WEBVTT

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I

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play fiddle , piano and guitar . But my

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first interest was the piano . When I

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was 10 , I started with some , Like

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every kid's having a piano lessons for

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maybe 10 years . My dad kind of pushed

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me in music . My dad plays a fiddle ,

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very good fiddler . Uh , then one , my

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dad was practicing one night , the

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fiddle . Uh , I wanted to learn this

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song . So I was 17 years old and I

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picked up the fiddle and I tried to

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play and I learned a song right on the

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spot . I started playing . When I was

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about 14 , I was hanging out at a gas

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station , nothing to do . And a guy

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with a big beard and a motorcycle

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pulled up with a banjo on the back .

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And I said , what's that ? And he said

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it's a banjo . And I said , I'd like to

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learn the banjo and like paul since I

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come from a pretty musical family . My

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dad's a musician , always singing and

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playing the guitar . Brothers and

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sisters are always singing and the only

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instrument left was the banjo . I mean

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I started on the band , I actually

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joined the army to play the banjo in

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the army band And that was in 1980 .

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And uh , that didn't quite work out the

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way I wanted it to ended up being a

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field artillery men . And uh , but

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again , once you start , if you love

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music , you don't just like leave it

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and it just goes with you on all my

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deployments in the opportunity I've had .

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I've always taken an intimate long .

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I've met Colonel Sims and fort drum ,

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new york . We were Canadians contingent

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was there for about a month for the

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exercise , a mountain and behavior for

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that was in june we had a barbecue

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organized by Canadians to invite the

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americans . When I got there , somebody

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told me there's a kernel here that

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plays the banjo and it's a really good

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player and maybe you guys play a song .

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So and that's , I started playing a

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fiddle by myself and Colonel soon

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joined me on the , on the banjo and it

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was just like a perfect match of sounds

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and personality and ear . It's intense ,

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the works intense and very important

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and you've got to be able to sharpen

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the ax and you gotta be able to um come

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into it with a clear mind and fresh and

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so for some people it's going for a run

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for other people . It's reading the

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book you know , for , for paul and I

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think it's picking some music together .

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One I play music I think about anything

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else than just ah play the song is best

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of what I can play or trying to show

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respect to the song basically . So all

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this focus goes on the instruments and

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basically I don't know if it's the same

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for sure . But for me I just forget

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what about this war and conflict ,

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trying to pass it on to my kids . All

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my kids are musicians either singing or

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playing musical instruments or dance .

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And then my wife Teresa is our favorite

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fan . So it just helps kind of pass

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that tradition on from , uh , from one

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generation to another . So it's

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important . What ? Good ? That's better

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this thing .