Audio | Music | Photos
I started playing
the banjo in 1973. I was 13 years old. At the time, the banjo was pretty popular owing to
several T.V. shows and movies, all of which featured three-finger, bluegrass-style banjo
playing. It's kind of funny to think that I was influenced by the popular media to want to
play the banjo! I was lucky to know an accomplished 5-string banjo player who was a friend
of our family. My father was the head of veterinary medicine at the San Diego Zoo, and the
head zookeeper was an enthusiastic country, folk and bluegrass musician from Texas. His
son was an amazing banjo player. He was my first banjo teacher. Without a real, live
musician to hang out with and learn from, my adoration of the banjo would never have been
able to blossom into a full-fledged obsession.Beginning in high school, whenever I had to write a research paper for an English class or a theatre history class, I would write about the history of the banjo. Believe it or not, I even attended South Plains College in Levelland, Texas where I received a degree in Bluegrass Music Studies! So, over the years I have become as much an authority on banjo history as I am a banjo player. My interest in banjo music now stretches beyond the bluegrass style to include the minstrel stroke style, old-timey style, and classic banjo style.
I currently play with Wayne Potash and the Music Fun Band, a children's band that plays in the greater Boston area.