tenuous connections to Dolly Parton

Amidst the worldwide sadness of the passing of the legendary Dolly Parton this week, I got to reminiscing. Many people have great stories about their awesome connection to Dolly Parton. These are not those stories. the banjo lessons I took banjo lessons, briefly, when I was about 21, every Tuesday night in the basement of the Chapman and Hewett Music store. I always admired Steve Martin’s skills and I wanted to be a good banjo player. Didn’t particularly want to practice, though. My teacher Dave let me know that just wanting to be a good banjo player wasn’t really enough, so I switched to complaining about my crummy banjo. Dave, of course, in a scene straight out of the movies, said “Here, let me see that banjo”, and ripped through the chorus of Foggy Mountain Breakdown and said “Nothing wrong with this banjo." I lasted only a few weeks. Wondered what happened to Dave who taught banjo lessons in the basement of a music store in London, Ontario. Turns out he moved to Nashville and…