Instruments

Banjo

Often thought of as the quintessential musical emblem of the Appalachian mountains, the banjo actually provides a tangible reminder of American popular music's African origins. A plucked stringed instrument with a long neck and a round sound chamber covered with animal skin or plastic, the banjo may have evolved from any one of several similar African instruments. (The word itself may be an Africanization of the Portuguese bandore, or bandora, an early lute.) Its first popular heyday was in the blackface minstrel show of the nineteenth century, where, as part of the genre's racist caricatures, it was used to represent a characteristic timbre of slave music. From all available evidence, it appears that the instrument was in fact in common use among slaves. One of the most famous minstrel-show banjoists, Joel Walker Sweeney, may have been responsible for adding the short fifth string that appears on modern instruments; other noted banjoists of the day included Daniel Emmett, the composer of "Dixie." Because of the influence of the minstrel show and of the numerous amateur banjo clubs that flourished early in the twentieth century, the banjo became entrenched in southern mountain culture. Over the last half century it has been central to bluegrass music, that culture's vital artistic statement.

Artist Highlights

Artist Active Styles
Earl Scruggs 1940s - 2010s Bluegrass, Traditional Bluegrass, Traditional Folk
Béla Fleck 1970s - 2020s Bluegrass, Contemporary Bluegrass, Fusion, New Acoustic, Progressive Bluegrass, Post-Bop, Folk Jazz, Keyboard
Eric Weissberg 1950s - 2020s Bluegrass, Progressive Bluegrass, Traditional Bluegrass
Tony Trischka 1970s - 2020s Bluegrass, Contemporary Bluegrass, Progressive Bluegrass, Show/Musical, Traditional Bluegrass
Uncle Dave Macon 1890s - 1950s Field Recordings, Old-Timey, Traditional Country, Appalachian, North American Traditions, String Bands
Doug Dillard 1950s - 2010s Bluegrass, Country-Rock, Progressive Bluegrass, Traditional Bluegrass
Dock Boggs 1920s - 1970s Appalachian, Country Blues, North American Traditions, Old-Timey, Traditional Folk, Folk Revival
Roscoe Holcomb 1950s - 1970s Old-Timey, Field Recordings, Appalachian, North American Traditions, Traditional Folk
Danny Barnes 1990s - 2020s Alt-Country, Bluegrass, Progressive Bluegrass, Traditional Bluegrass, Alternative/Indie Rock, Country Blues, Indie Rock, Contemporary Bluegrass, New Acoustic
Bud Scott Early Jazz, New Orleans Jazz, Jazz Instrument, Trumpet Jazz
Fred Guy Early Jazz, Swing
Lonnie Donegan 1940s - 2000s British Folk, Skiffle, Rockabilly
John McEuen 1960s - 2020s Bluegrass, Progressive Bluegrass, Progressive Country, Country-Rock
Tommy Makem 1950s - 2000s Irish Folk, Traditional Celtic, Celtic, Folk Revival, Sea Shanties
John Hartford 1950s - 2000s Neo-Traditional Folk, Progressive Country, Country-Folk, Country-Rock, Gospel, Country-Pop, Bluegrass, Progressive Bluegrass, Old-Timey, Traditional Country
Pete Wernick 1970s - 1990s Bluegrass, Progressive Bluegrass, Instrumental Country
Ralph Stanley 1940s - 2010s Bluegrass, Traditional Bluegrass, Bluegrass-Gospel, Contemporary Bluegrass, Gospel, Truck Driving Country, Appalachian, North American Traditions
Herb Pedersen 1960s - 2020s Bluegrass, Progressive Bluegrass, Traditional Bluegrass, Country-Rock
Happy Traum 1950s - 2020s Folk-Blues, Political Folk, Folk-Pop, Singer/Songwriter, Acoustic Blues
Bill Keith 1950s - 1990s Bluegrass, Progressive Bluegrass, Instrumental Country