Browsing Tag

1960

Bio

Learning banjo by listening to radio

May 8, 2011

Banjo NewsWhen the BRC founder purchased his first banjo in 1960, there were no Bluegrass radio shows in his hometown near Albany, New York. To hear and learn banjo picking, he set his alarm clock for 2 AM to wake-up and listen to  WWVA radio broadcasting over the nightly airwaves from Wheeling, West Virginia. Learning and re-learning to pick  the banjo at any age is an unending  lifelong journey. Playing music by ear is a talent that sounds very romantic, but it is also a disadvantage.  Being a musician, like the BRC founder, who cannot read sheet music or tablature, is like being a poet who cannot write. The BRC founder’s day job is orthopedic hand surgery-which fortunately is not unlike rebuilding vintage banjos. Lucky him.

Banjos and hand surgery have a connection in this Banjo NewsLetter. Click here to read more BNL.