I'm so thrilled to announce this upcoming duo banjo record with Irish banjo wizard Damien O'Kane, with an amazing mix of U.S. and U.K. musicians. We'll be touring in late July and early August in the U.K. 

Artwork by Alkalart and design by Tom Pitts at Hand Drawn Pixels. 

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Greetings! First of all, thanks so much to everyone who has participated in my online banjo workshop on RonBlock.com! It has been an amazing response. The workshop sessions and extra videos will be up on the site for a good long while, and the extras, including my Traditional Banjo Workbook, will continue to be given away as a part of the online course. If you're interested you can find the course at https://ronblock.com/home.  

2018 has shaped up very well for touring. I spent the end of January until the middle of February in the U.K., playing with Kate Rusby and Damien O'Kane at Celtic Connections in Glasgow, then headed to Yorkshire to finish recording Banjophony, a melding together of Damien's Irish four-string banjo style with my more bluegrassy approach. Damien is one of the best musicians I know, and I'm thrilled to work with him. We'll tour Banjophony in the U.K. this year, starting with the Underneath the Stars Festival and ending with the Cambridge Folk Festival on August 5th (I'll be playing with Kate Rusby there as well, and one other date on that U.K. trip).  

I came home Feb 13th, and on the 16th through the end of the month helped produce a ten-song, sparse, folky recording with Jackson and Ella Paul, a brother-sister duo from London with excellent voices and playing.  

Despite a minor flood in my studio due to a broken pipe, Ethan Jodziewicz and Barry Bales played bass last week on several of the Banjophony tracks, and Sam Bush, Sierra Hull, and Stuart Duncan are due here next week to add parts. 

I'll be guesting on March 17th at the Music City Irish Festival here in Nashville, and near the end of March I head to Sore Fingers, a bluegrass and old-time camp in Kingham, U.K., near Oxford - always a thrill to spend time with U.K. friends.  

When I get back I've got some dates at the end of April with The Vintage Martins (Eric Uglum and Bud Bierhaus) in Kentucky and Indiana, and then rehearsals for the Alison Krauss tour start. We tour, more or less, from mid-May until October - check www.ronblock.com/tour for specifics - not all dates are up yet; I'll post them as they are confirmed.

Best,  

Ron

Greetings, fellow banjo pickers! 

Have you had moments where you've wanted your playing to move along more quickly? Have you ever wondered if you have what it takes to go to the next level? 

I've struggled with all those things. At nearly every level, I've plateaued and thought, "Is this it? Am I stuck here?" Since the age of thirteen I've been obsessed with learning how to play the banjo well, because going to the next level is always such a thrill. 

As a result I've had to develop some tried-and-true ways of doing things through experimentation and study. I've used these ideas for my 26 years with Alison Krauss & Union Station, for the O Brother soundtrack, and for everything else I've ever played on - and I'd love to share them with you. 

Just got this in an email: “I’ve just got to say, this workshop has been so much more than I expected….The effort you’ve put into this and the ground you’ve covered like a fog will keep me busy for years….Again, thanks so much. I call that a bargain, the best I ever had!” David W. 

TOPICS: Just a few of the things I've covered: 

Releasing tension (the thing that puts a lid on our dexterity). 

How I work on timing and feel. 

Dynamics. 

Tone. 

Backup. 

The trick to learning the neck well. 

String bending, vibrato, and working it all into rolls. 

Single-string playing. 

Slow playing. 

Clinch Mountain Backstep. 

Mollie Catherine Carter. 

Learning from recordings. 

How to practice effectively. 

Oh, I almost forgot the extras. By signing up for the workshop you'll receive free downloads of my banjo-oriented bluegrass record Hogan's House of Music, my Christmas Collection (18 holiday favorites), and a pdf of my long out-of-print The Traditional Banjo Workbook. 

I look forward to seeing you there. 

LESSONS WITH A PRO: 26 Years With Alison Krauss & Union Station, banjoist on the O Brother Soundtrack’s “Man of Constant Sorrow,” and on sessions with Dolly Parton, Kate Rusby, Dan Tyminski, Vince Gill, Randy Travis, Alan Jackson, and many more. 

LEVEL: Broadly Intermediate - lots of material for not-so-beginners all through early advanced players. 

SUBJECTS: Playing without tension, improving timing and feel, dynamics, tone, string bending, vibrato, scales, single-string playing, transcribing, and more. 

BONUS MATERIALS: Each participant will receive free downloads of Ron’s banjo-oriented bluegrass cd, Hogan’s House of Music, his Christmas Collection of 18 holiday favorites, and a free download of the long out-of-print Traditional Bluegrass Banjo Workbook – a total of $49 in free extras. 

WORKSHOP REVIEWS: "As a guy who's been participating in this clinic I promise you the value you'll receive is worth FAR more than the price. I've done banjo camps, clinics, and lessons with the best in the business. The wisdom Ron imparts is second to none. You WILL be a better player, and you'll enjoy every second. You'll have a hard time putting your banjo down after the first session, and you'll be thinking about it all day at work after the second. And it only gets better from there." 

"Great class. Ron knows how to communicate; he 'teaches ideas' and is well prepared. No wasted time. The overall class experience is like having a one on one lesson with good friend." 

Thanks to all of the friends and fans who support my various and sundry musical adventures. It was a busy year, and I'm grateful for the opportunities I was given. 

Here are just a few of the highlights: 

Released two recordings - Trouble Go Down, with Jeff Taylor, and my own Leiper's Fork Christmas. 

Performed on Woodsongs in Lexington. 

Played shows with the Soggy Bottom Boys in California, Virginia, North Carolina. - Dan Tyminski, Barry Bales, Stuart Duncan, Mike Compton, Pat Enright, Jerry Douglas. These guys are a blast. 

Taught banjo at Jack Hatfield's banjo camp in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. 

Taught banjo at Sore Fingers in the U.K., and I'm going back this year to teach advanced guitar. A great bunch of folks.

Played banjo on four songs on Kate Rusby's Life in a Paper Boat - always a certifiable thrill to be a part of such great music. Life in a Paper Boat has gotten a lot of attention for Kate, and deservedly so. Great songs, top singing and playing, and out-of-this-world arranging and production.

Played my own shows in the U.K. with Sierra Hull. We played Kate Rusby's Underneath the Stars Festival, the Summertyne Americana Festival at the Sage in Gateshead, and shows in Tamworth at the Bolehall Manor Club and Sheffield's Greystone's. In the middle of this trip I recorded half of a collaborative record with Irish banjoist/guitarist Damien O'Kane and guitarist David Kosky at Pure Records out in the Yorkshire countryside. Sierra sat in on some of the sessions on mandolin. 

Played shows with Steve Martin - the band was myself, Stuart Duncan, Barry Bales, Jeff White, and Adam Steffey. 
Played several of my own shows with Clay Hess and Brennan Hess in California and North Carolina. 

Played Red Hat Theatre in Raleigh and the IBMA awards show with the Soggy Bottom Boys. 

Performed a video version of Leaning On The Everlasting Arms with Selah. 

Played with Ricky Skaggs, Sharon White Skaggs, and Leslie Satcher at a songwriter in-the-round in Franklin, Tennessee. 
Played shows with Buddy Greene, and a Christmas show in Macon, Georgia with Buddy and Jeff Taylor. 

Played Andrew Peterson's two Nashville Behold the Lamb of God shows. 

Played with Alison Krauss, Jamey Johnson, Melonie Cannon, and Jim "Moose" Brown for Dolly's Smoky Mountains Rise telethon. 

Played on Alison Krauss's new record, Windy City, and on her videos featuring four songs from the record.

Played on Marc Martel's version of What Child Is This? and was featured in his video. I had the most hilarious time making it with him. 

I'm looking forward to another year of music!