Banjo Dan and the Mid-Nite Plowboys

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2003 Newsletters & Schedule

New Years 2004 Email Bulletin

Well folks, 2003 is just about in the can. But before we chalk up another one we’d like to urge each and every one of you to kick the tube and get out for some live music. This is a great season for concerts, coffeehouses and shows of all kinds – everything from Messiah singalongs to – you guessed it – bluegrass music. As usual Banjo Dan and the Mid-nite Plowboys are playing the last show of the year in the last hours of the year. This time we’ll be at First Night Burlington, at the Unitarian Church at the top of Church Street, ringing in the New Year with shows at 10 and 11 PM. If you’re reveling in or around NW Vermont this year, be sure to stop by and catch the act. We’d love to see you one last time in 2003.

As the Plowboys enter their customary winter torpor, Willy and Dan are cranking up the duo for a batch of cold-weather gigs. Specializing in old-time duets, gospel songs, Civil War ballads, instrumental showstoppers and nonsense, the Lindner Bros are looking forward to several good shows over the holidays. It all starts at The Canoe Club at 27 South Main Street in Hanover NH on Tuesday, December 30. This is a great new restaurant that’s rapidly gaining a reputation for excellent cuisine, great atmosphere and nightly – that’s right, every night! – entertainment of all kinds. Dinner is served from 5:30 on, and the Bros will be picking and singing 8:30 to 11:30. What a great way to pre-celebrate the incoming year.

Banjo Dan and Willy are also playing First Night Rutland, with shows at 5 and 6 PM. We haven’t got word yet on which venue we’ll be at – probably one of the churches – but everything is close by and easy to find in Rutland, and you can pick up a program anywhere in town and find us easily. Please do.

And finally, the Lindner Brothers are pleased to be on the bill for a bluegrass concert to raise money for Vermont CARES (which serves the HIV+ community) and Partners in Health (which serves a similar population in rural Haiti). This is a cause we believe in, and we hope you’ll join us at the historic Labor Hall on Granite Street in downtown Barre VT on Friday January 2, starting at 7 PM. Sharing the bill are our good friends Cold Country Bluegrass, who always put on a fine show, and longtime Vermont bluegrasser Bob Degree with the Bluegrass Storm. We’re hoping to fill the old hall and raise a lot of bucks that night, so come on out if you can.

That’s it from Vermont bluegrass central for now. Have a wonderful holiday season, drive safe and sober and we’ll see you soon. For all the Mid-nite Plowboys – Banjo Dan

June 2003 Newsletter and Summer Schedule

Summer in New England! The flowers are up, the birds are singing, and Banjo Dan and the Mid-nite Plowboys are dusting off their instruments and their vocal chords. Time for us to crank up the music machine for another season, and time for you folks to mark your calendars and plan to come out for some of that good old bluegrass music (gobgm).

We've been warming up for the summer concert tour playing at several wedding receptions. Any couple celebrating their wedding with live bluegrass is destined for a long, happy married life, and we get a kick being part of the mix. (Hey, anyone in New Hampshire or Maine feel like getting married on August 1? Looks like we have an open Saturday over in that region…) [See July 17 Flash below]

Below you'll find a list of our public performances for the upcoming season. Undoubtedly a few more will be added, and I'll try to keep you posted. We haven't played quite as much in the lower New England states these past few years as in the past, so I'd like to highlight a couple of shows down that way and invite our southern friends to re-connect with the Plowboys. On July 9 we're at the Porter-Phelps-Huntington Museum (try saying that one time fast) in Hadley, Mass. We understand it's a lovely venue, and we're looking forward to getting down that way for a show. The next day we'll be in Bridgeport CT (our only CT show this summer), right on the waterfront, for an early-evening show. Sounds like a great place to play, providing the seagulls behave. Towards the end of the summer we'll be in Turners Falls, in northern Mass, at the Shea Theatre. We'd love to see you at that one. Let's pack the house and show the promoters that bluegrass is alive and kicking! As for the rest of the summer - we're looking forward to another swing through Maine, where the maniacs seem to love us. We'll be back to Schroon Lake NY after several years' absence to play in that wonderful little boathouse, and we're really looking forward to our fourth annual appearance at the wonderful Haskell Opera House on the Canadian Border.

We're still crazy for that gobgm after all these years, and we hope you'll come out and join the fun. See you soon.

PS: Ol' Banjo Dan hisself has moved back to the country. My email address is the same (banjodan@pshift.com), but if you'd like to contact me about that wedding, or order some CDs, or complain about the state of the world, you can also reach me at 192 Bird Haven Lane, N. Ferrisburgh VT 05473 or 802-425-5171.

August 18 Southern Vermont Reminder
Hi again, music lovers. If you live in upstate New York or northern Mass/ southern Vermont you haven't seen Banjo Dan and the Mid-nite Plowboys much over the past few years. We've been keeping busy in northern New England, with the occasional jaunt to Russia or some other odd locale, but we've been neglecting you folks.

So this is just a reminder to you who have been on our mailing list for awhile, and a notice to you who have recently signed up, that we do have a couple of shows coming your way in the next couple weeks. In fact, we'll be at the Boat House in Schroon Lake THIS THURSDAY, August 21 at 8 PM. This is a great little concert hall by the lake, a fine place for an up-close encounter with the Mid-nite Plowboys. Then on Friday August 29 we'll be at the beautiful Shea Theatre in Turners Falls, MA, also an 8 PM start. In both cases tickets are reasonably priced and available at the door.

We'd love to see you before the summer's out. The Plowboys are in fine form and we guarantee a lively show of great bluegrass music. See you there .... Banjo Dan

April 8, 2003 email bulletin:

Hi Friends. The snow went down last week, only to come back again and remind us all that it ain't over 'til it's over. But the robins are back and Banjo Dan and the Mid-nite Plowboys are coming out of hibernation, so spring really must be on its way.

We invite you to celebrate with us at our first concert of the new season. The folks in Barton, Vermont have booked us to perform on Saturday, April 12 in a concert beginning 7:30 PM at their Memorial Building theatre. I understand this is one of those fine old small-town opera-house type structures, and it should be a real nice setting for some lively Vermont-flavored bluegrass music. We're psyched to pick and sing for you, so please join us if you can. Further info is available at 802-525-4405.

Meanwhile, the summer tour is shaping up with shows all over New England. We'll be sending out our regular spring Newsletter with the full schedule before too long. See you soon. Banjo Dan

February 10, 2003 email newsletter:

Hi friends and neighbors. Hope the winter is treating you well.
While the rest of the Plowboys are spending the cold months resting on their laurels or other parts of their anatomy, Banjo Dan and Willy are enjoying an active off-season. The Lindner Brothers have several new gigs lined up, and we'd love to have you join us for some good old-time acoustic music. The show features traditional country duets, gospel songs and novelty numbers, along with a few instrumentals and originals -- just good down-home fun, the way country music used to be. You can catch the act at any of the following:

• Friday, Feb 14, opening for the great Del McCoury at the Empire State Plaza Performing Arts Center in Albany, NY. Show time is 7 PM. Additional info 518-473-1845. We don't get to play in NY too often, and with Del as headliner this will be a fabulous show. Don't miss it!
• Saturday, Feb 15, Purple Moon Pub, Route 100, Waitsfield VT, 9 PM. Info 802-496-3422.
• Saturday March 8, UU Church Coffeehouse, Rutland VT, 7:30 (with a brief opening act). Info 802-483-9395. Tickets $10 at the door, $8 in advance from Book King in Rutland, seniors $6 and kids $3
• Sunday March 9, Craftsbury Community Care Center, 3 PM. The public is cordially invited, for a modest admission price. Info 802-586-2414.
• Saturday March 29, Kingdom Coffeehouse, E. Charleston VT, 7:30 PM. Info 802-723-4705.
•  Saturday April 19, Lincoln Library, Lincoln VT. Show starts 7:00 PM and features at least one other act. This is a fundraiser for Bristol's Art on Main. Info 802-453-4032.

OK that's enough Lindner Brothers hype. Banjo Dan and the Mid-nite Plowboys meanwhile are preparing for another big summer of shows around the northeast. Our spring Newsletter will carry the full schedule, but meanwhile we want to issue a special invitation to one and all to help us kick off the bluegrass season with our concert on 

• April 12 at Barton, Vermont's Memorial Building Theatre. Showtime is 7:30; info 802-525-4405. Be there!

On behalf of all the Mid-nite Plowboys this is Banjo Dan saying "kill your TV and get out there and support live music, especially ours!" See you soon. BD

January 9, 2003 update:

Hi friends. Just a quick memo regarding the next couple shows. I hope if you're anywhere near central Vermont you'll have a chance to come to Banjo Dan and the Mid-nite Plowboys' concert at the Chandler Music Hall in Randolph on Saturday Jan 18 at 7:30. It's our only full-band show 'til April. We're planning to light the place up! Join us if you can.

And we have a few more details on The Lindner Brothers (Banjo Dan and Willy) January 30 show in Bradford, Vermont at the Middle Earth Music Hall. That's at the corner of Barton and Main Streets (opposite Merchant Bank). The show starts at 8 PM; doors open at 7:30. It's a Thursday night but heck, you can call in sick the next day. We'll be playing that good old-time acoustic country music, and we'd love to see you there.

Hope you enjoyed New Years Eve as much as we did, and that we'll see you soon. Banjo Dan