As that ’ s just wishful thinking , I have to ask myself what my banjo future holds . I ' d like to say the banjo is going to really take off again , but if I ' m being honest , I think the four-string banjo is probably going to remain a small microcosm in the big picture of the music world . While I ' m okay with that , if people want to see it grow , they need to do more than just talk about it . I ' m a big fan of focusing on music styles rather than singling out the instruments that play them . The way I figure it , if 1920s-30s music resurges in popularity , then the tenor , plectrum and any other tuning of jazz banjo will naturally grow in popularity as well . One big advantage the current generation of young musicians has is technology . Social media alone has the ability to reach out to millions of people , connecting like-minded musicians and fans around the world in much the same way that festivals and organizations such ALL FRETS have done in the past .
One of the more frequent questions people ask me is what my favorite instrument is . The tenor banjo is without a doubt my favorite , but a very close second is the upright bass . Those are the two instruments that I can express myself through most naturally . I also enjoy playing mandolin , ukulele and six-string guitar because I find that learning a new stringed instrument always adds a unique element to my playing on all of my other instruments . Yes , I have played a bit of plectrum banjo for most of my life but , if I ' m being honest , have never really felt at home on it . That said , one of the positives about being less busy during COVID is that I ' ve had much more free time to work on the plectrum . I ' m really enjoying that exercise and hope to get more and more comfortable with it over the next few years … I believe it ' s good to keep pushing yourself .
So , whether it ’ s presented live , on record , via the Internet or any other media , I am passionate about the tenor banjo and the music I can make on it . In a way , I like to think of myself as an ambassador for the instrument and believe that the more styles of music I can learn and the more people I can reach , the more people will want to learn this instrument that has brought me so much joy to me in life . We ’ ll see …”
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30 ALL FRETS SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2020