Andrea and I have been friends for 30 years. We met when our younger sons were enrolled in a pre-school Mommy and Me program. We lived basically around the corner from each other in our Cortlandt Manor, NY days. Our sons were good friends (and partners-in-crime) for many years. Andrea and I bonded over our rock n roll roots and our love of live music. We quickly became concert buddies.
It was Andrea who introduced me to Bela Fleck’s music. She was already well acquainted with Bela Fleck and the Flecktones when she mentioned a concert at the nearby Tarrytown Music Hall. It was billed as a “banjo summit” and featured 6 world class banjo players including Bela. So we went. It was astonishing. I had no idea how versatile a banjo can be. Traditional bluegrass music is only the beginning. The speed of Bela and his colleagues on those 5 strings approached the speed of light. I was hooked on Bela Fleck and the world of banjo!
Fast forward about 20 years. Andrea moved to Greenville SC and a couple of years after that, Lew and I moved to Asheville NC. Our friendship and our mutual love of live music continues unabated and now we have double the opportunities to go to concerts. We can attend concerts in both Asheville and Greenville and avail ourselves of each other’s guest bedrooms. We’re not limited to concerts and have shared other celebrations and events in and around our homes. In fact, it is time to make plans for a visit to Skytop Orchards for apples and donuts!
We have expanded our musical and cultural horizons but we definitely have our favorites—Tedeschi Trucks Band, Robert Randolph and the Family Band, Billy Strings (a new fav) and of course, Bela Fleck.Bela comes to the nearby Brevard Music Center towards the end of the summer for his highly regarded banjo camp. Banjo players from around the world, young and old, descend upon Brevard for 1 week of everything banjo. The week culminates in a concert featuring Bela, the other teachers, and the students. Andrea had gone last summer. I am not sure why I didn’t go, but I knew I had to be there this time. So once again, we went to hear banjo music…..and once again, it was a remarkable display of talent with a diversity of music I did not expect. Traditional bluegrass music was the take-off point for everything that followed—jazz, flamenco, country, original compositions written by the students, and even Rimsky-Korsakov’s Flight of the Bumble Bee!! On the banjo!! Then we came to the grand finale. The teachers and students all filed out and filled the entire stage with 100 banjos. In recognition of the 100th anniversary of its debut, they performed Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue; 100 banjos for 100 years of Gershwin’s masterpiece. If I didn’t know, if I didn’t see 100 banjos on the stage, I would have thought it was a complete orchestra. It was a display of banjo brilliance and musical genius. Sharing it with Andrea made it even more special. When I looked at her, I could see the joy on her face, a joy I know we shared.
With her background in business, Andrea is the keeper of the Spreadsheet. We record who paid for what when and where. Already on the spreadsheet for November- Tedeschi Trucks Band and Bonnie Raitt. I hope our musical adventures continue for many more years. I am pretty sure you can add rows to a spreadsheet infinitely.
What a gift to have a friendship such as the one u described.
Yes, and a reminder that we need to build friendships through our lives !
It was truly a great concert! I also attended with the person who introduced me to the music of Bela Fleck. A weekend in Brevard was fun too!
Bela never disappoints, and neither does Brevard.
That concert sounds amazing!