The 2021 Banjo Gathering happened!
Since 1998, the Banjo Gathering has been the platform for banjo collectors, researchers, instrument builders, and musicians to share new scholarship and findings about the banjo as a historical, cultural, and built object.
We gathered for three days of presentations, exhibitions, and a banjo marketplace for studying, buying, selling, and trading historical and vintage banjos, parts, and related items, as well as banjos from some of today’s finest instrument makers.
Take our survey! Whether you attended the Gathering or not, we want to hear from you!
We gathered for three days of presentations, exhibitions, and a banjo marketplace for studying, buying, selling, and trading historical and vintage banjos, parts, and related items, as well as banjos from some of today’s finest instrument makers.
Take our survey! Whether you attended the Gathering or not, we want to hear from you!
Presentations & Panels
Thursday, November 4th
2:00 - 5:00 pm: Arrival and set up at the Woodlands.
6:30 - 7:30 pm: Welcome from the Banjo Gathering Planning Committee and a remembrance of Ed Britt and Mike Ramsey*
7:45-8:30 pm: The Bluegrass Banjo with Tony Trischka*
9:00: Social**
6:30 - 7:30 pm: Welcome from the Banjo Gathering Planning Committee and a remembrance of Ed Britt and Mike Ramsey*
7:45-8:30 pm: The Bluegrass Banjo with Tony Trischka*
9:00: Social**
Friday, November 5th
9:00-9:45 am: The Early Banjo and John Rose's South Carolina Watercolor: a panel discussion led by Kristina Gaddy*
10:00am-2:00pm: Visit to the Abby Aldrich Folklife Museum (home of John Rose's watercolor), museum time and lunch.
2:00pm-2:45pm: The Return of Ragtime Banjo with Aaron Jonah Lewis*
3:00-3:45 pm: Questions That African American Guitar-Style Five-String Banjo Playing Pose About Black & Banjo History with Tony Thomas*
4:00-4:45pm: Stu Jamieson’s Lost Last Legacy with Chuck Levy*
7:00-8:30 pm: Banjo Gathering Concert
9:00pm: Social**
10:00am-2:00pm: Visit to the Abby Aldrich Folklife Museum (home of John Rose's watercolor), museum time and lunch.
2:00pm-2:45pm: The Return of Ragtime Banjo with Aaron Jonah Lewis*
3:00-3:45 pm: Questions That African American Guitar-Style Five-String Banjo Playing Pose About Black & Banjo History with Tony Thomas*
4:00-4:45pm: Stu Jamieson’s Lost Last Legacy with Chuck Levy*
7:00-8:30 pm: Banjo Gathering Concert
9:00pm: Social**
Saturday, November 6th
9:00-9:45 am: Banjo Rappers: Comparing & Contrasting Styles of Some Well-Known Pre-“Revival” 20th-Century Downpickers with Ken Perlman*
10:00-10:45 am: Panel Discussion: Finding Vintage Banjos in the Digital Age with Kristina Gaddy, Seth Swingle, and John Cohen*
11:00-11:45 am: Ballads, Banjos, and Beech Mountain, North Carolina with Cece Conway*
2:00-2:45 pm: Banjo Collectors Panel with Hank Schwartz, Peter Szego, & Jim Bollman*
3:00-3:45 pm: From Gold Veins to Black Death to "Crossroads Blues": How Modern Banjos and Guitars Got Wire Strings with Michael Wright*
4:00-4:45pm: The Banjo in Indiana 1840-1890 with Robert Green*
7:00-7:45 pm: Banjew: The Secret History of the Banjo in Yiddish Music with Henry Sapoznik*
8:00-8:45 pm: (Not Quite) The Same Old Shillelagh: The Banjo In Irish Traditional Music on Record, 1921-1933 with Christian Stanfield*
9:00pm: Social**
10:00-10:45 am: Panel Discussion: Finding Vintage Banjos in the Digital Age with Kristina Gaddy, Seth Swingle, and John Cohen*
11:00-11:45 am: Ballads, Banjos, and Beech Mountain, North Carolina with Cece Conway*
2:00-2:45 pm: Banjo Collectors Panel with Hank Schwartz, Peter Szego, & Jim Bollman*
3:00-3:45 pm: From Gold Veins to Black Death to "Crossroads Blues": How Modern Banjos and Guitars Got Wire Strings with Michael Wright*
4:00-4:45pm: The Banjo in Indiana 1840-1890 with Robert Green*
7:00-7:45 pm: Banjew: The Secret History of the Banjo in Yiddish Music with Henry Sapoznik*
8:00-8:45 pm: (Not Quite) The Same Old Shillelagh: The Banjo In Irish Traditional Music on Record, 1921-1933 with Christian Stanfield*
9:00pm: Social**
Sunday, November 7th
9:00-12:00pm: Clean up and say our goodbyes.
*Programming that will be available virtually.
**Throughout the day and evening, there will be time between presentations for conversation and jamming, as well as viewing, trading, or purchasing banjos, other instruments, and banjo-related ephemera.
9:00-12:00pm: Clean up and say our goodbyes.
*Programming that will be available virtually.
**Throughout the day and evening, there will be time between presentations for conversation and jamming, as well as viewing, trading, or purchasing banjos, other instruments, and banjo-related ephemera.
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