Tell us about you and your family!
I’m Andy Orr from Bellvue, Colorado, a small mountain community located just outside of Fort Collins - 75 miles north of Denver. I’ve lived in Colorado since 1997. I’ve been married for 28 years to my wonderful wife, Jamie. We have three grown children - each of them practicing musicians. We have a beautiful Pyrenees dog and are blessed with lots of great friends and family.
I am an immigrant. My family emigrated from Scotland. I’m also a US Army veteran and a former member of The Old Guard, 3rd United States Infantry. I’ve enjoyed my career as a business owner and am now partly retired on somedays. 
What was it that first got you interested in playing the guitar, mandolin or banjo?
My older sister gets all of the credit for this one. Her room was next to mine when we were kids. She collected all of the records that were coming out in the early 70’s. She would put on albums and her friends would come over and listen for hours while I listened on the other side of the bedroom wall. My sister is five years older than me and I noticed that her and her friends worshipped all of the musicians. As a red headed, freckle faced kid with a strange accent who had just changed countries, this musician thing seemed like a magic power!
This was the same era as the Partridge Family and Hee Haw and the variety shows with Glen Campbell, Johnny Cash, Sonny and Cher, etc., It was becoming obvious that having the ability to play music was something that was greatly admired. Because of that and hitting the age where I wanted to be noticed by the fairer sex, I asked for a guitar for Christmas. I didn’t get it that year but I kept at it and the next year, Santa delivered! It was a Hondo acoustic guitar - more than good enough. But, I don’t think my parents really expected me to follow through.
We lived near a shopping mall that I could walk to. It had a music store, a Detroit chain called “Grinnell’s”. I signed up for weekly lessons with a guy named Bill (I’d like to thank that guy!) and started playing guitar in earnest at 12 years old. I kept at it and eventually bought an electric guitar and an amp from one of the Motown house band guys, The Funk Brothers, as they were known. He was a Detroit legend named Eddie Willis. Eventually, I got good enough that my band won the talent show a couple of times in high school.
How long have you been playing and what’s your motivation to play?
I’ve been playing guitar for 46 years. I had been playing mandolin incorrectly - like an upside down guitar - for about 20 years until I discovered Banjo Ben and took lessons at Cabin Camp from Penny. I now have what I need to be a real bluegrass mandolin player.
I picked up banjo for the first time in my life at a Cabin Camp in May of 2021. I had no idea that banjo was so fun to play. . Working with Katie at the last camp has given me the tools to actually take a solo, play backup and use a couple of different techniques to keep it interesting. I never in my life expected to be a banjo player but now, I can’t seem to put it down. Meeting Alan Munde at camp and then diving in to his discography has also been a great motivator.
I think like a lot of us, I’m not so much motivated by the music but by the technical aspects of actually playing music and performing with others. I’m motivated by watching a a lesson on the Banjo Ben site and thinking, “I can do that.” Obviously, something has to sound cool to capture my interest but my motivation is simply to make gradual improvements in my technique - to be a better flat picker, master my timing on a certain banjo fill or to actually sing in harmony for once in my life. When the technique has finally been conquered, then it circles back to how great the music sounds. Learning to play music is a gift to yourself that you can give to others and still have it all for yourself!
What’s your favorite lesson on Ben’s site and how has it helped you improve?
I’ve given this question a lot of thought. My favorite lesson is probably a very old guitar lesson that Ben filmed on “Red Haired Boy” as I believe it’s the first time I found Banjo Ben on the web. After I watched that lesson, thanks to the algorithm of the web, I couldn’t get that Banjo Ben guy off of my newsfeed! LOL.
When I realized the depth of the content on the Banjo Ben website and how well put together it was, I signed up for a lifetime membership. I feel like I’ve already gotten my money’s worth out of my lifetime membership and I’m not even dead yet!
I enjoy all of Ben’s lessons. His style and pace really appeals to me. He’s obviously a great player but it’s the video layout, the tabs, the backing tracks and the consistency throughout the entire site that makes it a great learning tool for me. It’s really well thought out.
I also appreciate the light hearted videos, the characters he creates, etc., When the news of the day starts wearing me down, I flip over to the Banjo Ben website and view a lesson or two. I might not even follow up on the lesson. Sometimes, I’ll just watch and make a note.
Are there any other instruments or genres of music that you enjoy playing?
I’m a late comer to bluegrass. I listened to it occasionally and attended a couple of the Telluride Bluegrass Festivals back in the 1990’s but I was a blues / rock guitarist for my entire existence. Among other things, I played guitar in a regionally popular U2 tribute act for a bit. With all the effects and gimmickry in U2’s music, it’s about as far from bluegrass as you can get on the guitar. It took going to a bluegrass jam session and getting absolutely smoked by the regulars that made me come around to it.
Nowadays, I listen to Bluegrass Junction 90% of the time, I find myself genuinely interested in studying up on the history, the required play lists, the songs I should know. It’s been a blessing during COVID to find something to be passionate about and get reinvigorated about playing.
Do you have a favorite technique? What is it?
Based on my experience as a player and listening to recordings of me playing, the technique that stands out most in my playing is my ability to hit two wrong notes in quick succession. Feel free to DM me for the tabs!
If you could play in anyone’s band, who would it be and why?
I like reading these Member Of The Week interviews and I’m always interested in reading everyone’s response to this question in particular. It has introduced me to some music that I had never heard but now enjoy. As such, I think I’ve given this question way too much thought.
At first, I just wanted to show up at the local bluegrass jams, call out some standard tunes and be able to hold my own. Playing in that local jam would still be more than good enough for me! There are some great players around here.
Then I started to marvel at the musicianship that some touring bands enjoyed - Kentucky Thunder, Alison Krauss, Rhonda Vincent, etc., If you played with any of those bands, and many others, you were automatically certified as a master of your craft. Maybe I should pick one of those bands?
But the acoustic music that I have been drawn to the longest has been centered around Dave Grisman and Jerry Garcia. The “Shady Grove” album is a perennial favorite of mine. Their acoustic sessions led me to Tony Rice which led me to “Rice and Skaggs”, “Tone Poems”, “Pizza Tapes” and bands like Dawg Music, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Bluegrass Album Band, etc. These are now my Sunday morning play list. I have all of these records on vinyl and I play a few of them every weekend. But since Tony Rice and Jerry Garcia have both passed, I started thinking about which active band I’d like to play in. (I told you, I’ve given this too much thought!)
I think the band I’d probably want to join and tour with would probably be Marty Stuart’s band. I haven’t exactly figured out the entire puzzle and how it connects but Marty Stuart seems to be at the center of the musical universe. I’d like to be a part of that musical universe. He seems to have played with everyone and has enjoyed one heck of a career. He plays just about every style of country, traditional bluegrass. gospel, rockabilly and blues. Besides that, he’s truly a phenomenal guitar / mandolin player and is always surrounded by other great players. But then I think of some of the other amazing bands…
Marty Stuart. Final answer!
What type of gear or accessories have you found that work best for you?
I think Blue Chip picks are one of the rare, ridiculously expensive accessories that are actually worth the price. They deliver better tone with a lot less fatigue on the picking hand. They seem to be more accurate and they just sound better. I just wish that I didn’t have to buy them and they would start magically showing up in the laundry like all of my other picks.
I like the old-timey aesthetic of the Ear Trumpet microphones. I have a couple in my recording room and find they inspire a better performance.
One item that has been indispensable is a looper pedal. It’s a great practice tool to loop a chord progression and work on scales and lines. I’m looking forward to the revised Banjo Ben website that will offer endless looping.
If money was no object, what would be your dream instrument(s)?
I’m pretty happy with the instruments I own. I’ve bought and sold a few of my dream instruments over the past 40 years. These days, it seems like a high quality instrument can be attained for far less money than in years past. For instance, I played a $329 Yamaha guitar at Cabin Camp that blew me away with how good it was. I had to force it out of my hands.
However, there are some instruments that I would like to have to myself for a few hours in a quiet room. In no particular order, I’d like to connect with:
Jimmy Page’s '59 Les Paul
The mysterious White / Rice Martin D28
Clarence White’s B-Bender Telecaster
Bill Monroe’s mandolin
Earl Scruggs Gibson banjo
Those instruments have all attained Excalibur status in my book. I know I’m not a worthy steward to actually own any of them but I sure would like to have a moment with them.
When you’re not pickin’, what else do you spend your time doing?
I really enjoy all things outdoors. Mountain biking and skiing have been a passion for 30 years. The majority of our vacations are mountain bike or ski trips. Over the past several years, my wife and I have started guiding friends and family on The White Rim - a 100 mile off-road course in Canyonlands National Park in Utah. We were able to get permits and put together three trips alone last year. It’s spectacular, scenery over 3-4 days in one of the last truly remote parts of the country. We bring along great food and good adventure. There are always a few instruments along for the ride.
Anything else you’d like to add?
I have a story from the last camp that I think is worth telling.
We were holding our rehearsal for our group performance. As a camp veteran, I knew the drill and took the lead in getting our performance ready. When it came time for one of the player’s solos, I said, something like “You move to here and play your solo and then step back.”
Them: “No way.”
Me: '“Don’t worry, it will be fine.”
Them: “No. You have the wrong person.”
Me: “You have to participate or we won’t win.”
Them: “We don’t have to win”
Me: “But your team mates would like to win”
Them: “Well, I’ll just sit out.”
Me: “That would be even worse.”
Them: “Well, we’re just going to have to do it our way.”
Noticing that I might have upset this person and feeling pretty bad about it, I informed our coach of the conversation. I assumed that this person was truly terrified of performing a solo and let it go at that.
After supper, the player in question approached me and said, “Would you play the rhythm? I have a solo I want to try.” We ran thru their solo 4-5 times. When they were done I said, “That’s great! Do that and we’ll win.”
It came time for our performance and, just as planned, that person approached the mic and played their part like a seasoned performer. It wasn’t elaborate or fancy but it fit the melody of the song perfectly and it was truly executed to perfection.
I didn’t get a chance to say goodbye to that person after the camp but, if they’re reading this, I wanted them to know that I was truly moved by their experience to be so far outside of their comfort zone and then rising to the occasion. As we used to say in the Army, “That’s the person I want in my foxhole.”
I ran thru that scene at least a dozen times in my l-o-n-g drive back to Colorado. I’ve seen people crying tears of joy at Cabin Camp after their performance and achieving their goal of playing in a band. It’s simultaneously humbling and inspirational.
And if anyone is wondering, our band won!!!
Thanks for letting us feature you Andy!
Andy on being selected as this weeks Gold Pick Member. That’s some War and Peace of a story. I had to wait till today to find time to sit and read it through.
