Back in the day when "folk music" was enjoying
its brief romp across the American music scene, I
became fascinated with the sounds that performers
like Pete Seeger and Bob Gibson were able to get
out of the five string banjo. I became so intrigued
that I even invested ten dollars a month to rent
a low-end 'Harmony' banjo and spent hours,
days, months and however long it took to pour
through tablatures in those "How To" books!

As time went on (a lot of it did) I could almost get
close to what those pickers were doing, close but
no cigar; I kept plugging away at it though and even
invested a good piece of change in a fine Vega five
string 'Pete Seeger' model. Now, it's very true that
a good banjo picker can squeeze beautiful melodies
out of any old beat up Good Will reject machine, rusty
strings and all but for those "never-gonnabe's" and
"wannabe's" like me, the only hope we ever have
of grasping those elusive sounds is to get the best
instrument affordable. We need the extra boost to help
us bridge that gap between persistence and talent!

Well, that's how my love/hate affair with the five string
began and to some extent continues even to this day.
It's something like that old girl friend that you keep
breaking up with but always going back to (or just
thinking about going back to). I've "broken up"
with the banjo many, many times over the years
but it never sticks and I find myself, sooner
or later, always going back to 'her,' unlike
that old girlfiend who wasn't nearly
as troublesome or frustrating!

I haven't played the banjo in quite some time now but
it's still resting there, silent in its stand beside my bed,
almost daring me to pick it up to give it sound; eventualy,
I always do, fretting a C chord and starting off with the
simple "Skip To My Lou" or "Cripple Creek" or some
other easy tune but as soon as I get a bit cocky and try
to pick out the things I used to know like "Misserlu" or
"Andalucian Dance," the fingers of my left hand lose
memory, right in mid tune, and forget where they're
supposed to go. The banjo, like that old girlfriend is
not about to give up her secrets easily and surely not
to me! That's my cue and it's certainly a strong signal
to put her back to rest until some other day, weeks
or months ahead when once again I'll give in to that
silent challenge staring up at me from beside my bed!

With that as background, I offer up the following twelve
'Banjo Portraits' (with real audio accompaniment) to all
the folks who've ever strummed across those five strings and
found pleasure in the sounds that came out. I hope you
enjoy my lttle tribute to this music making machine!
Click onto my little friend, "Inakamono,"
and he'll take you there.

Regards, Zenegata