Was that English banjo player Sully or Tony(?) Martin?

There has been a (very welcome) move in the last dozen years or so towards playing the DG box across the rows in English music. The movement is much freer, and gets rid of that humpty-dumpty effect inherent in the incessant pushpull. Having said which, if you listen to old (pre- 1960s) recordings of Irish box players, it's often straight up-and-down, particularly for Kerry polkas. So maybe you weren't as bad as you thought at the time.

The Exile was a great place to learn- with every level of skill from the sublime to me, you could always hear the next step available to you. It was there that Jimmy Taylor listened to me playing whistle, and said "You've got the tune well enough, but your style is very folkloric".

Miked up box? Carry a pair of wirecutters.