The 1st Annual Doug Esse Memorial 5-String Banjo Cacophony
Doug Esse was a banjo student of mine, a long time ago, not too long after I started teaching at the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago. As I remember, he was a newer member of a class that had been together awhile and had become very close knit. In fact, two of the students from that class wound up getting married and to this day are living near Plano, Illinois.
Doug didn’t hang out much after class with the rest of us. He always seemed very busy “with work.” As best I understand it, Doug taught archeology at the University of Chicago. It must have been a demanding position, because he never seemed to make much progress with his banjo playing, even though he swore to be practicing on a regular basis. Remarkably, Doug never got down on himself, which is somewhat inconsistent when compared to other students who struggle. When he didn’t understand something, or couldn’t play something, I remember him often shrugging it off and smiling. “I’ll work on it.” he would say.