About Us

 My Life with the 5-String Banjo

The banjo and I have a long history: more than 60 years.  I first heard one being played on records by ‘The Kingston Trio’ in the 1950’s.  I was about 8 years old.  Within a few years, I discovered the music of Pete Seeger and then, about 1960, his half-brother Mike Seeger and the ‘New Lost City Ramblers.’ They played very authentic versions of early 20th century rural American string band music.
By 1963, my sister gave me a copy of Pete Seeger’s ‘How to Play the 5-String Banjo’.  Now I Really wanted to play the banjo but I didn’t have one. 

So, using the cover drawing on Pete’s book, I built one.  It cost me $10.  As you can guess, it was a bit crude. For this reason and that there were no banjo players or teachers where I lived (Fairfield, CA), it took me a long time to learn.  With records (many re-recorded 78’s) and Pete’s book, I eventually learned a version of a few tunes.  One of my first was ‘Cripple Creek’.  I was trying both claw hammer and 3-finger styles.

After high school I attended U.C. Davis.  There I met some talented musicians who happened to be just discovering this Old Time music that I was trying to play.  They put up with my beginner skills and by playing with them (initially in the next room) I started to develop the style that I still use today.  I learned to listen to the fiddle part and make up a banjo part to compliment this. I used some tablature to learn some phrases but most importantly I learned to play by ear.

I moved with my wife, Janet, and young family to Sonora in 1978.  I worked as a Family doctor there until 1999.  During this time, I continued to play banjo on my own as there weren’t any other Old Time musicians here.  In the late 1990’s, a couple of dance callers moved here and we started a monthly contra/barn dance.  We’ve been doing this for more than 20 years with a walk-on band.  This has given me a chance to learn from a variety of fiddlers. I love playing this music for dance; emphasizing rhythm but also adding to the fiddle melody as well.

While playing for these dances, I started to think of ways to re-design the banjo sound chamber.  It is basically a cylinder; not the best acoustic shape.  I added a variety to air spaces within or attached to the rim to add more variety of sympathetic tones.  These are made of tone woods to achieve a timbre closer to some of the early 19th century banjos built by African Americans.  All banjos originated from African instruments brought to America by these enslaved people.

Currently, I build 3 models: ‘Wood-o-Phone’, ‘Chromatic’ and ‘Cello’ (octave) banjos for sale.

I have written more details about their development and construction elsewhere. My story isn’t done; I’ll continue to develop new designs for as long as I’m able to.