Hand the banjo man a stringed instrument, and he'll pick you a tune fine enough to make Bill Monroe, the so-called father of bluegrass, perk up his ears. Hand him a cigar box, a car tag and a guitar ...

The loss in Aug. 2007 of the famed transplanted NH resident, Irish singer/songwriter and national folk hero of the Emerald Isle at 74, Tommy Makem, alerted me recently to a news photo of Tommy with ...

Unless the room is ultra-hip -- meaning, its occupants know something about Don Vappie or Bela Fleck -- banjo gets a bad rap. The new PBS documentary titled "Give Me the Banjo," narrated by Steve ...

The banjo gets a bum rap. A staple of American country music, its bright tone and rhythmic clangor threaten to overwhelm musical gatherings of other, milder string-band instruments, such as guitar, ...

First among peers in the generation that followed Pete Seeger, Earl Scruggs and Don Reno, Bill Keith revolutionised banjo playing, as a performer, propagandist and technician-inventor. As a stylist, ...