Happy National Banjo Day! On April 8, it's time to grab a pick and start strummin' on the ol' banjo! Generally, people either love or hate banjo music.
Each year since 1998 has afforded the American Banjo Museum the opportunity to honor the best of the best in the banjo world with induction into the American Banjo Museum Hall of Fame.
Originally established as The National Four-String Banjo Hall of Fame, early honorees were jazz age four-string banjo pioneers as well as the contemporary artists, educators, manufacturers and promoters who carried on the traditions of their predecessors. In its infancy, the museum itself was an extension of the Hall of Fame.
In the years preceding 2014, more than seventy individuals and entities in the four-string banjo world whose career accomplishments might have otherwise gone unrecognized were recognized by the Hall of Fame.
As time passed and the museum grew to embrace all types of banjos and playing styles, it became clear that the Hall of Fame must evolve as well.
As such, in 2013, the ABM Board of Directors voted to establish an annual performance category to honor all styles of five-string banjo playing as well as opening the other previously four-string banjo exclusive non-performance categories to all types of banjos. With this move the American Banjo Museum Hall of Fame was established.
American blogger Walter Thinnes' roommate played the banjo exceptionally well and thrilled to memories of meeting and strumming with his hero, American singer and musician Roy Clark.
There are other celebrity players of this four-stringed bluegrass instrument, such as American banjo player Béla Fleck and American actor, comedian, writer, and musician Steve Martin.
On January 11, 2019, Google celebrated American musician Earl Scruggs with a Doodle.
Born on January 6, 1924, he was noted for popularizing a three-finger banjo picking style, now called "Scruggs style," which is a defining characteristic of bluegrass music.
It was his three-finger style of playing was radically different from the traditional way the five-string banjo had previously been played.
On January 11, 2019, Google celebrated American musician Earl Scruggs with a Doodle.
Born on January 6, 1924, he was noted for popularizing a three-finger banjo picking style, now called "Scruggs style," which is a defining characteristic of bluegrass music.
It was his three-finger style of playing was radically different from the traditional way the five-string banjo had previously been played.
The most recent detection of references to National Banjo Day was three years ago.
If you ever hear banjo music in the woods, paddle faster...
#NationalBanjoDay
@GoogleDoodles
@American.Banjo.Museum
@SteveMartinToGo
@walterthinnes
@walterthinnes
@nichecinema
