood building.


Two mandolins to one guitar. Seems about right.  :Wink:   :Smile:   :Mandosmiley:

----------


## allenhopkins

My favorite verse to _The Underground Rail-Car:

Now I've heard Queen Victoria say, that if I would forsake
My native land of slavery, and go across the lake,
That she'd be waiting on that shore, with arms extended wide
To give us all a peaceful home beyond the flowing tide._

Also apologizing, Ranald, for George Allen's referring to Canada as "that cold and dreary land."

----------


## Ranald

> Also apologizing, Ranald, for George Allen's referring to Canada as "that cold and dreary land."


Well, I won't kill the messenger. Quite a few Canadian songs express the same sentiments. In fact, I just came in from a walk in the woods, after walking across an open field into the north wind at -12 Celsius (10.4F) to get there. That felt cold -- sunny though, not dreary. When we Canadians aren't complaining about Americans thinking it's always cold up here, we're griping about the cold. But you live in Rochester, so you know something about cold winters and hot summers. It's not that different across the lake. Rockabilly, Ronnie Hawkins claims that his father in Arkansas warned him, before he moved to Ontario, "Canada had ten months of winter and two months of poor sledding."

In case you're interested, here's a short interview with a Colchester, Ontario farmer (near Windsor and Detroit) whose grandfather escaped from slavery. I met and interviewed Fred Johnson, circa 1990. He was a fine, warm-hearted man. This isn't the interview I did though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ro09...gFreedomMuseum

----------

allenhopkins

----------


## Beanzy

I stumbled across some album launch blurb for a London band I hadn't heard of before yesterday, called "Forty Elephant Gang" . They have some good songs and a good mandolin player, which is the main interest I had.
Thought they may be of interest here

https://fortyelephantgang.bandcamp.com/releases
https://soundcloud.com/forty-elephant-gang



bit closer on the mandolin player here;

----------

Sue Rieter

----------


## Zach Wilson

I love those chords! Thanks for sharing Beanzy  :Smile:

----------


## Alfons

The MonaLisa Twins use a Fender 4-string electric in this nicely done cover of the Kinks "Lola""

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYWMWWprKgs

The video starts out with a nice shot of the mando being played, and it can be clearly heard for the first 30 seconds or so.
You can hear it again in the quieter part starting a 2:20, and it's shown again at 2:28.

Aside from the mando part, I thought this was quite a fun video, showing bits of all the different tracks that went into the final product.

----------

Ranald

----------


## journeybear

This is very random, and is not a sighting _per se_ but a hearing, and in fact a sort of mis-hearing ... But it provided a chuckle, and I wanted to share it, but not start a thread just on account of this account, so ...  :Whistling: 

Watching a recent episode of The Tonight Show last night, in the middle of an interview segment with Chrissy Teigen, I heard the word "mandolin." I stopped my concurrent web-surfing and paid full attention to the following story. Quite amusing, in the end. Oh, the time frame - the show's on-demand repeats go back a month, hence the Super Bowl connection. Enjoy!  

PS: She now uses Kevlar gloves when using the device. Safety first!  :Mandosmiley: 

Note: due to copyright restrictions, my edited version of the video can't be seen. But if you go to this private link, perhaps it will work. https://youtu.be/YuNONrDG-X4 Or the link below will let you download it. I think that's how it works.   :Whistling: 

Here is the full video. Scoot ahead to four minutes in to skip the non-MC chat.  :Wink:

----------


## journeybear

And now for something completely different ...

The Tonight Show has a recurring bit called "Do Not Play." Jimmy Fallon trots out a few examples of terrible music, supposedly actual recordings, with the unifying theme that they are so awful they should be avoided. I've had my doubts whether they are real - even though he always opens the bit by insisting they're real - and the fact is, whenever I've checked, I've found they are indeed real.

This episode from last week was a bit different, in that the last example was from a group I know exists, Portsmouth Sinfonia, or existed - they haven't performed since 1979. They were known for being, ah, untrained, sometimes even playing instruments they had never played before. This was most true on their debut album, which was what was presented in the bit. The selection was "Blue Danube Waltz." I've no idea why he picked on them, the album being from over forty years ago. But I suspect it was to set up a response from The Roots, who took a stab at the same piece on instruments they had never played before. 

The reason this is being offered for your amusement/perusement is the percussionist took up a mandolin.  :Disbelief:  First time for everything. You can hardly hear it, amid the resultant cacophony. If you haven't the patience for the whole bit (understandable), skip ahead to about 5:00.

----------


## grassrootphilosopher

> And now for something completely different ...
> 
> The Tonight Show has a recurring bit called "Do Not Play." Jimmy Fallon trots out a few examples of terrible music, supposedly actual recordings, with the unifying theme that they are so awful they should be avoided. I've had my doubts whether they are real - even though he always opens the bit by insisting they're real - and the fact is, whenever I've checked, I've found they are indeed real.
> 
> This episode from last week was a bit different, in that the last example was from a group I know exists, Portsmouth Sinfonia, or existed - they haven't performed since 1979. They were known for being, ah, untrained, sometimes even playing instruments they had never played before. This was most true on their debut album, which was what was presented in the bit. The selection was "Blue Danube Waltz." I've no idea why he picked on them, the album being from over forty years ago. But I suspect it was to set up a response from The Roots, who took a stab at the same piece on instruments they had never played before. 
> 
> The reason this is being offered for your amusement/perusement is the percussionist took up a mandolin.  First time for everything. You can hardly hear it, amid the resultant cacophony. If you haven't the patience for the whole bit (understandable), skip ahead to about 5:00.


As this is a thread about "random mandolin sightings" I am okay with this video as I would be "okay" with a video about destroying Emberghers and Lloyd Loar mandolins.

But looking at the content of the video I am deeply aggravated. The seemingly comical aspect of the clip does indicate a deep disrespect concerning acoustic musicianship. Why do I say this. In all other cases in this clip only the musical aspect is ridiculed (for whatever reason...). Yet when it comes to acoustic instruments, they too are being ridiculed when the band musicians do not know how to play the instrument (or to pretend not to know how to). 

I remember one time when I showed up at a jazz jam session. When I entered the stage I was frowned upon because my mandolin didn´t plug in. I was asked why I didn´t have a proper instrument. I told them that I´d show them how proper my Strad-O-Lin is if they´d show me that they can mix it down properly. That drew some dirty looks from them. When I played Caravan and Autumn Leaves I had them shut up. Is it not entirely sad how predjudiced the average music presenter/comedian is. They seemingly have the intelectual broadband of a 54k modem when it comes to music...

To give credit... on the same show there was this Sturgill Simpson clip with Sierra Hull (and your All-Star-Band...) but when you watch the clip to the end you´ll still catch some rap crap...

----------

Timbofood

----------


## journeybear

> As this is a thread about "random mandolin sightings" I am okay with this video as I would be "okay" with a video about destroying Emberghers and Lloyd Loar mandolins.


I'm sure you're exaggerating for emphasis. You wouldn't really be OK with that. Who would be? This isn't anywhere near that level of destruction. I'll grant the musician (I misspoke; he's the bass player) is completely inept on the mandolin, and we are fortunate his efforts are inaudible. But the instrument is not in physical danger, just musical.  :Wink: 




> But looking at the content of the video I am deeply aggravated. The seemingly comical aspect of the clip does indicate a deep disrespect concerning acoustic musicianship. Why do I say this. In all other cases in this clip only the musical aspect is ridiculed (for whatever reason...). Yet when it comes to acoustic instruments, they too are being ridiculed when the band musicians do not know how to play the instrument (or to pretend not to know how to).


It IS a comedy bit, not a musical showcase. But the *instruments* are not being ridiculed; it is the *band members* who are being ridiculed, as they are shown to be unable to play even this simple melody on instruments with which they are unfamiliar. How much musicianship should that require from professional musicians?  :Confused:  That is the level of comedy here - a pretty low bar, to which they cannot rise. Sadly, there is a lot of this tendency to ridicule in comedy these days, which is more demeaning than it should be; it is ridicule more than comedy, and it is indeed demeaning. They might have been more successful in their efforts had they been given more time to familiarize themselves with the instruments they were given. But then, viewers would have had less to laugh at. And *that* was the point - ridicule, substituting for humor.

Given how you feel about this, you would loathe another bit that appears on the show infrequently (thank goodness), in which the host and a guest have to play a randomly selected song on a randomly selected unfamiliar instrument, in turn, and the other has to try to identify the song.  :Disbelief:  It can be excruciating.  :Crying: 




> To give credit... on the same show there was this Sturgill Simpson clip with Sierra Hull (and your All-Star-Band...) but when you watch the clip to the end you´ll still catch some rap crap...


I'm not following you here. This is the same *show,* but not the same *episode.* And what you hear at the end of the clip is unrelated to the performance. That's a bit of the house band playing a typical groove, added post-production for continuity's sake, to potentially induce listeners (presumably fans of the show) to linger and watch another clip. I'll not disagree with you about the genre, more or less, but the usage there is irrelevant. That bit of business will appear regardless of whatever music had just been played on any video clip. 

That said, I also disagree with the high praise the band (The Roots) gets from not only the host (typical) but also guests. They're good at what they do, but nearly all the time they play pretty much the same 4/4 mid-tempo groove while the vocalist raps. Not much variety, however solid they are. They are not "the greatest band in late night," as the host likes to say. That is Jon Batiste and Stay Human, on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert," although the band on "The Late Late Show with James Corden" has its moments, when they're not goofing around.

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## Charles E.

What is even more salt in the wound is that at 5:25 Jimmy identifies the mandolin as a "banjo"!  :Crying:  :Mad:

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## journeybear

OMG!  :Crying:  I missed that._ ¡Ay caramba!_  :Crying:

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## maxr

> ...the last example was from a group I know exists, Portsmouth Sinfonia, or existed - they haven't performed since 1979. They were known for being, ah, untrained, sometimes even playing instruments they had never played before...


Perhaps the Portsmouth Sinfoinia may make more sense when put in the contect that one of the luminaries involved in their rise without trace was Brian Eno, he of the 'Alternative Strategies' (hmm, or was that Mr Fripp?), and one of the outside influences inside the band Roxy Music which made it so unusual. There used to be an amateur symphonic group in Edinburgh, Scotland called The Really Terrible Orchestra, billed by themselves as 'the cream of Edinburgh's musically disadvantaged'. The point there was that this was an orchestra of adult beginners and returners, and why shouldn't they go out and strut their stuff? I'm a great fan of 'It doesn't have to be good to be good', and to prove it here's the Falmouth (UK) Marine Band, an assembly dedicated to the joys of making a mighty noise...

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## journeybear

I always got a chuckle out of Ron Thomasson, lead singer and mandolin picker (yes, MC) of Dry Branch Fire Squad, host band of Winterhawk (now Frey Fox) Bluegrass Festival, saying "we ain't good, but we're loud."  :Laughing:  He was being intentionally facetious. But there have been plenty of "musical" conglomerations over the years who took that to heart and put it into action, sans irony.  :Wink: 

I think Portsmouth Sinfonia and similar outfits decided to practice inclusion where their membership and mission were concerned. Why let musicianship and musicality (or a lack thereof) stand in the way of people having a good time?  :Whistling:  It seems enough people felt similarly; PS put out three albums and a single, and even played at the Royal Albert Hall.

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## journeybear

If anyone was watching Jeopardy tonight, which was the second semi-final contest of the Tournament of Champions, you surely noticed the $1200 clue in the category "Rock Bands" in the Double Jeopardy round. It was a visual, with a photo of Ann and Nancy Wilson of Heart, and the clue was, "Seen here is the core of this band that's been rocking for decades." Nancy had a nice shiny F model and a big smile. For once, a contestant got a mandolin-related clue right - though the question wasn't directly related to the instrument, so the odds were in her favor.  :Wink:  Oh, and since she was so brilliant, [spoiler alert] she ended up winning the round and advancing to the finals. This is further proof that mandolins make the world better in so many ways.  :Mandosmiley:

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## journeybear

Yesterday was Bob Dylan's 80th birthday. Part of my commemoration was watching a documentary about his early days, from Hibbing to Greenwich Village to Newport, in a manner of speaking. The footage of Greenwich Village included loads of guitars, a few banjos, and occasional glimpses of mandolins. Soon after arriving, and until he improved his situation, Dylan went around to the pass-the-basket places - no pay, pass a tip basket around after your set. This is a still from one of those places. No idea who the other two are. Nice mandolin, though.

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## journeybear

Also, I was reminded of the existence of this early tape of Dylan jamming with Eric Von Schmidt, sometime in early 1964. It's pretty loosey-goosey, and I have reason to believe some imbibing of spirits was involved. But the earliest recording of "Mr. Tambourine Man" is in here, at about the 33:00 mark. It's still being worked on, as some lyrics have changed since then. Eric does a nice job of fitting in some harmonica fills on it, despite it being his first time hearing it. Overall, the sound quality is rough, and so are some of the performances. But there is a lot of_ joie de vivre_ as well, which carries the day.

This photo is not from this session; no idea where or when it's from. It made a brief appearance in the documentary, too. I believe it had been used for the video because it includes the two main mischief-makers. That's Richard Fariña in the middle of the picture, playing harmonica. And Eric is on the right, playing mandolin - the reason for this post. His 90th birthday is coming up Friday, though he left us in 2007.  :Frown:

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Bill Findley

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## Jacob

Dylan performs in London in 1978.

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journeybear

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## journeybear

Cool. Research indicates David Mansfield played mandolin and violin on the tour. He was a veteran of the Rolling Thunder Revue tours in 1975 and 1976.

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Jacob

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## allenhopkins

> ...No idea who the other two are. Nice mandolin, though.


I'm gonna say Ralph Rinzler and John Herald, two-thirds of the Greenbriar Boys.

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journeybear

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## journeybear

Aha! That makes sense. They got mentioned a few times. I figured they had to be fairly well established for him to have such a nice mandolin. Most musicians in the Village were struggling along at the time. Thanks!

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allenhopkins

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## grassrootphilosopher

> I'm gonna say Ralph Rinzler and John Herald, two-thirds of the Greenbriar Boys.


Yes!

It´s Ralph Rinzler, Bob Dylan, and John Herald at the Gaslight Cafe, Greenwich Village, NY in 1962 (picture by John Cohen = New Lost City Ramblers).

This is from the classic, vibrant period in New York when some people took the helm and helped the world to listen to really great music. Like: Doc Watson an Jean Richie Live at Gerde´s Folk City.

Ralph Rinzler (manager of Bill Monroe at some time and instrumental to Bill Monroe´s musical "comeback"; "discovered" Doc Watson; responsible for David "Dawg" Grisman´s start in bluegrass etc.; passed on after 1991 due to HIV/Aids). John Herald (great singer and guitarist; unfortunately never gained the deserved recognition and is presumed to have taken his life in 2005)

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Bill Findley, 

journeybear

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## journeybear

This was definitely random - the appearance of a mandolin in The Tonight Show's Random Instrument Challenge, in which Jimmy Fallon and a guest (in this case, Tina Fey) take turns attempting to get The Roots to guess the name of random songs they're performing on instruments they've never played before. I noticed the mandolin right away - a Pac-Rim F model. And Jimmy picked it for his first song - The Proclaimers' "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)." He plays guitar, so I figured he'd manage all right. He didn't. It was godawful. In his defense, he said it wasn't tuned - and I think he was right. All he could manage was a rough equivalent of the rhythm, and with some heavy prompting, Questlove actually guessed correctly. 

So ... mixed feelings. Nice to see it, and have it be included, but disappointed (putting it mildly) with the way it sounded. And seriously - Jimmy plays guitar fairly well. He's done bits with Neil Young and Bruce Springsteen in which he dresses like them, sings a verse of one of their songs in an imitative manner, and then the real guy comes out and joins him. These skits are brilliant, and he does all right on guitar in them. One would think he could have correlated his experience to this. Not so much.  :Frown:  

It starts at about 1:15. But the best part may be the mandolin's appearance in the thumbnail.  :Disbelief:

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## Jess L.

Mandolin background music from TV series "Expedition Unknown", 2017 episode s5e3 "Origins Of Stonehenge". Unfortunately the host is talking over the music except for the first 4 seconds of the clip. No idea who's playing but I wouldn't mind finding out so I could look up more of their stuff, as what I can hear of it here sounds pretty nice.  



Your browser does not support the audio element.


At least I _think_ that's an actual mandolin. But for all I know maybe it could be some super-high-quality synthesized/sampled thing played on a keyboard or something (doubtful, but ya never know these days - without being able to see it as it's being played it's hard to know what sorts of digital trickery may have been used in creating the sound). I like the sound though, whoever/whatever created it. I didn't see any band/musician credits listed.  

_Attachment for above mp3 player:
mando-tv.mp3_

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journeybear

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## journeybear

It sounds pretty real to me. There's some technology involved in the recording and production of it, but not the creation, to my ears.  :Mandosmiley:

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Jess L.

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## Tom Hart

Watching Rhapsody in Blue. The Gershwin biopic. Just saw someone playing what appeared to be a Lyon and Healy during"Somebody Loves Me". At the end of the solo he just slid it across the floor!! About 45 minutes in.

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## Gina Willis

All my life I've heard and liked that tinkly little opening to The Beach Boys' "Wouldn't It Be Nice," and only today did I learn (courtesy of The Wrecking Crew group on Facebook) that it was played by Barney Kessel, on a Gibson electric 12 string mandolin (!) Here's a pic of him holding it: https://bit.ly/3itIK5U

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DavidKOS

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## journeybear

Very nice - but only part right. It's an electric half-neck 12-string *guitar* - it's pitched higher but still tuned like a guitar. These were invented so guitarists could produce mandolinny sounds without having to learn how to play another instrument. Sort of the same dynamic is in play with banjolins for some of us'n's - being able to sound like a banjo while playing a "mandolin." I first encountered these mini-guitars during Lucinda Williams' "Car Wheels" tour in 1998-99, when one of her guitarists used one on a song or two.

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## TonyEarth

> Very nice - but only part right. It's an electric half-neck 12-string *guitar* - it's pitched higher but still tuned like a guitar. These were invented so guitarists could produce mandolinny sounds without having to learn how to play another instrument. Sort of the same dynamic is in play with banjolins for some of us'n's - being able to sound like a banjo while playing a "mandolin." I first encountered these mini-guitars during Lucinda Williams' "Car Wheels" tour in 1998-99, when one of her guitarists used one on a song or two.


Gold tone actually makes one of these: https://goldtonemusicgroup.com/goldt...struments/f-12

They have a six string and an electric version as well. Here's a video of a six string:

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## journeybear

Soprano guitar - that's a shorter way of saying it.  :Wink: 

Gold Tone does offer a wide variety of, ah, different instruments.  :Whistling:

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## journeybear

All right ... So I'm watching a documentary about Roy Orbison - "Roy Orbison Forever" - on one of my PBS stations, and while they're talking about his early days, in Wink, Texas (don't wink while you're driving through or you'll miss it  :Wink:  ), and his first band, the Wink Westerners, which later became the Teen Kings, my eye caught what looked like a mandolin in a photograph of the band. No, it couldn't be. A few seconds later, another photo, and sure enough - eight tuning pegs.  :Disbelief:  I couldn't believe it. I went a-googling, and found very little. I did learn the player's name is James Morrow, though I couldn't find anything about his instrument or subsequent career, if any. I did find two photos and an album cover. And when googling his name, right there on the top row of hits is his entry at emando.com  :Disbelief:  There is about as much information on him there as anywhere, if not everywhere else. The image there is a cropped version of the second photograph. Perhaps Martin knows a bit more about him that he can share. I'm mostly curious about the brand of mandolin - it does not look like a Gibson. I've no idea what else was available in the mid-50s, especially to a teenager without a lot of money to spend. I believe The Teen Kings played on what would be Roy's first recording - they were a band, he was not a star - five songs recorded at Sun Studio, including his first hit, "Ooby Dooby," but I can't hear mandolin on it. I'm off to search for audio by them. Hope to hear mandolin on a recording with Roy Orbison. If not, well, the photos will have to do.  :Mandosmiley:

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David Rambo, 

Ranald

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## Bill McCall

James Emitt Morrow was on the original Ooby Dooby recording on Je-Wel records as part of the Teen Kings.  He grew up with Orbison and was drafted in 1958.  An article mentioned he played through an Echoplex, but didn’t mention the mando name.

He passed away in 2020.

Google is your friend.

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## journeybear

I believe there's some mandolin on this one, providing some counterpoint.



These are the five tracks from that first recording: "Ooby Dooby," "Go Go Go," "Trying To Get To You," "Rockhouse," and "You're My Baby." You can find videos of them all on youtube. Now, they had a radio show back in West Texas, and I would think some mandolin might show up on recordings from those, being less controlled than a recording session. This clip features three songs, but aside from a brief introduction of Morrow by the MC at 3:57, I can't hear any MC.



I wonder about this one, though. The lead just sounds a little ... different.

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## allenhopkins

_Could_ be a Gibson A-40 or A-50 with an aftermarket pickup.  I was thinking perhaps one of the early-'60's EM-200 "Florentine" solid-bodies, but this one seems to have f-holes.  The headstock looks Gibson-ish to me.

But, as often remarked, "I could be wrong..."

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## journeybear

Hard to see any detail. He seems to have a different one in each photo, one dark, one light.. I like how, in the posed photo, he and Roy are both playing C chords.  :Mandosmiley: 




> ... as often remarked, "I could be wrong..."


Oh, yes, the universal disclaimer. It's right there in my sig line. By necessity.  :Grin:

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## Zach Wilson

https://youtu.be/msD7qqP4m6I

There was a live version of this song "Hometown Christmas" on the ABC Magical Holiday Celebration. I can't find a video of it but I remember there was a mandolin player strumming in the background.

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## Richard500

Today in the Washington Post, an article about the Smithsonian’s old problem with the Wright Brothers, resulting in the first Flyer being there.  Caught my eye, a case with —- a Wright mandolin!

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journeybear

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## Timbofood

Okay, no mandolin on this one but, did anyone notice the guitar that was in “Yellowstone” last night?
Waterloo, cherry back and sides, pretty guitar! I want to say “MT-5S”? I actually looked it up but, don’t remember. 
The deal was pretty cool.

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## journeybear

In today's episode of CBS Sunday Morning - one of my favorite shows, a true news magazine with far-ranging scope regarding its subject matter - there was a segment about retiring NIH director Francis Collins. It ended with a look at his non-scientific side, in the form of his interest in music. He plays guitar and sings, and apparently, there is a band comprising NIH workers, here shown in performance. As I often do, I was listening more than watching, taking a look around the Café. I glanced up when I heard music and saw him at the mic with his guitar, and someone behind him was playing an F-style mandolin!  :Disbelief: 

Skip ahead to 7:00 for the music.


[Editor's note: In a later segment about actress Penelope Cruz, some brief scenes from her early work were shown with identifying text tags. Included was "Captain Corelli's Mandolin." Although no instrument was shown, the word appeared. As if one instance of mandolin presence weren't rare enough, a double appearance is unheard-of and nearly miraculous.]

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## Jcdraayer

Episode 2 of Station Eleven has multiple mandolin appearances including a nice F being played in a jam around the fire

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## journeybear

I'm not sure why, but Peter Stampfel (Holy modal Rounder) posted this song last night. What a goof. But in listening to it, I could just about swear the first lead is on an electric mandolin. From 1951. That's even earlier than the previously mentioned Roy Orbison song.



Naturally, being from the start of the Cold War, I could neither confirm or deny the existence of this instrument. The identity of the band members and the nature of the instrumentation are untraceable - seemingly shrouded in secrecy. Whether this is due to obscurity or all information about them being classified, it is unable to be determined conclusively.  :Confused:  I see that it is included in the movie, "Atomic Café." More than that, I do not know.

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Ranald

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## Ranald

I don't think Jackie Doll and his Pickled Peppers were part of the Greenwich Village folk scene!

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## journeybear

Oh, no, no, no, no, NO!!!  :Laughing:  Not stylistically, politically, nor philosophically!  :Laughing:  

Though I can't say for sure. Just because I haven't found anything about him or them on the interweb doesn't mean it ain't out there. This could have been slapdashed together just for the purpose of putting his manifesto on the airwaves. Or they could have been around for a while and this was just one of many records in a brilliant if forgotten career. I'm leaning a bit more to the former  :Wink:  seeing as how there is such a dearth of info on him/them. The most I found was a lengthy "review" - I mean, *seven* paragraphs instead of the usual .5-1 - but it was all about the lyrical content, not musical, nor biographical. Well, they were odd times, both repressive and revolutionary. I'm sure a lot of people deemed it prudent to keep their personal history on the down low.  :Cool:  "On a need-to-know basis" meant "you don't need to know."  :Wink:

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Ranald

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## journeybear

From Sam Bush's facebook page:

Stuck on a plane in Detroit, maintenance issues.  Making the most of it ✈️



Those lucky passengers were treated to a  first-class random mandolin sighting.  :Mandosmiley:

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## Mark Gunter

This may have been mentioned before, but a mandolin appears in a couple episodes of season 3 of Boardwalk Empire, an HBO series about early 1900s Atlantic City. The Al Capone character is holding it in his home in one episode, and plays it in another.

The actor playing Capone strums chords and sings, then after the camera cuts away you hear a more interesting player continue while he continues singing. Pretty cool.

Season 3, episode 4 Capone plays mandolin and sings Little Buddy for his son near the end of the episode.

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Seter, 

Simon DS

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## journeybear

Are you sure it isn't a mandola?  :Confused:  As *has* been mentioned before, several times, Al Capone played one. I don't expect the producers would know this, nor aspire to this level of historical accuracy, but it's possible ... and it's possible these instances represent more than coincidence.  :Confused:

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## Simon DS

Thanks Mark, nice one.



https://youtu.be/83_ptL_xTCI

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## Mark Gunter

I know very well that Capone played tenor guitar & banjo, and mandola  in the gangster series Boardwalk Empire, the Capone character plays a mandolin to the best of my observations. I only saw the scene in passing, could have been a mandola.

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## Charles E.

Lyle Lovett and his band were on The Today Show this Saturday past....





Closeup at 2:38

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## journeybear

> I know very well that Capone played tenor guitar & banjo, and mandola … in the gangster series Boardwalk Empire, the Capone character plays a mandolin to the best of my observations. I only saw the scene in passing, could have been a mandola.


I'm sure *you* know that; I was wondering whether the *producers* or property masters knew that - without a visual reference. In that clip it sure looks and sounds like a mandolin.

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## journeybear

> Lyle Lovett and his band were on The Today Show this Saturday past....


Yes, I am well, even painfully, aware of that. But the Miami CBS affiliate decided to broadcast storm coverage, as these affiliates so often do, to a quite unnecessary and overreacting degree. So instead of seeing and hearing Lyle play, I got to see an intern standing in shin-deep street flooding. Not even knee-deep. After the storm had passed through. They could have waited till 9:00!  :Crying: 

PS: If you go to the show's site, they have all three songs up there, plus the interview segment, which I really wanted to catch. They typically broadcast two songs, but I can see how they might have a third one left in the can.

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Charles E.

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## Mark Gunter

The series is interesting to me and has quite a few historical figures represented. I don’t know the answer to your question, but my hunch is that the writer(s) would know that Capone was an amateur musician and that the mandolin is an Italian instrument that could represent his musicianship, I don’t think his playing one is coincidental, just not strictly historically accurate.

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journeybear

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## journeybear

Yep, pretty much how I figure it. I don't have HBO, so I haven't seen the show, though I hear good things about it. Anyway, it's nice of them to choose this method of showing his human side. Which, again, we here know, from having seen the song he wrote for his mother.

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## journeybear

Well, it happened again - "Mandolin" appeared as a clue on Jeopardy! today. What sets this apart from most of its appearances on the show is the contestant guessed right!  :Disbelief:  Maybe that's because the clue was actually referring to the kitchen implement, but hey - I'll take it!  :Mandosmiley:

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## Kenny

Leland Sklar is touring with Lyle Lovett’s Large Band (double billed with Chris Isaak on some of the tour). At recent stops he’s done a walking tour of the venue and on today’s tour at McMenamin’s Edgefield east of Portland, Oregon one of the players he encountered was Jeff White who was tuning up his mandolin. It’s a brief shot but go to 3:50 in the video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWiWuSW6PCY

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journeybear

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## journeybear

Catching up on recent talk shows, I saw this appearance by the touring company of "Oklahoma" on The Late Late Show with James Corden. There's a mandolin in the "orchestra," screen right, and you can actually hear it. It's being played a bit differently than "normal," in a very stage-y fashion - it's synched with the pizzicato violin and other instruments - but it's interesting, and a pleasant surprise.



I'll also include this brilliant bit worked up by the cast and the show's crew to do a take-off on the title song as a tongue-in-cheek tribute to Mila Kunis, a guest on the show. Hi-larious hi-jinks ensue - and I had to chuckle at the "Nebraska" T-shirt worn by one of the performers.  :Laughing:

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## Charles E.

In last Sunday's Premier crossword puzzle, 8-across was "guitars cousin", i.e. "mandolin".

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journeybear

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