Tangier Sound

Dick in Iowa writes:

Patrick,
I have lurked for a long time and thought I would take a minute and say hi. I recently returned from an emergency trip to my hometown of Choteau, Montana. I was at a gas station in the famous South Dakota town of Wall. On the other side of the pump was a man about my age and he was having trouble with the pump. We tried to get it to work, to no avail. An employee got it going and he was filling his car and I filled my pickup. I noticed a gray 1” cube above his right ear and said, “Is that a BAHA?” He beamed and said “do you know what they are.” I said yes and tried to explain in two sentences about you and your BAHA. I didn’t do a great job, but he knew I was at least somewhat familiar with the unit. He took it off and showed me the stud in his head and handed it to me so I could feel it sense the vibration. He then fumbled to get it back on and said, “every time I show off, I have trouble getting it back on, usually it goes right on.” His hair do was a modified DA

and so it really showed. He said one guy he knew in his community ask what it was and he said, “well that is lightning protection. I’ve been hit so many times they said this was the only solution, I’ve got a metal plate in my shoe to ground me.” He told another lady it was a wood tick. What a nice man and I thought you might enjoy his story. I was certainly pleased to know what a BAHA was and I am glad I mentioned it.

The real reason I am writing is to thank you for all the great banjo material you share online. I send newbees to your videos and tell them that you do it right. Over the last couple of years I have uploaded some videos, not all performance clips. Early on I saw your clip on “One Kind Favor”. I played that song years ago on the guitar and never worked it out on the banjo. Anyway, a friend here in Council Bluffs, Iowa where I live made me a resonator, frailed banjo and I am always looking for blues tunes which work on it. “One Kind Favor” seemed to fill the bill and so I worked it out. You were my reconnect to this song and so here is my big “THANKS” for all you do for musicians everywhere. Soon I will upload a slide clip using the reso. Here is a link to the video and thanks again for all the good music, philosophy, and good cheer from you and DOD.