![]() ![]() It was the guitar before there was a guitar in our, you know, in our continent. ![]() They don't really understand that it comes from Africa and that it was brought over by the slaves, that it played a role in the early days of jazz, that there were banjo orchestras in the late 1800s. You know, they don't know the true history of the instrument. ![]() And like - I think some of them, like you're suggesting, some of them, it's because of all of the, you know, the "Deliverance" movie or "Hee Haw." They think it's stupid. You like it, you know? And then there are people who are just - they just hate its guts. Whether they learn to play it or not, it switches on something that - you know, dopamine or something. First of all, I think there are banjo people who just tend to like banjo or, when they hear it, it switches something on in them. Do you think it's the actual sound of the instrument or some sort of cultural stigma?įLECK: Well, I do agree with you. And you must have reflected upon that over the years and why that is. And he said that if Nixon had had a banjo, it would have saved him.īRIGER: But I know people who otherwise have great taste in music but for some reason just can't stand the banjo. The first time I sort of heard a banjo or at least realized that I was listening to a banjo was on one of Steve Martin's comedy albums where he says it's impossible to be sad while playing the banjo, and even sad songs sound happy. It's not the easiest thing to pull off.īRIGER: Yeah. I wanted to be accepted, I think, you know, by some of those people as a Yankee banjo player. And being a New Yorker - although I always felt like an outsider to bluegrass, like, to the real bluegrass which is kind of why I wanted to move to Kentucky and why I wanted to play with people like Tony Rice and Sam Bush and Jerry Douglas, people who came from there. I mean, the Beatles also had a big impact on me, too. ![]() I always think of him as, like, a high-tech primitive.īRIGER: So Earl Scruggs and "Beverly Hillbillies" is your The Beatles on "The Ed Sullivan Show."įLECK: It was. It's incredibly virtuosic all at the same time. Earl Scruggs was just such a force, and it was - it's earthy. It was just the sound of that dang banjo. I had nothing to do with bluegrass or country music, and really, I wasn't really interested in the rootsy, folksy side of it. And once you had heard him play, you were like a zombie looking for a banjo and trying to figure out how to play it.īut yeah, that was the thing. And they let us watch TV, and on comes "The Beverly Hillbillies." And there's the sound of Earl Scruggs' banjo, which has turned a lot of us into banjo players - just that sound, you know? He had that power over an unactivated banjo player to switch the switch on. The first banjo experience for me was "The Beverly Hillbillies." And I was somewhere around 5 years old, maybe younger, and I was at my grandparents' house in Queens. Thanks for having me.īRIGER: Do you remember the first time that you were struck by the sound of a banjo?įLECK: Yeah. Before we get to the conversation, let's hear the lead track from "My Bluegrass Heart." This is "Vertigo."īRIGER: That's "Vertigo" from Bela Fleck's new album "My Bluegrass Heart." Bela Fleck, welcome to FRESH AIR.īELA FLECK: Oh, it's so nice to be here. I spoke with Bela Fleck at the end of last month from his home studio, and he was gracious enough to bring along his banjo. It's called "My Bluegrass Heart," and it's dedicated to two of his musical heroes and collaborators that died in the last year, pianist Chick Corea and singer and guitarist Tony Rice.īela Fleck has recorded over 50 of his own albums over the years with all sorts of groups including his mainstay band Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, New Grass Revival and with his wife Abigail Washburn who's also an amazing banjo player. He has a new album of instrumentals, his first bluegrass album in 20 years. And whatever number, Bela Fleck is by far the most famous and celebrated banjo player on the planet. SAM BRIGER, BYLINE: It's not easy to find out just how many Grammy awards Bela Fleck has won. Our guest today is banjo player Bela Fleck. ![]()
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