Last Fri. (July 11)_while driving up to Omaha, heard this great little piece on how the early (pioneer) music was just fiddle & banjo. Then, the women who didn't have pianos, started playing "parlor guitar" with traditional, classical, music, minuets etc., then people like Maybelle Carter, etc. started playing the guitar but using techniques from the banjo, 'thus the thumb and finger style. Played my favorite Merle Travis piece -Farewell my bluebell- etc. Great story-apparently part of some research being funded by Nat'l Academy of Arts, or some such. Wondered if anyone else heard it. I'm going to try to run the piece down through NPR. Just my kind of stuff. Don
