A British guy called Dave Hum just popped up on my YouTube feed and I was hoping someone might know more about him.
Absolutely fantastic banjo playing with a very unconventional right hand form. And yet he seems to have been - he's apparently unfortunately passed - a street busker, playing for coins? Or was playing the street just a hobby? How could so much talent slip under the radar?
If anyone knows anything about him, I'd be very grateful to find out more
Anyway, for anyone that's never heard of him - here's a YouTube link.
Give him a listen. I'll guarantee you won't be disappointed.
m.youtube.com/@davehum
I don't think it's accurate to say Dave Hum slipped under anyone's radar. He did his thing and people loved him for it. Congrats on discovering him!
quote:
Originally posted by nodsterA British guy called Dave Hum just popped up on my YouTube feed and I was hoping someone might know more about him.
Absolutely fantastic banjo playing with a very unconventional right hand form. And yet he seems to have been - he's apparently unfortunately passed - a street busker, playing for coins? Or was playing the street just a hobby? How could so much talent slip under the radar?
If anyone knows anything about him, I'd be very grateful to find out more
Anyway, for anyone that's never heard of him - here's a YouTube link.
Give him a listen. I'll guarantee you won't be disappointed.
m.youtube.com/@davehum
Dave was a street artist, comedian, and well respected banjo player.
Very inventive,, he’s been mentioned many times here on the BHO. I wasn’t a member here before 2013, so I don’t know if he was a contributing member, or if his work was lauded regularly by BHO regulars.
Lot's of discussions about him here on BHO. Go to the "Q" to the left of this page and type his name in the search box and I bet you'll get lots more info. What a great player he was! banjered
Of course, I should have tried a search before posting! I see now that there are pages of threads about this remarkable musician.
Thanks for the replies.
G
AFAIR his right hand posture was a result of a medical condition that forced him to not anchor his hand any more. He is often mentioned on here as an example that you can do without anchoring the right hand and still play amazingly well.
.... or an example that he could play amazingly well without anchoring?? 
Edited by - Owen on 05/20/2025 07:58:03
A sad loss of a greatly talented player. He also has studio recordings on his page that are quite remarkable.
I liked his stuff with the Huckleberries. I think this whole show is on YouTube, one song at a time.
youtu.be/YgLrwh4T-WM?si=52JFUhwWa93YtCUW
Dave Hum was indeed a contributing member here. Hangout handle: Hum.
Here's the blog page from his profile, where his family (still managing his account) posted a remembrance not quite two years ago.
I first learned of Dave Hum right here on the Hangout, from his sharing his YouTube videos and his occasional comments in the forums.
He also shared 10 tabs.
The portion of the banjo world represented by the members of Banjo Hangout certainly knew, respected and admired Dave Hum's tremendous talent and humanity. How widely know he was in the UK beyond his busking I can't say. His YouTube channel had 15,500 subscribers. Pretty impressive for a street musician.
I got to know Dave pretty well from swapping tunes with him on the old Hangout Chatroom. We shared an interest in busking, which I had just started doing again after I retired in 2010, and we both loved old time three finger. For me, he and Jim Reed were the two most talented three finger pickers who ever lived.
I was just listening to one of his videos earlier this morning, playing Grandfather's Clock. It's on my working in the kitchen YouTube rotation!
