Either by chance or by design, you've reached the homepage for Butch Robins, legendary banjo innovator and former Bill Monroe Blue Grass Boy. Jump on in and check Butch's full regularly updated performance/workshop schedule, media clips, photos, CyberJournal, etc. And -- don't forget to sign the Guestbook before you go! Make sure to also read Butch's Greetings to his website.

9/7/07: NEWS NEWS AND MORE NEWS ABOUT THE WORLD INTERNATIONAL BLUE GRASS BAND!

FIRST: BUY TSHIRTS TO HELP SUPPORT THE BAND AND SPREAD THE WORD ABOUT THE WORLDLY POWER OF BLUE GRASS!! AVAILABLE IN THE BUTCH ROBINS/B-NATURAL STORE.

SECOND: DATES FOR THE BAND HAVE BEEN ADDED BOTH TO THE HOMEPAGE FOR THE WIBGB AS WELL AS THE SCHEDULE PAGE.

7/31/07: It's been awhile since an update -- but for very good reason.

The time has come: Butch Robins and B Natural Productions introduces THE WORLD INTERNATIONAL BLUE GRASS BAND!

The World International Blue Grass Band …
… is a collective of stellar acoustic string band musicians from around the planet who perform in the style of the musical ensemble, “Bill Monroe and The Blue Grass Boys”. Alumni Blue Grass Boy, Butch Robins has assembled this group as a tribute to an ever-evolving living/growing musical art form and as a statement endorsing international peace and cooperation. The members of this group are accomplished multi-instrumentalists but for the purpose of this project the cast includes:

Butch Robins - USA - Banjo Host and Master Of Ceremony
Kazuhiro Inaba - Japan - Guitar Vocals Co-Host
Arnold Lasseur - Holland - Mandolin Vocals
Sean McKerr - Ireland - Bass Vocals
Hamish Davidson - Australia - Fiddle Vocals
Jan Johansson - Sweden/USA - Fiddle Vocals

These men are the children and grandchildren of those who first heard the “folk music in overdrive” that has grown into a wonderful addition to the musical landscape of the planet and a voice for common people everywhere.

The brainchild of Butch, the World International Blue Grass Band will be performing several dates this fall and will be the highlight of this year's IBMA in Nashville, playing after hours showcases and IBMA Fan Fest. More info to come!

3/16/07: Thanks to all who came out this past weekend to attend Butch's 1st Annual Unkle Butchie banjo camp. Both Butch and I feel that it was a success! The same thanks are extended to those who came out to watch/listen to Butch on Saturday morning's live radio concert on WFHB FM in Bloomington.

But, enough with past events -- Butch is again part of the faculty at Jack Hatfield's Smoky Mountain Banjo Academy. This year the Academy will be April 20 - 22, 2007 at the Wa-Floy Retreat near Gatlinburg, Tennessee.

The faculty includes: Butch Robins, Eddie Adcock, Dave Ball, Gary Davis, Janet Davis, Jack Hatfield, Bill Keith, Andy King, John Lawless, Randal Morton, James McKinney, Tom Nechville, Ken Perlman, Rick Sampson, Snuffy Smith, Australian luthiers Laurie Grundy & Roger Simpson!

You can learn more about the Academy at either Hatfield's Smoky Mountain Banjo Academy page or at Hatfield's business website: www.hatfieldmusic.com

1/13/07: Happy New Year, faithful Butch Robins fans!

We're pleased to announce a couple of things.

First Butch is working hard at writing and recording. We may see a new Butch album in the distant horizon.

Second we're kicking off 2007 with a party! Your Humble Webmaster is assembling the 1st Annual Butch Robins Banjo Camp here in Bloomington Indiana for the weekend of March 9th and 10th. Friday night is a picking party and Saturday is a 4 and 1/2 hour workshop. We're holding it at the Grant St. Inn in Bloomington, who is graciously offering discounted rooms for any attendee wishing to stay at the Inn. You can review the webpage for it, email me at jim@richterdigitalarts.net or call at 812-825-5514. Preregistration for the workshop is required. Hope to see you there!

11/30/06: Well, Unkle Butchie broke his silence this month and went wandering throughout the midwest, making stops in Louisville, Your Humble Webmaster's lair in Indiana, Frank Neat's in Kentucky, and other assorted places.

Among those stops were a few nights in Lousivlle, where Butch sat in with Mike Cleveland at a couple of gigs. Mike Bucayu, president of Louisville's Bluegrass-Anonymous, sent in a few photos of each night. They're in our Media section.

Here in Indiana, Your Humble Webmaster had the good fortune to here about a dozen tunes that Unkle Butchie has written while on sabbatical. Goodness gracious! Butch has a banjo album in him that will make people prick up their ears. Let's hope we see it in the near future.

10/5/06: To all of you who may have wondered where Butch has disappeared to, our dear Unkle Butchie is on sabbatical, composing some groundbreaking banjo music. Butch has played me several of the tunes and each has knocked Your Humble Webmaster on the a%%. Butch is writing music that is banjo distinctive -- free of cliche, yet uniquely "banjoistic." It's an exciting time to be around Butch.

6/22/06: Well, another Bean Blossom season has come and gone. Butch acted as the unofficial mayor of Bean Blossom, holding court at many a campsite and picking session.

Butch had a great time down in Bloomington for the Celebration of BIll Monroe workshop and concert with Compton and Grier. Butch loves nothing more than to talk about one of his favorite topics: the history of Blue Grass and Bill Monroe. We've put up a few photos from the event.

6/5/06: Butch wants to thank the students and the organizers of the Midwest Banjo Camp for the time of his life. Hopefully, he'll be able to join you all again in the future.

Also, apologies to anyone trying to access the B-Natural Online Store. It'd been down for maintenance while we switched over the entire site to a new server. The Online Store is officially under the URL: https://www.unklebutchie.com/store, so update your bookmarks. To those who previously set up accounts through the store, that information has not been transferred over yet. So, it's encouraged that you reregister if you want to get any future mailings or newsletters.

Also this week is the magnificent Celebration of Bill Monroe where Butch will be picking with kindred spirits Mike Compton and David Grier. It's a night of Monroe in Bloomington, IN so don't miss out.

5/25/06: Butch is looking forward to meeting everyone who'll be at the Midwest Banjo Camp June 2-4. He says to honker down for a ride with Bucky Bluegrass.

5/5/06: Butch, Mike Compton, and David Grier have consented to performing in Bloomington Indiana Saturday June 10th as part of a "Celebration of Bill Monroe's Music." The day will involve the trio holding a workshop on the intrepretation of Bill Monroe's music for their respective instruments and ensemble; then later an evening concert at the Rose Firebay of the Waldron Arts Center, one of the best small acoustic recital halls in town. Please contact webmaster Jim RIchter for details, or take a look at the Calendar.

4/21/06: Butch has a busy weekend. If you're on the East Coast, catch him at the County College of Morris in Randolph, NJ for an interview with Stephanie Ledgin, or see him perform in a special solo appearance at the WestSide Cafe in Frederick, MD.

Also added: New Photos! Snapshots added to the Japan 2005 tour page, as well as photos of Mike Bub, Mike Cleveland, and others from IBMA 2004.

3/22/06: Keep an eye out for Butch and Jang-a-Lang in Oxford Mississippi this Saturday. Butch has been busy being a part of "IBMA Leadership." Butch has attened the IBMA Summit this week and maybe we'll Unkle Butchie influence the future direction of IBMA.

2/20/06: Quick little entry to direct you all to Mississippi Chris' site to read his review/recounting of Unkle Butchie and Jang-a-Lang at the Folk Alliance Conference in Austin. Quite detailed and an excellent read. Sounds like the boys had some fun!

2/16/06:Now in the Media section, the previously promised video of Mississippi Chris and Butch performing Mississippi Chris' song, "Friend." Videotaped in October 2005 at IBMA. A wonderful song and featured during Jang-A-Lang performances.

2/5/06 - First, let me make you all aware that the managment of the BNatural Online Store has been indefinitely transferred to Your Humble Webmaster. The former store manager has left, so we'll manage the best we can. We were also experiencing some problems w/ our credit card processor, but it seems that has been resolved. We're sorry for any inconvenience some of you have suffered because of it.

All of you down around Austin Texas or those of you going to the Folk Alliance Conference make sure to go see Uncle Butchie, Mississippi Chris and the boys of Jang-A-Lang this coming week. They'll be down in Austin doing a series of blistering showcases, so don't miss out!

Your Humble Webmaster had the privilege of spending time w/ Butch for a good part of a week upon his return from Japan. YMH spent a lot of time scanning and copying disks of photos from Butch's time in Japan. We'll be slowly getting those up. There are a ton of them--but all of them great.

Before Butch left, he sat in on a gig of Your Humble Webmaster's and blues guitar expert-at-large Gordon Bonham. Admittedly, as much as Your Humble Webmaster has picked w/ Butch, it was fairly nerve-wrecking to actually perform w/ him. Butch has been a hero from long back, so to do mandolin/banjo duets of Methodist Preacher or Old Ebeneezer Dangerfield w/ Butch was intimidating, but helped create a pretty special night.

So, keep an eye out for those Japan photos. Your Humble Webmaster is still trying to get up a great little video of Mississippi Chris and Butchie doing one of M.C.'s songs down at IBMA 2005. Between illness (been sick a week), a car accident, and a Mac that went belly up for a few weeks, we should be getting to that soon.

1/18/06 - Howdy all! First, you may notice that all our previous news items are gone. Well, they've been archived. You'll see a link for the archived 2005 news page at the top of this page.

Again, a lot of things brewing up, most important being the Folk Alliance conference in February down in beautiful Austin, Texas (a former home to Your Humble Webmaster). Butchy, Mississippi Chris, and the Jang-A-Lang boys have been practicing up a storm for this, so if you're in the area in February, check them out.

Unkle Butchie is now a member of the IBMA Leadership for 2006. Read the press release here. (opens in a new window)

Finally, put up some photos Butch sent in of him spending New Year's day in Japan w/ Kaz Inaba. Beautiful photos.

GREETINGS FROM BUTCH

Welcome to my website.

From an artistic standpoint, in my 56 years on the planet this time, I have worn the hats of musician, a recording artist , a producer, and an author. Critics and others who have observed me have described me as a true individualist, a musical revolutionary and a self-styled philosopher. Personally, I consider myself to be a banjo player, a student of music and a seeker of information, knowledge and wisdom.

My musical life has blessed me with association and affiliation with wonderfully talented artists who have enriched my life in such ways as I would have never dreamed. This site is a place where I can share and pass along information, offer the manifestation of my creative efforts. As the site develops, I hope to turn you on to some exceptionally talented, creative, free thinking friends and to sites which, for me, help to quench an ongoing thirst for information and knowledge.

May love and peace be with you and grow in your footprints.

I hope you enjoy your visit.

Butch

Friends visiting since 8/27/05

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