Over the past several months of inactivity, I have received various tab requests. Sadly, I do not have the same amount of time to transcribe songs. So I’ll post these songs on the website and hopefully there will be some kind hearted soul that will transcribe them.

Look for some more changes to be coming to altbanjo. For more news, you should follow us on Twitter here.

Finally here’s a song for you, the reader, now that we are almost back on our feet again…

There are some new tabs up and they are: Sufjan’s The Transfiguration and Seven Swans, Flogging Molly’s Drunken Lullabies. These tabs were sent in by Tony G. great success.

a quiet moment of reflection…

So now that alternativebanjo has a new website, there have been a lot of changes. The tabs are presented differently. The blog has garnered more attention. We have twitter . These changes are great but the big question is: Do you guys (and gals) find this new stuff helpful? Do the blog posts and tweets help you to become a better banjo player? Or what could this site do better? I’d love to hear what you guys think of the changes. As a dabbler in web design/development I always love hearing people’s opinions about websites. So it may be a little self-indulgent but I would really like to hear what you guys have to say.

Yes, so now that we’ve reflected a bit, I’m going to go write in my journal .

So from the later part of this month to mid April he’ll be promoting this new album. During late summer he will be going on a tour with Edgar Meyer and Zakir Hussain. Check out the dates and locations.

I have been fortunate enough to see Fleck twice in concert and both times they were simply spectacular. I saw him was when he had just released his Music for Two album and he was touring with Edgar Meyer. Their skill really cannot be put into words. They played Bach, jazz, an insane canon, bluegrass and then even switched up instruments. Meyer played the piano for several songs and on one song Fleck played a guitar. If you have the opportunity to see them play it is extremely inspirational and enjoyable to watch.

I was also able to see Fleck play with the Flecktones. Again, phenomenal. Victor Wooten is one of the best electric bassists in the world. Future Man and his instrument, the Drumitar are insane (literally). Then the world renowned Jeff Coffin on the sax. It was an awesome show and afterwords I got to shake Bela’s hand! When I shook it I also asked him if he could check out my transcription of Sinister Minister but I don’t know if he ever did .

Have any of you guys see Bela in concert? Who was he playing with? I have always been curious as to how many people he has played with over the years. It would be interesting to see the breadth of the styles of musicians that he’s been in concert with.

I’ll probably tweet about such things as:

• The whereabouts and projects of Sufjan, Bela and other banjo artists.
• New bands that cater to the indie scene.
• Any new tabs that are posted.
• Really anything that needs to be shared.

Well with that said, follow me!

It features both covers and originals, just like the previous volumes. Here is the track list:

1. Angels We Have Heard on High
2. Do You See What I See?
3. It Came Upon a Midnight Clear
4. Christmas in the Room
5. Good King Wenceslas
6. Joy to the World
7. The Child With the Star on His Head

This latest album is much like his 2001 album Enjoy Your Rabbit, featuring many a primarily electronic instrumentation. I would highly recommend listening to ‘Christmas in the Room’. When I first heard it, it was like the first time I listened to the Beatles.

In other Sufjan news, he recently produced an album for The Welcome Wagon, under the Asthmatic Kitty record label. I have posted a link at the bottom of this post to the single, “Sold! To the Nice Rich Man”. The use of horns, banjos, the vocals, etc sound like Sufjan’s music and so I found it quite enjoyable.

Here is a link to download the Songs for Christmas vol. 8 album.

And the Welcome Wagon song: Sold! To the Nice Rich Man