ALL FRETS - July/August 2018 ENTIRE ISSUE | Page 8

Text by Johnny Baier - Photos by Athens Abell
Additional photos submitted by Wes English, Linda Lehmann, Jean Ihnow,
Tom Delaney, Susan Babcock, Ron McLawhon, Terri Ann Rogers
The annual ritual of reporting on the ALL FRETS convention is one of my easiest writing assignments of the
year. Thrown out is the book of journalism and rules of reporting hard news… Gone is the prohibition of
unabashedly praising and acknowledging all who made an event possible. This report is a always a fun and
positive way to share with those who weren’t there the feeling of what it means to be part of the annual
reunion of a true musical family.
For backstory, 2018 marks the 61 st year that our members have gathered to share music and fellowship. In
the early years – when the Fretted Instrument Guild of America was a budding organization – music was
paramount. Consisting mostly of mandolin family and related ethnic fretted instruments, convention concerts
were just that…formal events with serious classical music played by tuxedo clad fretted instrument orchestras
with an occasional classical five-string banjo soloist (also in a tuxedo). There were no jokes or comical stage
routines and vocal renditions of popular songs were non-existent. This scenario, by the way, suited the
membership of the day perfectly. As time moved on, the membership of FIGA started to mirror the fretted
instrument trends of the first decades of the twentieth century when the mandolin succumbed to the
popularity of the four-stringed tenor and plectrum banjos. For a number of years a cordial, yet autonomous,
coexistence occurred at our conventions… “mandolins over here…banjos over here.” There was little
interaction, either musically or socially and, as the four-string banjo became predominant amongst our
membership, the active participation by the mandolin faction of our membership dwindled. While four-string
banjos remain the most numerous instruments within our ranks, the past decade has seen a sincere
embracing of other instruments as the result of our “all frets” stance. With fretted instruments such as guitar,
ukulele and, yes, mandolins, making their presence very well known at our conventions, the current trend is
the favoring of the music which our members enjoy rather than focusing upon what instrument is being
played. Amidst this musical trend exists a new emphasis on the social aspect of ALL FRETS. To many, our
organization and convention is as much about good times spent with good friends as it is about music. With
all this in mind, mid-July of 2018 saw members from literally all over the world making preparations to travel
to Buffalo, New Yor