Hope you and you’re loved ones have a happy season of peace, joy, love and of course, wonderful music & a prosperous and fun new year ☺
2015 has been an exciting and fun banjo year for me ☺
• A new CD-my very first vocal-- Blue Sky Banjo & a new tab book to accompany it.
• Video interview in Craig Evan’s Smithsonian Folkways “Conversations With Old Time Performers Volume II” (humbled and honored to be the only native Floridian included in this 4 volume series)
• Pix, bio & music in 2016 Banjo Babes Calendar & CD (don’t be afraid to order this—it is very sweet with lots of pretty girls and banjos—but nobody is naked)
• Played many new venues this year & returning venues as a solo performer for the first time. (Thank you everyone who came out to hear me—its scary to play all by yourself—but looking out there and seeing smiling supportive faces makes it fun)
Thank you –thank you to everyone who has bought my cds, tab books, posters & calendars this year & thanks so much for all your kind words and sharing with me which tunes were your favorites. Your support and encouragement are one of my best rewards for hanging in there and continuing to learn new tunes and get them out there for folks to enjoy ☺
And thank you to all the folks who believed in me and booked me for concerts and gigs at your venues—I love you ☺
My copies of The Banjo Babes Calendar & CD are sold out. They are big & beautiful (full color) and with the attached compilation cd—they make a wonderful gifts for the new year. You may still order from the Banjo Babes Calendar online website :)
One of my projects this year is to load my cds on Bandcamp for your digital listening pleasure—so far I’ve loaded Blue Sky Banjo, A Secret Life Of Banjo & Banjo Dreamin’ Suwannee Nights, Florida Banjo, & Girl With the Banjo Tattoo. And I’ve loaded a bonus track of “Washington’s March” on fiddle (Tim Gardner) and Banjo (me) if you download Blue Sky Banjo.
Please take a look and listen
And a reminder that “Banjo Dreamin’ Suwannee Nights” is my only holidayish banjo cd & that I only have a few physical cd copies left (LOL—only 10 years in print and nearly sold out—haha)
Here’s a full streaming listen on Bandcamp.
http://maryzcox.bandcamp.com/track/light-the-torch-jeannette-isabella-good-christian-men-rejoice
The reason I’m going on Bandcamp is because of the newer streaming companies like Spotify and other like them. The fees you pay only go to the companies and not to the artists—we get about a penny per track on these. I saw on one where over 9,000 folks had downloaded Blue Sky Banjo for free the first week it was out---if they had only sent me a few dollars per download—I would be rich and ready to record a new cd ☺
The digital companies that pay me a good share are: iTunes, cdbaby, Amazon & bandcamp. Thank you for using these companies when you digital download ☺
Wow—this is getting really long—but have to say a few words about my trip around the world in Sept. /October. It was wonderful & my pix are still not organized—but I put up a lot of pix on Facebook as I was traveling (it was the easiest site to upload) & managed to tape a few short banjo videos along the way. I’ve set my Facebook page for public viewing—so you can go on and look at my photos and videos even if you are not listed as a friend. ☺
If you are interested in traveling to Vancouver, Tokyo, Koyosan, Kobe, Kyoto, Osaka, Shanghai, Beijing, Mongolia, Siberia, Moscow, Warsaw, Budapest, Brussels, Bruges, or London—you may enjoy the pix and vids. Just email me if you have any questions ☺
Thanks again for all your support and encouragement in my banjo life. I greatly appreciate you each and everyone.
I did update my email list for the first time in a couple years because so many folks change emails often & found that over a hundred folks ordered cds & books directly from me on my website this year & some of you ordered more than once
And what I really loved and made me smile is that I recognized most of your names & that there were quite of few of you that have been supporting my music for over 10 years—and yes—even quite a few who have been ordering my cds since I first began over 16 years ago—thank you—thank you—your continued loyalty means a great deal to me ☺
Best wishes always,
Mary Z Cox
Ps.—Yes Bob & the kids are all still alive, well and kicking—although everyone is super busy—if you go to Facebook and look at my pix of Japan—you’ll see pix of Arcy and Satoko ☺