Texas state mandolin contest

[Daniel Wheeler]

See you folks tonight.

[Joe Dodson]

Results?! Who won?

[Daniel Wheeler]

Mr roe took it with Kenny snow 2nd and seth Erwin 3rd. I blew gravy all over my 2nd round stuff

[mandocaster]

Despite the enthusiasm and support from my wife and kids, the judges weren't buying what I was selling. #I didn't make it into the second round. #Dan, were you the guy that wore the red hat in your final round? #I think the hat cursed you.

[Daniel Wheeler]

Haha that was me. I think it did too. I wasn't prepared tho at all. It was a pretty last minute thing. I've narrowed down who you were. I wanted to meet you but I wasn't sure who you were til after the second round. Then I didn't see you anymore.

[mandocaster]

I was number 8 in the first round, and played Mason's Apron and Say Old Man.

I thought you played great. I'm sorry I didn't get up to meet you at the end. My seven year old daughter reached her saturation point, and the rush of paparazzi kept me from getting over to the stage at the end.

[Joe Dodson]

Thanks guys, and better luck next year Mitch. Did Bagley make the finals?

Was Kenny Snow playing his Collings? It used to belong to a friend of mine. He'd get a kick out of knowing that it took second at the contest.

[frogisland]

That was my son, Sam, that placed third. I thought both you guys played great. I really enjoyed talking to you, Mitch. And Daniel, we spoke to you briefly at the end, but didn't really get to talk much. Spent a lot of time talking to Kenny Snow, and was really impressed with his playing. found out he plays in a band at Hickory Hollow, so I imagine we'll be heading there next time they play. Band name was "Harris County Line", or something like that. I hope that's close. Brian Roe taking first was no surprise. He played really well, and knows what judges look for probably better than most of us. I was also really impressed with the fellow who played "How Great Thou Art". I think his name was Dennis. there were some nice mandolins there for sure. Two Collings varnish F-5's. And one, maybe two Ellis mandos. Anyway, we had a great time, and it was nice meeting everyone. Joe Dodson, you should have been there. See ya'll later,
Bill Irwin

[frogisland]

Just saw your note Joe. Yes Kenny was playing the Collings. And no Chris did not make the finals. Don't know why, he certainly played well.

Bill

[Daniel Wheeler]

Ya Brian is a good contest mando player. I first met him at some guitar contests. And its Sam lol my bad I had seth for some reason.

[Daniel Wheeler]

I thought the how great thou art guy had 2nd but was pretty up in the air on 3rd.

[frogisland]

by the way, the guy on 650 AM radio has devoted a lot of the first hour of his show to the contest. replaying his Brian Roe interview as I type this.

[HddnKat]

#found out he plays in a band at Hickory Hollow, so I imagine we'll be heading there next time they play. #

Well, if you go to listen at Hickory Hollow, go hungry! They catered my wedding reception years ago, and they have the biggest and best dam' chicken fried steak in Houston. Wish I still lived in driving distance!

Kat

[Joe Dodson]

Hey Bill - Congrats to Sam!!! That really made my day to hear it.

Let's do some picking soon, stranger.

[mandocaster]

Bill
Sam did great. #I really enjoyed his playing. #It was great meeting you guys, and I hope to see you around.

...and on the Hickory Hollow topic - Tony, the owner, is an old friend and bandmate. The chicken fried steaks are out of this world.

[GRW3]

A flavor of the contest. I took more contest pictures but I forgot to up the resolution...

[GRW3]

Hall Jam

[GRW3]

Intermediate Jam

You can tell by the number of pickers...

[GRW3]

Hot Jam

The jams continued during the contest...

[GRW3]

Ron and I came over from San Antonio and we had a good time. For those of you who have not been to a BABA event (as we had not before) the hall is a nice big area with plenty of seating. They provide padded metal chairs but I saw some with their own folding chairs. The stage is elevated so you have a good view from anywhere in the seating area. The sound system was well run so you could hear everybody play without straining.

They had the first round of players play their two songs. Then they had a band play a few songs while the judges calculated the results. (sorry, didn't jot down the name of the band) Then the 5 finalist played. The band came back on to entertain while the judging was finalized. This seemed to take longer than the first cut. The band then played the crowd out. I don't know how long this took because we left before they finished.

Brian Roe, the winner, has great stage presence. This doesn't assist him with the judges but it does with the crowd and maybe that feedback is enough to push over the top. Although the BABA rules did not state a 'Bluegrass' requirement, I was pleasantly surprised at how much of the mandolin repetoire was covered by the contestants. Brian even played a Joplin Rag and an Italian type piece in the finals.

The players split almost evenly on accompaniment. I kind of preferred the duet approach as it make a fuller presentation but since the winner was a solo act it appears it not necessary. I did appreciate that there were performers who played more muscially rather than try to cram in the maximum number of notes in two minutes for a tune. I would say the finalists were more musical than not. The large crowd gave everybody a good round of applause and that was excellent. Even if there were some 'I could do that' players on stage they still deserve a HUGE round of applause for doing it at all.

The BABA group has several rooms for jam sessions and they were full when we got there at 5:45. They remained full throughout the competition. While some people come for the show quite a few just want to jam. There were intermediate and hot jams all evening. There was a slow jam that started at 6:00. Since Ron is just back to playing with people after a layoff we went to that (and after a day in the car the more relaxed pace appealed to me too). It was well organized and well led. I'm also trying to get ideas on slow/intermediate jam organization to improve our efforts here in San Antonio.

It's too much hassle crossing Houston for regular trip but for something like this it's worth a trip. I noticed that they had Transguide signs on I-45 saying the wait for the Galveston Ferry was one hour. It would have been great if they had one out around Sealy saying I-10 was closed down to two lanes. Geez that burned a little over an hour for no apparent purpose.

[Daniel Wheeler]

Ya I-10 is a mess in a couple places. They have the construction starting at 9PM. I guess that's what you ran into. To keep from crossing Houston you could get on the belt and head south and then east on it til you get to 45 then your practically there. 10 or 15 more min.
That way you never have to seriously cross anything heavy for the most part in Houston.

Brians joplin tune was black and white rag and the Italian tune was ladys fancy I believe. Super clean mando player.

The guy with the red hat...what a goofball

[GRW3]

By the time we got to Beltway 8 we were halfway through the traffic. The exits to the Beltway are closed and under contstruction so you have to fight the access road traffic. I see they're replacing the HOV lanes with toll lanes. Makes good government sense. HOV lanes reduce tax revenue and Toll road increase revenue. (It's a 'fee' not a 'tax')

As for the red hat guy I was only afraid he would fall afoul of the 'Improper Dress' rule.

[mandocaster]

I should have worn a red hat.

[GRW3]

I should have worn a red hat.

Well as the Beatles said it was "Number Nine" not number eight...

Anyway, everyone can check the crowd to see why we're talking about red hats. The local 'Red Hat Society' ladies were in attendance...

[Daniel Wheeler]

I should have worn a red hat.

Mine was cursed.