I Updated My “Peaches & Cream” Backing Track

I went back and heard a guitar chord that I played way too late for Peaches & Cream by Alan Munde. It bothered me, so I fixed it. I also added a Kandu shaker to parts of the song, which I hope you'll like. Enjoy! ...

• Peaches & Cream (TablEdit tabs)
• Peaches & Cream (.PDF tabs)
• Peaches & Cream (original song by Alan Munde)
• Peaches & Cream (a tribute by Banjo Ben Clark)
• Peaches & Cream - Woodshed (very slow, my speed...lol)
• Peaches & Cream - Slower
• Peaches & Cream - Normal
• Peaches & Cream - Faster
• Peaches & Cream - Fast

By the way, I'll be glad to adjust any of these backing tracks freely for anyone who asks me (you can also contact me in the BanjoHangout forum if you prefer). I can mix the track down into a different key, or change the tempo. I'm still learning as I go, so if you prefer a louder or quieter/louder Kandu/Cajon, or no Kandu/Cajon Box at all, just let me know. You can use my backing tracks anyway you want freely, no credit need be given. I'm just happy that someone would want to play along with my backing tracks. Music makes the world a better place.

Having said that, please keep in mind that I won't make any promises to anyone, due to my health afflictions. I have an old neck injury from 1992 and 2004, a failed surgery in 2009, and a second failed neck surgery in 2010 that made me much worse off. I don't ask for any sympathy, I just don't want to make any promises that I might not be able to keep. I'll do my best. Enjoy!

New Backing Track For “Devil's Dream/Blackberry Blossom”

These are two of my favorite songs to play on the banjo. Both songs are of unknown origin dating back to at least the 1800's. They are both popular fiddle songs. This backing track is done in the key of G. I used Dave Hum's recording as a template to make this backing track...

• Devil's Dream/Blackberry Blossom - Woodshed
• Devil's Dream/Blackberry Blossom - Slow
• Devil's Dream/Blackberry Blossom - Slower
• Devil's Dream/Blackberry Blossom - Normal
• Devil's Dream/Blackberry Blossom - Faster

Here's some tabs for Devil's Dream from the BanjoHangout. Also, here are some free tabs for Devil's Dream from Ross Nickerson. 

Here's some tabs for Blackberry Blossom from the BanjoHangout. Bill Nesbitt does a great job explaining how to play Blackberry Blossom, which you can find on this webpage. Also, see Geoff Howald's free tabs for Blackberry Blossom.

The leather strap worked it's way off my acoustic guitar's end pin today and the instrument fell to the hard floor, cracking the body. Ouch! It was the Devil's dream! Ha Ha! 

I Hate When That Happens!

Thankfully I only paid $130 for the guitar in 2022 at a local Guitar Center. It is a Cort brand and I love this guitar. I knew I was going to buy it from the moment I made the first strum. It doesn't have all that shellac deadening the sound that some guitars do, it is bare wood and sounds organic. The case cost me more than the guitar! I am thankful that it wasn't a $5,000 Gibson, or a $3,500 Taylor. I once held an $8,000 Martin guitar about 30 years ago at a Guitar Center in Chicago. I hated the thing! The strings were hard to press down and the guitar did nothing to impress me. I hung it back up on the wall very carefully...lol. Go figure that a $130 guitar could feel and sound so nice.

Anyway, I recorded this guitar after damaging it today on Devil's Dream/Blackberry Blossom and it still sounds excellent (so far...lol). I also went on Amazon and ordered some strap locks! (I don't want to accidentally break anything else.) I just bought my Deering Goodtime Special banjo in April, for which same price I could purchase EIGHT more Cort guitars!!! It's an okay banjo, but I recommend saving your money for a professional banjo if you don't have one. I only bought this lighter Goodtime Special because of my neck injury going back to 1992 when I got severely rear-ended by a church bus, and it permanently misaligned my neck. I cannot express in words the horrible arthritis neck pain that I suffer with on a daily basis. It is debilitating to say the least. Albeit, God is good and I have no complaints.

I watched about 30 Dave Hum videos today on YouTube and carefully studied his hands, gear, banjos and everything. The guy is amazing! I watched him play Third Man Theme and it blew my mind how skilled he is in his coordination with his right hand. Wow! God only made one Dave Hum! If I could ever play one-third as good as Dave, it would be a great blessing. I have years to go, but I'm having a lot of fun learning, and that's the whole idea. Music makes the world a better place! Dave's music has brought so much happiness into my life. Surviving with constant neck pain makes Dave's music all that much more meaningful to me, especially knowing that he was dying of Myeloma cancer while recording all of his cheerful videos on YouTube. Dave is one of my heroes! Also, I'm enjoying making and freely sharing backing tracks as much as learning the banjo. I want to help encourage other banjo enthusiasts.

I am learning as I go how to make better backing tracks, so bear with me. My original recordings that I posted here in my blog are not too good. They all lack some form of padding to carry the song along. They're just bass and percussion, which is not good. So, God willing, I will be redoing all of them over time, one by one, and reposting them for everyone.

Also, they are all too fast, so I need to provide some slower ones for people like me...lol.

Plus, I have learned to play bass better in the past 2 years. I wasn't letting the notes sustain long enough. I have a bad habit of playing short beats with my bass, instead of letting the notes sustain for a second or so. It makes a big difference in the end result.

I'm also getting better with my timing in MixCraft and learning things from studying Dave's techniques. I'm working on a backing track for The Maid Behind The Bar, and it's almost done. Gaspe Reel is next. These are all Double C tuning songs. If you've never played the Double C tuning, you should really try it, it is simple and beautiful. There are chords online. Today I studied Dave's video and tabbed out The Maid Behind The Bar in Double C tuning, which I will post with the backing track when completed. It is a simple song to learn, but difficult to play correctly because it requires impeccable timing, which is a slowly acquired skill that only comes from spending time in the woodshed playing your banjo. Playing folk songs is a completely different skill than playing Bluegrass rolls. Dave Hum excelled at both techniques. As a banjo player I love both styles.

I used my Gretsch short-scale bass on The Devil's Dream/Blackberry Blossom. My recording signals have been clipping the red zone (not good). So I turned the bass and gain knobs down a bit on my Rumble 40. I'm recording bass out the back of my Rumble 40 into a Scarlett interface into the computer. The percussion is all MIDI, provided by MixCraft. I'm using 4 MIDI woodblocks for the lead-in notes, like Dave Hum used. Then I'm using the standard kick drum and tambourine for the rest of the song. I double-tracked the ending guitar G chord.

At first I thought I'd have a lot of difficulty making Devil's Dream because of the fast moving guitar chord changes, but it turned out to be quite easier than I thought. It all went quickly. The entire song only uses 6 chords (G, Em, C, Am, D, Bm). All of my future tracks, Lord willing, will have some type of chord padding, like Dave uses. He uses some type of acoustic piano for padding it seems, which I need to work on. I am much more skilled with the guitar than the piano, so that is what I am using for now.

By the way, in case you may be wondering why I say "God willing" or "Lord willing" often, it is because of a teaching in the Holy Bible from James 4:13-17, “Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil. Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.” As a Christian since age 13 (wow, that was 44 years ago), I try to honor God by never assuming that tomorrow is mine. Proverbs 27:1, “Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.” One day at a time.

To be honest, one of the reasons why I started a banjo blog was to share the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ with others. Life is short, Hell is hot and eternity is a long time! I won't preach to you in all my blogs, but every so often I would like to just invite you to trust Jesus as your personal Savior. Like my backing tracks, eternal life is a free gift from God. But for those who refuse Christ, please know that everyone is very welcome at my blog and I love everyone unconditionally with God's love, no matter who you are. So please feel welcome!

Thank you for reading my blog.

New Backing Track For “Earl's Breakdown”

I made this backing track yesterday for Earl's Breakdown. It's a classic Bluegrass song written by Earl Scruggs and was first recorded and released by Lester Flatt, Earl Scruggs and The Foggy Mountain Boys in 1951. It's done in the key of G. Here is an excellent performance of Earl's Breakdown by Daniel Varadi. Good stuff Mikey!

I used Dave Hum's recording of this song as my template to build off. So if you want to know how the banjo ending licks should go, watch Dave's YouTube video. Dave ends the song differently than the tabs provided below...

• Earl's Breakdown .PDF Tablature | .TEF (by Michael Corcoran)
• Earl's Breakdown (a video lesson by Jim Pankey)
• Earl's Breakdown (a video lesson and tabs by Big Red)
• Earl's Breakdown (key of A, faster)
• Earl's Breakdown (key of A, normal)
• Earl's Breakdown (key of A, slower)
• Earl's Breakdown (key of A, slow)
• Earl's Breakdown (key of A, very slow)
• Earl's Breakdown (key of A, woodshed)
• Earl's Breakdown (key of G, faster)
• Earl's Breakdown (key of G, normal)
• Earl's Breakdown (key of G, slower)
• Earl's Breakdown (key of G, slow)
• Earl's Breakdown (key of G, very slow)
• Earl's Breakdown (key of G, woodshed)

Here are the older 2025 backing tracks, but only in the key of G...

• Earl's Breakdown - Woodshed
• Earl's Breakdown - Slow
• Earl's Breakdown - Slower
• Earl's Breakdown - Normal
• Earl's Breakdown - Faster
• Earl's Breakdown - Fast

I received my Cajon box yesterday and tried to do something percussive with it to add to the track, but I realized quickly that I am going to need some practice before I can get it right. My peripheral neuropathy doesn't help. My hands do something different than what my brain intends...lol.

I used my Gretsch short-scale electric bass for this recording. I learned the acoustic guitar break quickly, since I am good on guitar with the basic G, C, A, and D chords. I hope you like it. This is a great song.

I'm using Cheat-A-Keys from Gold Tone on my Deering Goodtime Special. I have Keith D Tuners on my Recording King Elite 85. I get frustrated often with my Recording King, because the dang thing won't stay in tune. I haven't had tuning issues so far with the Deering Goodtime Special. The arm rest is starting to hurt my right underarm though, because it is only about 1/2" wide (much too narrow).

I did have some issues with the Cheat-A-Keys. At first I installed the device backwards on the banjo headstock, which is an easy mistake to make. If you do, you won't be able to lower the strings anywhere near their proper desired pitch. However, even when I installed the device correctly, it still would not lower string 2 all the way to an A note. It would stay a few degrees sharp and annoy me. I think whoever designed Cheat-A-Keys needs to improve their product, so that it will work with any gauge string. I am using a .012" string gauge on my Recording King (which is what Dave Hum uses), but the Cheat-A-Keys won't lower it all the way to an A note on string 2.

So, I put the Cheat-A-Keys on my Deering Goodtime Special instead and installed a .013" string. It works okay now. So if you use Cheat-A-Keys and have the same issue, use a thicker gauge string. I buy my banjo strings from Amazon for $6.99 a set (medium gauge). I don't like light gauge strings and neither did Dave Hum.

Enjoy the backing track. By the way, you are welcome to share and use my backing tracks anyway you want. I love sharing.

My Deering Goodtime Special and Rittenberry S-10 Pedal Steel

New Backing Track For "Peaches & Cream"

I made a backing track today for one of my favorite songs, Peaches & Cream by Alan Munde.

• Peaches & Cream (TablEdit tabs)
• Peaches & Cream (.PDF tabs)
• Peaches & Cream (original song by Alan Munde)
• Peaches & Cream (a tribute by Banjo Ben Clark)
• Peaches & Cream - Woodshed (very slow, my speed...lol)
• Peaches & Cream - Slower
• Peaches & Cream - Normal
• Peaches & Cream - Faster
• Peaches & Cream - Fast

I use MixCraft Pro to make my backing tracks. What I do is first select the original song that I want to recreate. I then import that song into MixCraft by right mouse-clicking on any blank audio track and selecting “add sound file.” This gives me a template to build my new backing track. I do the same thing with Dave Hum's songs to make a backing track. Once I've imported the song into MixCraft, the first thing I need to do is set my MIDI beats, to give me a pattern to play my bass notes along with. This is the trickiest part of making a backing track, because timing is everything and you need to get the beats right. I always use a kick drum on the main beat, and a tambourine between each beat. And I've learned recently that Dave Hum almost always uses 8 count in beats, the song starts on the 8th beat. I then hold down the “control” button while dragging the percussion track's right edge, to adjust the beats to match that of the original song that I'm imitating. You can actually see the beats visually, which makes it easy to match the MIDI beats to the song's beats.

Once set I turn down the volume of the original song by about 80%, but let it play at a low volume. This allows me to record my new bass notes to match my MIDI beats, but also lets me hear the faint sound of the original song, as a guide so I can record the new bass notes. I play along with the original song for 20 to 30 minutes to learn the bass lines, playing them over and over until I feel comfortable so that I won't make a bunch of mistakes while recording. If I do mess up, I can step record, but I don't want to step record too much. Then I can add piano padding, a mandolin, guitar or whatever I want. This is the main way that I make backing tracks. It works for me. What is nice is that once you make a few songs the process starts going quicker to make new songs. I am having fun as I learn how to make backing tracks. It is exciting to work with music.

I am using a 4-string G2220 Electromatic Junior Jet Bass II Short-Scale that I bought locally from Guitar center for $300 in 2021. I like how it feels and sounds. I am playing through a Fender Rumble 40 amp, going from the line out into the microphone input on my Scarlett USB interface, and then into the USB port on my computer. I use pro MixCraft software to record, which I love using, and it's very affordable.

The acoustic guitar is a student sized Yamaha that I bought on Guam years ago. It plays and sounds nice to me. I didn't pay too much for it, under $200 if I remember well. I plugged the acoustic guitar (with electronics) directly into the Scarlett USB interface, into the 1/4" guitar jack input. There's a knob to adjust the input level.

The percussion is MIDI provided by MixCraft. I just ordered a used Wooden Cajon from Amazon. It normally sells for $195 new, but I got a used one like new for $88. I've been studying Dave Hum's backing tracks and I think he uses a Cajon box, because there's no way he could get the beautiful percussive sounds he does with MIDI. I know that Dave was skilled at playing the bongos. Anyway, when the Cajon arrives I'm going to see what I can do to improve the new track I made today, Peaches & Cream. I might not be able to improve it, but if I think it sounds better, then I will definitely share it with everyone.

Lord willing, over time I plan to make a bunch of backing tracks to share freely. I want to tackle Earl's Breakdown next. Dave Hum's backing tracks to me are superior. In fact, I am dang right impressed. Great fluffy biscuits in the morning!

I'm not a great anything player, but I do my best. After all, it's all about having fun, right. I didn't like how my guitar strumming sounded in the backing track today, so as you can hear I just gave a single strum for each chord change. It think it sounds more professional, rather than me making some discombobulated sounds in the background. My peripheral neuropathy makes it difficult sometimes to play in time. Humbly said, I think the backing track came out purdy good. I hope you enjoy it. I played my banjo along with it and the song works...lol.

I like to share detailed information on how I do stuff, to encourage other musicians to join me in making backing tracks, writing tabs and contributing to the banjo community. I cherish Dave Hum. I've never been a busker, but I have played my steel guitar, guitar and ukulele publicly oftentimes. Here are eight ukulele songs that I made up and recorded years ago, just having musical fun. I use a Roland AC-33 amp when playing in public, which allows me to record a 40 second loop, and then I play lead ukulele or guitar back over those chords. I love doing that.

In nearly all of Dave Hum's backing tracks it sounds like he used some type of acoustic piano for padding. I'm not a piano player, so this has been more challenging for me to recreate. I know where basic chords are on a keyboard, and understand simple music theory. I recently purchased a MIDI controller from Amazon, so I can add piano padding like Dave Hum does. I just have to learn how to do it better.

It's hard to hear what Dave is doing for his backing track, because the banjo dominates the song. But I've been listening to the backing tracks that I purchased recently, from his family, which gives me a basic idea of what Dave does to make his tracks. I wish Dave was still with us. I'd offer to fly to England and gladly pay him to spend a couple days watching over his shoulder, from start to finish, seeing how he makes a backing track. The guy is amazing! It has been said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to greatness. Well said. I am thankful that God made Dave Hum. Here's a cool photo of him.

Banjo Lick Of The Week Series

I found this helpful web page by John Boulding with some great banjo licks...

Lick of the Week

Banjo Video Lessons by John Boulding

This is a really great lick that can be implemented in your playing...

LOTW - Banjo Lessons: Useful licks - A low-position Scruggs lick

I'm having fun learning new licks and playing along with Dave Hum's backing tracks. I am so thankful to Dave's family for sharing these with the world. I hope they'll make many more available. They are worth more than gold to me as a home musician. I am working on making some more backing tracks of my own. I want to make one for Peaches & Cream by Alan Munde. I really like that song. Lord willing, if I do make it, I'll share it with everyone. My neck alway hurts, and I have Peripheral Neuropathy (burning nerves, numbness, radiating arm pain, et cetera), which makes it difficult for me to do anything. One day at a time.

Banjo Ben Clark did a wonderful job playing this song. I really like Ben. A couple years ago, I signed up for 6 months of his monthly banjo lessons. It was only about $25 per month. GOOD STUFF!!! Ben's got some backing tracks also, which is the main reason I signed up. I won't sign up for any lessons that don't include backing tracks, which I need to motivate me. Alan Munde has some tabs for sale on his website, but there are no backing tracks, which is unfortunate.

I am surprised that the BanjoHangout has so little in the way of backing tracks. The one's that do exist are nearly all junky computerized tracks. I was looking in the forum this evening for Earl's Breakdown (I really like that song), but there is no backing track for it. Lord willing, I want to make a track for that song. To play the song correctly, you need a Keith D tuner, or Cheat-A-Keys (to lower string 2). It is a classic favorite Bluegrass song.

I just paid a guy (who makes backing tracks for a living) to make me a backing track for Gaspe Reel the way Dave Hum played it. Dave used the Double C tuning, one of my favorites. When I receive the backing track in a couple weeks, I will share it freely with everyone. So, please come back and visit every so often.

By the way, I really appreciate everyone's interest in my BanjoHeaven blog. I'm a born-again Christian (since age 13 in 1980), so I thought "BanjoHeaven" was an appropriate name for my blog. I just love the banjo, love music, care about people and desire to create and share stuff to encourage, inspire and help other banjo enthusiasts enjoy the instrument more. My main instrument is the steel guitar, so pursuing the banjo is new and exhilarating to me. I'm having a lot of fun learning. Dave Hum is my main inspiration.

I want to record some banjo videos, but I am still learning and working toward it. I just ordered a Hatfield Buck Creek banjo last month. Arthur was very kind when I emailed him. He told me that his wife recently passed away. I shared with him that my wife divorced me in 2006, and I have lived alone and lonely for the past 18 years. He actually expressed empathy and said he hoped that I find a wife. I thought that was sweet of him to care. I'm glad that he is building me a banjo.

Most banjo makers use a CNC machine to make their necks, but Arthur makes all his necks by hand. I really like that. I had originally ordered a Deering Golden Era from Banjo.com in 2022, but that turned into a gigantic nightmare and I never got the banjo. It took me 20 months to get my $4,899 back. I will never buy anything from Banjo.com again! What a horrible place.

From all the reading I've done, I don't think I can go wrong with a Hatfield banjo. I've never read even one negative comment about Arthur or his banjos. So far I am well pleased with doing business with Mr. Hatfield. He said I should get the banjo in about 4 months, but I sincerely told him to take his time. I'll let you know when it arrives, take some pictures and Lord willing, record a song.

I'm working on Mason's Apron now as played by Dave Hum. I love that song. I can only play it at about 70% speed, but I like it slow. YouTube allows you to change the playback speed of videos, which is helpful. I have Dave's backing track for Mason's Apron, which is awesome! I sure hope Dave's family release more backing tracks. If you haven't purchased the 40 now available, I encourage you to get them while you can. You won't be disappointed. They are really great!

That's it for now. God bless.

Hundreds Of Folk Songs For Band-in-a-Box

Here is a helpful collection of hundreds of Band-in-a-Box files of jigs, reels, hornpipes, airs, marches, waltzes and fiddle tunes. Band-in-a-Box just keeps getting better and better! With the real instrument plugins now available with BB, these files are worth gold for home musicians. They are all Zip files, each containing an assortment of invaluable songs to play your banjo along with...

1. airs (9 songs)
2. fiddle (161 songs)
3. folkirish (54 songs)
4. folkmisc (4 songs)
5. folkNA (20 songs)
6. folkScottish (49 songs)
7. hornpipes (39 songs)
8. jigs (180 songs)
9. marches (25 songs)
10. misc (41 songs)
11. mystyles (20 songs)
12. reels (211 songs)
13. Scottish (22 songs)
14. Slides (3 songs)
15. waltz (107 songs)

Enjoy!

Deering Sierra Banjo

New Backing Track For “Peeler's Jacket” (Dave Hum Style)

I just made a new backing track for the Irish reel, Peeler's Jacket, in Dave Hum style. Here is the TablEdit tablature that I made (here's .PDF tabs), which I think is pretty close.

I also made a backing track the best I could. I am still learning how to make backing tracks like Dave Hum did. His musical and technical skills were nothing short of amazing. I love that man! I followed Dave's YouTube video to make the track as close as I could. I will explain later how I made the track, in case you'd like to make some of your own. Believe it or not, it is 100% MIDI. I didn't play any musical instruments to make the backing tracks. Here they are at various speeds:

• Peeler's Jacket Tablature (TablEdit tabs)
• Peeler's Jacket Tablature (.PDF tabs tabs)
• Peeler's Jacket - 60 BPM
• Peeler's Jacket - 80 BPM
• Peeler's Jacket - 100 BPM
• Peeler's Jacket - 120 BPM

UPDATE: I redid these backing tracks in July of 2024, here are the new updated ones. I changed the feel to straight instead of swing, which is how Dave Hum did his. The volume is much higher. The bass has less distortion. I'm using a MODO bass emulator for the MIDI bass. I added a crash cymbal in the places that Dave Hum used one, and also at the end. I'm paying a new guy to make me a professional track next month in August for $150 for Peeler's Jacket, based off Dave Hum's YouTube recording. I love this song! I'll freely share the new backing track with everyone when I get it. Here are the best tracks I've been able to make...

• Peeler's Jacket (normal, Key of G)
• Peeler's Jacket (slower, Key of G)
• Peeler's Jacket (slow, Key of G)
• Peeler's Jacket (woodshed, Key of G)
• Peeler's Jacket (normal, Key of A)
• Peeler's Jacket (slower, Key of A)
• Peeler's Jacket (slow, Key of A)
• Peeler's Jacket (woodshed, Key of A)

My bass playing is okay, but not the greatest. Sadly, MIDI bass sounds better than my own bass playing, so I used it instead...lol. Hey, whatever works! I think you'll like what I made. And as always, I encourage you to freely share anything I make with others. So enjoy.

This is a bit of a tricky song to master, but well worth the effort. I really like playing it.

How I Made This Backing Track

You can email me if you have any requests for a backing track (which is my privilege to make for free of course). I won't make any promises, but I'll see what I can do my friend.

I am still experimenting with timing, to see how it affects the feel...

First, here is a track with plain timing (the tambourine is set equally between the kick drum beats).

Now, here is the same piece, but with the tambourine and piano padding set slightly after the kick drum beats.

And here is the second track with some added effects. 

I used MixCraft Studio Pro 10, which I enjoy using. I added a preset for the drums called called, Punchy. For the piano I added a preset called, Saloon. For the Peeler's Jacket backing tracks I used Punchy for the percussion, Bright Grand for the piano and Smooth & Warm for the bass. I really like the built-in effect presets that come with MixCraft, that with the click of a button you can add to enhance your recordings.

I entered all of the bass and keyboard notes with the MIDI editing window. You can also use a MIDI controller if you have one. I find it easier to just use a mouse to enter the notes.

I honestly think that MixCraft is highly underrated as a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation). God willing, I hope to make many more tracks. I apologize that it has been so long since I worked on my Banjo Heaven blog. I have an old neck injury from 1992, and I fell down at work in 2004, which accidents misaligned my neck. I was diagnosed in 2004 with Cervical Degenerative Disk Disease. I cannot express in words the suffering that I endure on a daily basis. I have burning nerves throughout my upper body (neuropathy). The neck pain is close to my head, which stifles my ambition to do much of anything.

One Day At A Time

I am a Christian but at most only get to church about half the time because I simply don't feel like going. I don't want to be around people when I am suffering in pain, burning nerves and related bodily afflictions. So, I live a lonely life. Thankfully music is a friend that brings some happiness into my life. I love the steel guitar and the banjo. Right now I am focused on learning the banjo. It is a wonderful instrument and the music is happy.

I admire Dave Hum so much for recording hundreds of banjo videos despite suffering in horrible pain. I read his biography online. Dave was put into a life support machine around 2009, when he learned that he had Myeloma cancer. My heart goes out to Dave and his beloved family. I pray for them all the time, whenever I think about Dave. His music is a cherished blessing to the world. By God's grace I intend to promote Dave's music and legacy for the rest of my life. Music makes the world a better place!

I am about the same age as Dave. I was born on March 5th in 1967, a few months after Dave was born in 1966. Like Dave, I suffer with numerous health issues, but none as severe as what Dave contended with. Life is not fair! Why do the best people sometimes pass off the scene so young? Anyway, as my health allows I want to do a lot more with the banjo, and make more backing tracks to freely share. 

My first backing tracks in 2021 weren't too great. They didn't have piano padding, which I've noticed that Dave uses a lot. Now that his family has gratefully made some of his backing tracks available for anyone to purchase (which you should definitely go get), I can better hear how he made them. I've noticed that he uses piano padding in almost all of his backing tracks, so I will start doing the same. It helps you follow along with the song better on the banjo. $10 a piece is very standard price for backing tracks, which is what they charge for Dave's tracks. I'd gladly pay double that price! Good backing tracks are worth more than gold for a home musician like me.

I hope you will join me in making more backing tracks. I couldn't find a backing track for Alan Munde's beautiful Peaches & Cream song, which surprised me. So, I made this one! I only want to be a blessing and share my music with others. I am a member of the Banjo Hangout (my account name is: BanjoFret12). I haven't done much of anything since 2021, but am excited about getting back into the banjo. It's been a difficult time for me moving from the island of Guam to Pensacola in 2021. I'm finally feeling like I am getting adjusted. I cope with neck pain continually.

My maple neck 12.5 pound Recording King Elite-85 banjo aggravates my neck, so I ordered a lighter 9.5 pounds Goodtime Special from Amazon. That 3 pounds makes a big difference! This will be my banjo for learning.

I recently told Dave Hum's family in an email how much he inspires me in so many ways. I keep thinking that if Dave can play his banjo and record videos while knowing he's dying of cancer, I can keep going and not allow my disability to discourage me from playing. The guy is amazing!

I was delighted this week to discover another big Dave Hum fan in the Netherlands named Anurakt Scheepers. He's a fabulous musician and a great guy. Anurakt is a member of the Banjo Hangout. He has backing tracks that he made for all his YouTube songs, and they are excellent. He was gracious to freely share them all with me, which I cherish. I am now working on his song, Fun On The Wabash (tabs by Parka Hunter). If you contact Anurakt through the Banjo Hangout forum, you can ask him about his backing tracks. They are well made.

I am surprised that many more banjo players don't make their own backing tracks. Everything I needed to make Peeler's Jacket came with MixCraft. If anyone has any suggestions, ideas or questions, I'll do what I can to be helpful. I struggle to get through each day, so please don't be offended if you post a message, or I somehow miss your contact, I promise you I didn't do it on purpose. You can email me here. God bless and have a good evening.

World's Greatest Banjo Player - Dave Hum