Sheep Shearing Day Playout | East Bay Banjo Club

April 26, 2014

By: Karen Hefter
Photos by: Bob Nelson, Linda Myers, Garry Kerr

Over the years, the East Bay Banjo Club has played for a wide variety of audiences and events, but, to my knowledge, this was the first time that we have played for a Sheep Shearing Day! The City of San Ramon holds an annual festival at Forest Hill Farms, a former walnut orchard and processing plant where families watch sheep being herded and sheared, watch wool spinning and carding, take tractor rides, and tour the historic home and farm buildings. The EBBC played outside, in a courtyard next to an open barn filled with a variety of woodworking demonstrations. The play out was 3 ½ hours long, including a few breaks. Betty and Larry took turns leading the sets. We played a wide variety of songs and the crowd seemed to really enjoy us. Our players were: Guy Black, Tom Brunetti, Kermit Collins, Betty David, Barbara Findlay, Don Granberg, Karen Hefter, Deb Hodson, Ardie Jarrett, Garry Kerr, Fredy Kinadeter, Chris Lardge, Linda Myers, Phil Myers, Kit Nelson, Larry Risner, and Sheila Welt. Bob Nelson took pictures.

We also tried something new. In order to reach out to the public, particularly children and their parents, we set up a “Try A Banjo” area next to the band. Two players at a time manned this area and we had 2 banjos available for the public to try. When people came, we would teach them “C” and “G7” chords and play “Camptown Races” with them. This was a huge success – we had children of all ages, from toddlers to adults, come and try playing the banjo. One little girl enjoyed it so much that she came over and sat in the middle of the band for about 20 minutes and just took everything in! (You can see her in the video of “Take Me Out To The Ball Game.”) We gave her a sparkling blue pick to take home as a souvenir… There was a line most of the day with people waiting their turn. The festival organizers seemed very pleased with the Club’s performance, as well as with the “Try A Banjo.” We hope we will be invited back next year.