Banjo Dan and the Mid-Nite Plowboys

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2004 Newsletters & Schedule

Banjo Dan Holiday Newsletter 
December 2004

Hello friends. On behalf of my bandmates I’d like to wish you all a joyous holiday season and express our hopes and wishes for peace in upcoming year.

I’ve been so busy booking our summer schedule for 2005 that I almost forgot to fill you in on stuff that’s coming up right away.

Banjo Dan and the Mid-nite Plowboys will celebrate New Year’s Eve with a couple late-evening shows at the big First Night shindig in St. Johnsbury, Vermont [at South Church 8 p.m. and 9 p.m.]. Come join the fun – schedules will be posted all around town.

The Lindner Brothers – Banjo Dan and Willy also have a couple shows coming right up.

Thursday, January 6, we’re at The Black Door, a brand-new night spot in Montpelier, Vermont. It’s right across from City Hall on Main Street, on the third floor. (For you locals, this is the former Julio’s location.) We understand it’s a great room, with fine food and drink – and the music is free! We start picking and singing at 8 PM. [one hour earlier than originally announced]

Friday, January 14, we’ll be back to one of our favorite small concert venues, The Music Box (147 Creek Road), in Craftsbury, Vermont, for a 7:30 concert. This is a wonderful place for live music. Call 802-586-7533 for directions.

Big Al is traveling for part of the winter, and Jon Henry is using his middle-school science classes to teach young people to appreciate country music, so the Plowboys won’t be touring and performing too much over the next few months. I’ll be in touch later with some good stuff for the spring.

Meanwhile, last-minute holiday shopping options from Banjo Dan and the gang include:

*Three commercially-produced CDs at $16 each: Some Rust...Runs Good,  Like a River, and The Catamount is Back.

*Three CD re-releases of early vinyl and cassette albums, at $15 each: Snowfall,  I'll Take the Hills, and Green Mountain Skyline. The latter includes five previously-unavailable tracks.

Send a check to Banjo Dan, 192 Bird Haven Lane, N. Ferrisburgh, VT 05473 and I’ll get you the goods by return mail.

That’s it for now. Keep warm 'til we see you next. Banjo Dan

October update

Hi, folks. It's a beautiful autumn here in Vermont, where the Mid-nite Plowboys are busy bringing in the last carrots, stacking firewood, watching the geese fly south and figuring out how to stay alive between now and next year's concert season.

No big shows coming up for awhile, but I wanted to send you a quick update on our album re-release project. We now have three of the old recordings re-mastered for CD. If you've been on our e-mailing list for awhile you know that our landmark first album, Snowfall, and our first collection of original Vermont songs, I'll Take the Hills, are now available on CD.

The final project for this year is Green Mountain Skyline. This was our last vinyl CD, recorded in 1986, and includes some of our all-time favorite songs, like The Last Timber Wolf and Wild Kentucky Roane, fan favorites like Just the Motion, Good Luck and The Werewolf, some straight-ahead bluegrass gems, and some neat crossover tunes like Too Far Gone and When You Walk in the Room. We've also tacked on the three Banjo Dan songs from a multi-artist release (You Can't Get There from Here) that celebrated Vermont's bicentennial, plus a couple of good studio demos that were never released anywhere. So that's 17 selections, many of which you never heard before.

It's never too early to start holiday shopping for the music lovers on your list, and you can order any of these three re-releases for $15 each.

And, not to beat a dead horse, but our three recent CDs -- Some Rust...Runs Good, Like a River, and The Catamount is Back -- are still available for just $16 each.

As usual, we pay all postage. Just send a huge check to Banjo Dan, 192 Bird Haven Lane, N. Ferrisburgh, VT 05473.

Speaking for all his Mid-nite Plowboys, this is Banjo Dan thanking you again for your friendship and support. --BD

July 2004 Update

The Lindner Brothers - Banjo Dan and Willy, also have a few shows coming right up. If you haven't caught the act, we think you'll enjoy our eclectic mix of old-time duets, gospel and novelty songs, a few new tunes, and our simulated early-morning radio show.
This Friday, July 30, we're opening the Champlain Valley Folk Festival at Kingsland Bay State Park in Ferrisburgh, VT. At 5:30 PM. This is a wonderful 3-day event that's been going on for years. Check online for details: www.cvfest.org.

And here's a kick: right after our set at the festival we're heading up to Morrisville, Vermont where River Arts has a big day-long shindig going on. The Lindner Bros will cap the evening with a full concert beginning at 8 PM.

August 24: Shelburne, VT - family show at Pierson Library (802-985-5124 for details).

And now for some news on the recording front. As we mentioned in the last Newsletter, we're working to fulfill the many requests we've had over the years for CD versions of our early recordings. We announced the re-release of Snowfall, our landmark first album from 1974, in our last message. We're proud to tell you that I'll Take the Hills, our best-selling-ever collection of original Vermont songs (1987) is also now on CD. Both these albums have been re-mastered for CD, and they honestly do sound better than ever. These are not commercial releases, and are available only by ordering directly by mail. We package them individually in slim jewel cases with a simple insert. To order, send $15 per CD to Banjo Dan, 192 Bird Haven Lane, N. Ferrisburgh, VT 05473.

And as always you can order our other CDs the same way, at $16 per. Still available are Some Rust…Runs Good; Like a River; and The Catamount is Back.

We'll look for you on the bluegrass trail. Thanks as always for supporting good live music. -Banjo Dan

June 2004 Newsletter

   Greetings from Vermont’s idyllic Champlain Valley.  The phone and email have been hyperactive of late, and inquiring fans want to know: When and where can I get a Plowboy fix this summer?  Good question, and I’m the guy with the answers.  Now pay attention and have your calendar and marking pen ready.  Summer flies by way too fast, and it seems this time around we have fewer public performances than usual, so catch us while you can.  We start up THIS SUNDAY, at the Quechee Balloon Festival – talk about a great way to launch a season!

June 20: Quechee, VT – Balloon Festival, afternoon.  (Come for the whole day – this is a really fun event for the whole fandambly.)

[See schedule at top]

   In case I haven’t bludgeoned you enough with info about our recordings, let me remind you we have three CDs currently available.  “Like a River” is our retrospective collection of most-requested songs from our first eight albums, 1974-94, and includes a booklet with photos and band history.  “Some Rust…Runs Good” is our rollicking 2000 release.  “The Catamount is Back” is our collection of original Vermont songs.  You can order these at $16 per CD from Banjo Dan, 192 Bird Haven Lane, N. Ferrisburgh VT 05473.

  Now for a trip down memory lane.  Ever since the CD format emerged we’ve been getting requests for CD versions of our old records.  In answer to your entreaties we’ve begun having the old studio tapes re-mastered for digital.  Our first re-release is good old “Snowfall,” from 1974.  Bluegrass Unlimited magazine called it a “spectacular first effort,” and though we can listen back and smile at the youthful brashness of that first time in the studio, we’re surprised at how well the music holds up.  There’s really some pretty good stuff there.  So for you old friends who have waited all these years, here finally is your chance to put the scratchy vinyl on the shelf and enjoy “Snowfall” once again. 

   This is not a commercial release, and will not be available at shows or in stores.  You’ll need to order it directly from Banjo Dan at the address above, for $15.  I’ll be sending it to you in a slim jewel case with a simple insert.  But the music is all there, and thanks to some terrific work on the part of Charles Eller Studios, “Snowfall” sounds better than ever. 

   In the coming months I’ll be making some of the other old Plowboy material available, so stay tuned.  In fact, if you have a favorite Banjo Dan recording you’re eager to have on CD, let me know.  You can email me at banjodan@pshift.com.

   Hope to see you soon.  Banjo Dan

February 2004Email Update:
Friends and fans of Banjo Dan and the Mid-nite Plowboys: What did you think you were doing to celebrate St. Valentine’s Day?  We’ll be playing a concert that evening, Feb 14, and we think you should come join us.  This has been a long cold winter, and it’s high time we fired up the bluegrass machine and got things cookin’.  If you live within driving distance of St. Johnsbury Vermont we hope you’ll show up at the St. Johnsbury School on Western Ave (just off I-91 at Exit 21) at 7 PM.  We’re doing a concert to benefit the local Rotary Club, which is doing a fantastic job of community service in the St. J area.  It being Valentine’s Day, we’ll scan the bluegrass repertoire and see if we can’t come up with some songs of love gone right.  Please come celebrate with us if you can. – Banjo Dan