Memorial Day banjo workshop and jam draw crowd
BY PHILL BARNETT
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN
TOMAHAWK — James E. Webb Musical Repair and Sales, located in Tomahawk, will soon be gracing screens across the state as part of KET’s Kentucky Life. Filming was underway Monday during a Memorial Day banjo workshop and all-star jam that drew music enthusiasts and musicians from around the region.
Conducted by Cowan Creek Mountain Music school teachers Nadia Ramlagan and Blakely Burger, along with Joey Webb, grandson of the shop’s namesake, the banjo workshop at James E. Webb Music Repair and Sales was well-attended.
Ramlagan and Burger brought several friends from Cowan Creek and camaraderie quickly spread throughout the room, binding locals and visitors in a shared appreciation of old-time mountain music.
“James Webb and his music shop have played an important role in music in Eastern Kentucky since the 1970s. We want to document the community that has formed around it,” explained Zach Curry, Fallsburg native and associate producer at KET.
Katherine Mueller-White, a Tomahawk native and the daughter of the renowned Lexington Herald-Leader reporter Lee Mueller, brought the shop to KET’s attention, according to KET producer Jeff Hoagland.
Ramlagan and Burger will return to the shop Sunday to teach a second beginning banjo lesson for newcomers and returning students and conduct a beginning fiddle workshop.
The workshops start at 1 p.m., last for three hours, and will be capped off with a concert by Ramlagan and Burger at 4 p.m.
Following the concert, attendees will be treated to a jam session and a pork barbecue at 6 p.m. Those planning to stay for dinner are encouraged to bring a dish.
As seating is limited for the concert, early arrival is advised.
The Stidham Old Time Music Gathering, a long-standing tradition in the area, will reconvene at the shop July 29, marking its first gathering since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The forthcoming feature on Kentucky Life will air sometime later this year. It is set to further establish the James E. Webb Music Repair and Sales shop as a cornerstone of the local music scene as it continues to inspire, educate, and unite music enthusiasts around the region.