God Gave Us the Banjo!

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Posted by JedMarum on Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Learning to play the banjo over the last 10 years has had an unexpected benefit; it’s made me a much better guitar player! I hope I’ve become a better banjo player too, but I know it’s improved my guitar work.

I recently worked at a Civil War historical reenactment weekend, where I played a few of the social events and presented music and instrument demonstrations from a booth on the front lawn of the museum. I quickly learned that if I sat in my demo area playing guitar, people would smile “hello” and wander along their way – but if I sat there playing the banjo, they’d all stop!

“Is that a banjo?” they’d ask. Or they’d say, “My Dad used to play banjo,” or “can you play Foggy Mountain Breakdown? How about the Beverly Hillbillies?” They’d ask all kinds of questions, but the point is, they’d all stop and want to hear me play the banjo.

I had taken this gig as a last minute fill-in when a festival I was booked at canceled, but over the course of the weekend, I earned my keep in CD sales – all because of the banjo. And the truth is; I love the banjo too! I had a great time setting there for three days, playing banjo the whole time. My neighbors may have gotten tired of it, but I never did!

I’ve come to this conclusion; mankind has invented a lot of beautiful musical instruments, but God gave us the banjo!

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