Banjos Out Back

Fretted Enoch Tradesman, 11" pot, medium weight steel strings. Open back. This banjo and the one below are primarily constructed of wood. They are both very simple banjos. When I bought this at Zepp Country Music in North Carolina, I switched out the standard bridge for a moon bridge. However, I've since switched to a standard bridge, though with a lower profile. This is the banjo that I play everyday, and take with me just about everywhere I go.

Flush Fret Enoch Tradesman, 12" pot, light weight steel strings. Open back. I bought this banjo used at Fiddler's Green in Austin Texas. At the time it had heavy weight steel strings on it, and had a sound that was both mysterious and wonderful, but kind of dull. I've tried a lot of different types of strings on this one: steel, synthetic gut and real gut. Recently I've found that light weight steel strings sound the best to my ears. This banjo is outfitted with the moon bridge that used to be on my smaller, fretted Tradesman. The sound of this banjo is incredible. The larger pot and lack of actual frets (in place of regular steel frets, this banjo only has fret markers on the neck) creates a thumpy, tolling resonance, the tone of which is evocative of the really old timey banjo sound. And of course, you can slide all over the neck of this thing because there are no frets to stop you.

I have three banjos in my life. The first banjo I ever played was a loaner from my friend Isak. I had no idea how to play it but was instantly enslaved by its sound. A few years later, I received my first banjo as a gift from my parents. They had recently traveled to Maggie Valley, Tennessee on a bike trip and purchased the banjo from a man named Jack who made banjos and dulcimers as well. This banjo is very special to me, and I'll post a photo and description of it soon. I recently lent it to a friend who is interested in learning how to play clawhammer banjo. When I started learning how to play, I focused on bluegrass music, starting with the song Pretty Polly. I was in love but something was missing, and it wasn't too long before I figured out that the banjo sound that really struck me in mysterious ways was what is called clawhammer banjo.
So I focused on clawhammer banjo and I'm still exploring it today.