Death of a Friend

I posted this originally on December 29th, 2007 on my personal Blog.
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Last night around 5pm my good friend and banjo instructor Rod Veverka died. I've been expecting it for a couple weeks but it's still hard to take.


I started playing banjo back in 2006 and was lurking around a website called The Banjo Hangout. Rod had a post offering lessons in an old time style of banjo playing called Clawhammer (or frailing). I gave him a call and set up a lesson for the next day.


Because of my upbringing and general incompetence I got lost in Medina. I had to call Rod and have him guide me to his house. When I told him what I did for a living he let out a loud belly laugh. When I got out of the car at his house I heard the prettiest song I'd ever heard on a banjo, it was an old Revolutionary War son, Johnny Has Gone For a Soldier. I didn't know that a banjo could sound like that.


The lesson was held in a cluttered garage and he asked me to show him what I knew. I had been studying the style from a DVD that I got from Parick Costello. I also devoured his book The How and Tao of Old Time Banjo.


I showed Rod the basic clawhammer bum-ditty and played the couple of songs that I knew and he told me I was off to a fine start. Then he played a bunch of songs, Flop Eared Mule, Rock About My Saro Jane, and Sail Away Ladies. I had never heard any of the songs and it was hard to believe that there was just one person playing. I watched his right hand and it was like it wasn't even moving. Then his son Nick came out and played guitar with him, wow. I play guitar but nothing like Nick.



Rod then gave me a song to learn and I left feeling like I'd been in a wind tunnel. I wasn't sure if I could do it.

I went home and worked on what he told me and went back a week later. Rod was encouraging and each one our lesson always went on closer to three. I improved steadily and each week along with playing music he would tell me about the hills and culture of his home. Rod was part Native American and was anxious to expose me to their culture too. He taught me about guns, local archeology, Indian Mounds, and old time banjo.


As the lessons progressed Rod would take me to jam sessions in Homerville, Lafayette and Bellsville. The main rooms were always bluegrass but there were always a couple of rooms where clawhammer and old time was being played. In those rooms Rod was a star.


A couple of months ago Rod invited my family down to Eastern Kentucky to see the hills and where his wife's family is from. I had never been anywhere like this and when we weren't playing music we were exploring the small surrounding towns. I took the family to a gingerbread festival in Knott County.

We spent our final night in Kentucky with Rod taking us back to a holler and seeing Art Stamper's grave. Then we went over to a relatives' house and played gospel music until the wee hours. I came down with a really bad cold and could only sit back and listen but the music was beautiful and pure.

When the weather started turning Rod decided to build a studio to study in. While it was being built we had lessons over at my house. It was nice to have the fireplace going and Rod playing some music. His son Nick had been teaching my daughter guitar and it worked out really well.


Around Halloween we invited the whole family over and Rod and Nick played music for a couple of hours. The entire time I just sat there with a grin on my face. I played a couple of songs but mostly it was Rod and Nick. I videotaped the entire time and plan to convert it to dvd.


After that Rod cancelled a couple lessons saying he had the flu. Then he got colitis that kept getting worse. Eventually he was hospitalized and they couldn't stop the bleeding so they did exploratory surgery. They removed part of his colon and I had hopes that he would recover fully. I worried because he was diabetic. A couple days later he suffered a massive stroke and he never recovered.


When I first met Rod he told me his health wasn't good and that he wanted to pass his music on. I only knew Rod for nine months but it feels like I've known him my entire life. I learned so much from him and I'm grateful for the short time I've had.


Rod didn't want a funeral. Instead he is being cremated and there will be a jam session down at his cabin. There we will scatter his ashes. Rod was a kind and wonderful friend. He will be missed.