Banjo Newsletter was established by Hub Nitchie in 1973 as a monthly magazine dedicated to all aspects of five-string banjo playing and culture. Content features articles, interviews, product and record reviews, as well as tablature and music notation.
Donald and Spencer Nitchie took over BNL after their father passed away in 1992 and maintained its high standards, maintaining it until recently when they are considering passing it onto someone else.
Articles
Established by Hub Nitchie and Nancy in 1973, Banjo Newsletter (BNL) is a monthly magazine dedicated to 5-string banjo players. Each issue of BNL contains featured players, banjo techniques (especially three-finger and clawhammer styles), starting banjo for beginners, music theory reviews, set-up advice for banjo owners as well as record reviews. Each issue also provides banjo tablature.
After Hub Nitchie died in 1992, his sons Donald and Spencer Nitchie took over publication of his newsletter. Maintaining traditions begun by their father while adapting it for digital publication by adding full color format and subscription features online. While Donald managed editorial duties such as layout and tablature selections; Spencer handled business aspects including subscriptions, advertising sales/receivable, accounts payable/receivable payments/collections as well as mailing services.
Donald and Spencer continued to manage BNL until Spencer passed away earlier this year. Donald has announced that the print edition will cease publication with September’s issue; however, he welcomes any ideas for keeping BNL running whether in print form or online.
Late 2013, BNL updated their website with new articles and tablature collections that more fully cover banjo tablature selections. In addition, MP3 audio recordings from workshops and concerts sponsored by the magazine were digitized and made available online for the first time ever; classified ads collected over time by BNL were also scanned and uploaded onto the site.
The Southern Folklife Collection at UNC Chapel Hill contains photographs, audiovisual recordings and printed materials related to the Banjo Newsletter. This includes interview transcripts, commercial recordings featuring performances by notable banjo players like Eddie Adcock, Bill Keith, Don Reno Earl Scruggs and Tony Trischka as well as papers catalogs advertisements loosely related to this newsletter.
Reviews
Banjo Newsletter was established by Hubbard “Hub” and Nancy Nitchie in 1973 as a monthly magazine focused on 5-string banjo. Now edited by their sons Spencer and Donald Nitchie, it boasts over five thousand subscribers both domestically and internationally. Coverage includes features on individual banjo players; various styles (three finger and clawhammer); beginning banjo, music theory lessons; set up/accessories reviews/tabs as well as record/product reviews as well as audio recordings within each issue.
Donald Nitchie recently announced that the print edition of Banjo NewsLetter would cease publishing after September 2017 issue, leaving space open for other people to take over either printing it out or moving to an exclusively online format. He invites anyone who may be curious to reach out via the internet and contact him; he would like the legacy of his father and brother as well as of the great musicians featured in this newsletter to continue into the future. This collection contains images, articles, catalogs and advertising forms which relate to the newsletter in some way. This collection also houses born digital videos from Maryland Banjo Academy as well as an album of live recordings, interviews and demos compiled by Donald Nitchie for Banjo Newsletter; originally issued as cassette recordings but later issued on CD format.
Tablature
Additionally to articles and classified ads published each issue of banjo newsletter, each issue also features tablature for various tunes. Furthermore, their website boasts an interactive audio player capable of playing MP3 music files as well as commercial recordings and live performances recorded by Donald Nitchie, co-publisher and son of Hub and Nancy Nitchie who started publishing banjo newsletter in 1973.
Spencer and Donald Nitchie successfully carried on the tradition established by their late father when they took over publishing of the Banjo Newsletter after his passing in 1992, while also moving it into the 21st Century. Working closely together they established an efficient workflow with Donald handling editing/tablature selection/layout/design, while Spencer handled subscriptions/advertising/accounts payable/receivable and mailing services respectively.
Donald Nitchie continues to publish the Banjo Newsletter and is searching for someone to take over its business side. He is open to either keeping the publication in print form, or turning over management completely to young and energetic managers who would make it an integral part of banjo’s online community. He welcomes hearing from anyone interested in keeping alive the tradition of contributing regularly to the education and entertainment of five string banjo players. Clicking on any of the Library of Congress subject headings below will take you directly into our online catalog; materials in this collection are organized alphabetically by title. Alternatively, The Southern Folklife Collection at UNC Chapel Hill houses Banjo NewsLetter archives.
Interviews
Martha’s Vineyard may not be known for its banjo music these days, but on Middle Road in Chilmark it remains deeply rooted. Additionally, Donald Nitchie is editor of Banjo Newsletter, an international monthly publication focused on everything banjo related. From his home on Martha’s Vineyard he manages this zine which boasts over five thousand subscribers worldwide.
Established by Hub Nitchie and Nancy in 1973, BNL features columnists and contributors on topics related to 5-string banjo playing. Topics may include banjo players’ profiles; banjo techniques (three-finger playing styles such as clawhammer); beginning banjo; music theory lessons; setup/accessory reviews as well as product/record reviews. Each issue also contains banjo tabs: notation used for fingering that facilitates learning songs without reading music notation.
As well as articles, the newsletter also features interviews with noted banjo players and figures in music. Past interviews include banjo player Alan Shelton from Masters of the Five String Banjo documentary fame who spoke with OTW about his early experiences with banjo playing as well as how he developed his unique approach to the style.
This newsletter’s companion website hosts all published articles and classified ads from each edition as well as some original material. In April 2013, this site underwent a redesign to make it more mobile-friendly; additionally, streaming audio of select songs from our archives was also made possible.
Donald Nitchie of the Southern Folklife Collection at UNC Chapel Hill has amassed a collection of Banjo Newsletter papers, photographs, audiovisual recordings and related printed material related to Banjo Newsletter for archival processing at his University by receiving funding from Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. This collection provides scattered photographs, catalogs, banjo tabs and audiovisual recordings related to banjo news letters that featured concerts sponsored by or covered by Banjo News Letter magazine as well as audiovisual recordings related to concerts organized or covered by Banjo Newsletter magazine for audiovisual recordings related concerts covered or sponsored by Banjo News Letter magazine archival processing through Andrew W Mellon Foundation grant funding of its processing at Chapel Hill University.