: lower black pain
: lower black pain.
Songs About Rainbows
5
0:00
-4:26

Songs About Rainbows

The Whole World, In My Hands
5

I’m not really from a “reading the instructions first” kind of family. We changed light switches, tried out new appliances, even opened up a coconut for the first time by winging it, mostly. I mean we turned the electricity off, or looked at all the pieces, or laid out some newspaper first, but we didn’t begin with directions, just basic knowledge broadly combined, confident, as if we were frosting a cake with a paper knife.

I gained a great passion for learning the basic building blocks of everything very early on; I love how colors combine in light and in paint, I love the periodic table, I love the basic moves involved in slight of hand, magnetism is amazing, electricity is fascinating. In college a classmate introduced me to The Blue Strawbery (sic) cookbook; it teaches the basics of culinary science without any specific recipes… that is my jam (unintentional pectin reference) because in the kitchen, where some use cookbooks, I employ ingredients and enthusiasm.

Knowing the basics prepared me for a world where “the way things were supposed to be” didn’t actually work out in my favor, so following those directions weren’t always a great idea, and it was important to not be afraid to try something new, and sort of serial fail until, well, you didn’t.

That is why I have a banjo. [If anyone would like to cosplay as my family this Halloween, don’t forget the noise-cancelling headphones and infinite patience.] I bought it in Santa Fe, New Mexico. It was on sale, I mean, it was discounted. I also got a harp at the same place (just a little one). I do not play the banjo well (as of yet), but I enjoy experimenting with it, believing in my heart that my absolute lack of experience surrounding the instrument will be my path to (as of yet) unheard of chords and combinations.

Hey, I’m not gonna be onstage with Punch Brothers and if I meet Steve Martin I’m probably gonna ask him about art history, so playing the banjo professionally? Not a goal. My theory is one of discovery through innocence. Not ignorance, because I did buy books and online lessons, of course. Pete Seeger and Mel Bay are patiently doing their best to teach me as much as they can, and I practice, but then I begin fiddling about. I do so very much enjoy the fiddling about.

That’s what the banjo’s for, to be a new thing, something kind of impossible that I can learn to understand, but also have the freedom of interacting with in new ways. And I’m learning the basics, which is great, but mastery without imagination is just expert imitation, so along the way to getting good I’m really enjoying not being all that good at all.

My favorite thing to play so far has been the song “Bela Lugosi’s Dead”. It’s a gothic shoegaze classic from a band called Bauhaus. You don’t need to know the song, just understand that it is the least appropriate thing to play on the banjo. It’s the music you would hear in the mansion of a rock star that turned out to be a vampire on a Scooby Doo episode. All those bright tones kind of clash magnificently with the source material in a new way that just kinda warms my heart.

The joy of discovery. Each time I hold the banjo, I am a happy puppy, playing with a musical stick. Am I reclaiming a cultural tool? Sure. Am I making joyful noises? Absolutely (well, y’know, except for the Bauhaus).

But is it music? I’m sure John Cage would back me up, albeit quietly.

I’m taking it step by step. Combining simple creates complex, and music is the very best science when it comes to that, because if you do it just right you hear the simple ringing out no matter how complex the piece. Harlan Howard, who co-wrote “I Fall To Pieces” for the late great Patsy Cline, assured us that all we need are three chords and the truth and I know, like, five chords now so, Yay. That’s enough to fiddle about.

Ooh. I don’t have a fiddle yet.

Bela Lugosi’s Dead - Bauhaus (1979)
5 Comments
: lower black pain
: lower black pain.
Life’s lemons into rich, dark chocolate.
Listen on
Substack App
RSS Feed
Appears in episode
Jd Michaels