Banjo

The banjo has a ridiculous reputation these days, bringing to mind for most people the Beverly Hillbillies.  The fact that the banjo is associated almost totally with bluegrass is probably because of Earl Scruggs, the first great virtuoso of the instrument.  But, in the last decade or so, the banjo = bluegrass association has faded.  A little.

It probably started with Dave Matthews' occasional associations with Bela Fleck.  Bela is one of the most amazing musicians I've ever seen - I once watched a video of him playing "Cripple Creek" with an Indian tabla drummer, and it ranged from old-timey folk, to bluegrass, to raga, to ...  His music has very little to do with twangy bluegrass, and he's shown that the instrument is capable of being a lead instrument in a rock or jazz context.

Then Iron and Wine came out.  Sam Beam's fingerpicked guitar and slide guitar playing were wonderful, but on his debut album, it was his use of the banjo for what would traditionally have been guitar solos that was the most revolutionary.  He eschewed bluegrass rolls, or clawhammer rhythm playing entirely, and played melodic lines on the banjo, using it to cut through the guitars, and showing it to be a perfect foil to the guitar.

Soon it became clear - Indie Rock was reclaiming the banjo.  It turns up in a Feist song, "1234," which itself became a minor radio hit, and reached a wider audience.  Sufjan Stevens uses it all the time, in a weird kind of dissonant clawhammer style.  Listen to, for example, "All the Trees..." from Seven Swans or his version of "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing"

I think the banjo might soon become not a bluegrass instrument, or a country instrument, but a "folky" instrument.  My favorite banjo music has always been the older mountain folk music - my all time favorite of theose songs is "Shady Grove."  "Shady Grove" shares a melody with the old English folk song "Matty Groves" (with vastly different lyrics) which was done definitively by Fairport Convention on Liege and Lief.  "Shady Grove" was most recently recored by Tom Petty's band Mudcrutch.

My hope for the next folk instrument to be appropriated by young indie rock kids: Appalachian dulcimer.