Dueling Keyboards

I have never been much of a handy man. For the most part, the shop class kind of stuff that guys usually learn in their teenage years didn't register. I don't know how toilets work, or what that kerchunk, kerchunk sound under the hood of my wife's van is. But, for years I've prided myself on being able to write a good story, snap a good photo, and strum a good tune on the guitar. It was those creative talents that balanced the scale; that is until I was given a banjo for my birthday several months ago. The five-string banjo. It looked so easy when the Darlings cranked out some earthy bluegrass tune for Andy and Barney in the hills between Mayberry and Mount Pilot. How hard could it be if that kid from Deliverence could do it? After all, I've picked the guitar since I was 12-years-old and made Hotel California and House of the Rising Sun sound pretty doggone good. But this thing is a beautifully designed, highly polished, perfectly balanced chromed pain in the patuddy. I have the Mel Bay Method "You Can Teach Yourself Banjo". I have Austin-area banjo extradinaire Eddie Collins' "The Basics of Bluegrass Banjo". I have sat on the floor for hours reading the books, listening to the instructional CDs and watching a woman play her mother of pearl inlaid instrument effortlessly on the DVD. The fingers of my left hand sting from the strings, and the first two fingers and thumb of my right hand smart from picks that are way too tight. Still, I push on through pitifully performed versions of Camptown Races and Boil 'em Cabbage Down. I won't admit that I've been bested by a banjo, but my ego has certainly taken a hit. You would have thought that a five string banjo would be one string easier to play than a guitar, but it just ain't so. I'll keep at it and who knows . . . maybe someday I'll be good enough to pick a tune during open mic night at Hickory Hollow Barbecue. Until then I'll keep shooting the photos, strumming the guitar and banging out the words on my dueling keyboards. www.baxwrtr.com