Jonas Friddle grew up listening to classic rock, Creedence Clearwater Revival, for example. He also heard a lot of folk musicians, including John Prine and Doc Watson, while growing up in the North ...

For Ingham, clawhammer banjo grows in interest in what he calls the post-traditional age and making music together to enjoy rather than as a professional. “Clawhammer is a pretty easy style to learn ...

Beyonce’s hit “Texas Hold ’Em” opens with a beat seldom heard on hip-hop tracks: the unmistakable clip-clop of a four-stringed clawhammer banjo. It comes via folk icon Rhiannon Giddens, who was ...

There’s not much middle ground when it comes to clawhammer banjo, according to Adam Hurt. Pickers tend to have strong rhythm or melodies, but not both. “It seems to me that a lot of clawhammer banjo ...

Washington is closely associated with bluegrass and “old-time” music, as veteran listeners to WAMU or patrons of the Birchmere will tell you. But the city’s latest banjo export isn’t a reissue of, say ...

Bob Carlin first played a banjo at age 15. Having already learned his way around other string instruments, it seemed like a natural fit. Nearly five decades later, he’s still picking and wants to ...

It’s not often you hear banjos playing duets. The distinctive instrument is usually fronting a folk or bluegrass band. But when it comes to the music that Abigail Washburn and Béla Fleck perform ...