Mandy Tyner highlights other teachers on her YouTube channel BanjoLemonade
By Fiona Potts
Many of the articles in this issue focus on the places music can take you physically, but music can take you to new places figuratively, too. That is what banjo and dulcimer player Mandy Tyner is hoping to achieve in her new video series “Artist Spotlight,” on her YouTube channel BanjoLemonade. New episodes will be released every Friday.
Tyner sees this series as an opportunity to introduce her more than 24,000 subscribers to artists in the “old time stuff” genre that they might not be familiar with. Her only requirement is that her guests be a performer and a teacher. She said, “I want to showcase the folks who are out there working like me,” particularly folks who may not already have a large online presence or a lot of “followers” themselves. Each video includes a description with information about the artists and links to learn more.
The videos are not limited to banjo and mountain dulcimer teachers – instruments will include hammered dulcimer, banjo, fiddle, guitar, mandolin, and “anything you regularly see taught at a festival,” according to Tyner. The series will include solo acts, duets, bands, and ensembles. You may see the same artist twice, since so many instructors play multiple instruments.
As the busy summer and fall festival season comes to an end and winter approaches, try embracing the Danish sense of hygge (pronounced “hue-guh”), defined as “a quality of coziness and comfortable conviviality that engenders a feeling of contentment or well-being, regarded as a defining characteristic of Danish culture” by Oxford Languages, and related to the English word “hug.” Snuggle up with a soft blanket and warm drink, and explore the virtual vistas opened up by the “Artist Spotlight.”