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 ...

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 ...

With a hunk of wood between their legs and a nationally acclaimed banjoist leading the way, a small group of eager students strummed the chords and sang the familiar folk lyrics on a recent January ...

Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/5293105/5293208" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Forty ...

Nathan Bowles' (center) new album, Plainly Mistaken, comes out Oct. 5. Nathan Bowles' clawhammer banjo music has always lived in three planes of existence: Rooted in the past, with a foothold in the ...

At Denver's Swallow Hill Banjo Fest on Saturday, the toe-tappin' rhythm, quick-pickin' chords and an unmistakable twang ...

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 ...

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 ...

Steve Martin knows banjo playing and works hard to keep the tradition alive, establishing an annual award given to players who excel on the instrument. This year, the Steve Martin Banjo Prize ...

Forty years ago, a young man named Charles Faurot traveled from New York City to southwestern Virginia looking for older traditional banjo players to record for a tiny country-music record label. He ...

Nathan Bowles' clawhammer banjo music has always lived in three planes of existence: Rooted in the past, with a foothold in the present and an eye on the future. But as much as we think about folk ...