FloydFest 21 ~ Odyssey, July 21-25, 2021, Floyd, VA line-up

Sometimes those tiny print bands turn out to be some of the best!

There's undercard and then there's 7 accountants who play banjo on weekends!




This is the distinction I'm making

I think you're on to something, as an accountant, I'm going to pick up a banjo (the mandolin is too hard).

The accountants at Bear's Picnic blew. my. mind.

I think you need to take a closer look at my videos. The fifth string is a drone anyway - it's generally not fretted.

VinnieTheEel - I highly endorse the banjo. The open tuning makes most of the chords pretty easy, even if you never learn to finger-pick or frail. And did you know you can get started with mando with two-finger chords?

I firmly believe in the pre-mass media folk tradition: it's more important that you play and sing then that you do it well. Pick up anything and mess around with it. You'll get it eventually if you stick with it. Might take you twenty years, but even a brick wall can be seen through in time. And don't think you have to play anything the "right" way. I love to play punk and alternative on my banjo, and anyone who doesn't like it can go jump in a lake!

Mando is tuned like a fiddle, but really only has four strings. It's eight but strung in pairs like a 12-string guitar. Many electrics have four. Like Sam Bush's Fender, or whatever Kang plays. Some, like his, also have a full-size neck.

Also, there's alternate tunings. Four string banjos are actually tuned more like a soprano uke, but I tune it open like a five-string.

Yes, it's been a long and winding road...only to find out no one's home.

I really hope this happens