Anyways, there are a lot of folks players that live in my neighborhood and play at the local bar, maybe that had some influence on it. The banjo is a beautiful instrument and it's just so fun to play! I've been learning clawhammer and I find it a complete joy.
Would be great to find a fiddle to jam along with once I improve a little more.
Hey, Fiddleford McGucket started like that!
If you ever feel sorrow and your down in San Antone, just beg borrow or steal two nickels and dime and call me on the phone. I’ll meet you at Alamo mission.
His wikipedia page suggests the technique was common in the area, so while she probably didn't teach it to him, there's probably a kernel of truth in there somewhere.
She also helped introduced FIRST robotics to our small rural highs school. She was an awesome woman.
That’s a great story about your great grandmother! What was her name? I’d love to help perpetuate the story.
I hope it functions as a halfway house, getting people used to the sound of the banjo even if it’s not THE sound of the banjo.
My dubious claim to fame is that I believe I was the first person to put banjo tablature on the web, possibly the net as a whole. I used EMACS (eight megabytes and continuously swapping, indeed) in 92 or 93 to make ASCII art of tab:
We’re living in a real golden age of banjo today. There are technical virtuosos in all areas, prominent banjo players who don’t use it for yuks, and it’s a sound people recognise but don’t pull back from.The article author alludes to the terrible times after “Deliverance” was released. For 20 years that movie dominated perceptions of banjo and banjo players. Every banjo player today still gets asked for Duelling Banjos but, in my experience at least, no more “squeal like a pig” comments or associations with inbreeding. Mumford and Sons, “O Brother Where Art Thou”, and Taylor Swift have all done their part to normalise the sound of the banjo.
I love it. It’s hard to be sad when you’re playing the banjo. (Insert obligatory comment about how it’s easier to be sad when someone else is playing the banjo. And yes, I’ve heard all the banjo jokes. And seen the Gary Larson cartoon. And the Thunderstruck video. And the one with the band walking down the train tracks. Every banjo player gets those sent to them on a regular basis, it’s part of the job)