Banjo love

... and a banjo joke or two

Two of several banjos in our home

The banjo is having a moment thanks to the spectacular Rhiannon Giddens and her accompaniment on Beyonce’s latest, “Texas Hold ’Em.” When I hear the opening few bars of the song, with Giddens’ minstrel banjo establishing the beat and the mood, it makes me want to line dance. I don’t even know how to line dance.

Her playing on this particular cut is not the twangy bluegrass style you might associate with banjo music. (Admit it, you’ve got the movie Deliverance and “Dueling Banjos” in your head right now.) Giddens plays a style of banjo known as old-timey clawhammer or frailing. It has has a warmer, less metallic tone.

To be honest, the banjo has had a four-decade moment in our house. It’s been a part of my life since my husband and I met cute in the early ’80s.

“A gentleman is a man who can play the banjo, but doesn’t.” — Mark Twain

MY INTEREST IN BANJO started around fifth grade with a Peanuts comic strip — Linus says something about issuing babies a banjo as soon as they’re born so that they’ll be happy. Around that time, I was listening to my parents’ folk music LPs on the Magnavox stereo in the living room. I liked the sound of the banjo. It sounded fun. Happy. Just like Linus said.

Opportunity came around in July 1982 when two coworkers, Dirk and Chip, mentioned they were going to take banjo lessons from a local folk musician, Ed Sweeney. I asked if I could join in, and we three were a go.

One hitch: I didn’t have a banjo. Ed sent me to a local music store whose owner sold me a banjo kit, and Ed drove over to my house to help me build it.

“Why aren’t you married?” he asked as he helped me put the pieces together. (It may be appropriate here to insert what Mark Twain said about banjo players: “A gentleman is a man who can play the banjo, but doesn’t.”)

“Because no one ever asked,” I answered.

Maybe he was nosy because he was trying to find out whether I was dating Dirk or Chip. The truth was that I was coming out of a long-term relationship that had become inert.

By the end of August, Dirk and Chip had dropped out of our weekly lessons. By the middle of September, Ed and I went out on a first date. By early October, we were engaged.

I told my boss I was getting married and showed him my engagement ring — a little pear-shaped opal. “A banjo player, huh?” he growled. “They don’t make much money, do they.” It was a statement, not a question.

“I’m going to keep him in a style to which he’d like to become accustomed,” I said.

(Bad joke: What do you call a banjo player without a girlfriend? Homeless.)

I haven’t played the banjo since 1984 but I’m still a fan. I’m eager to hear Giddens’ work on the rest of Beyonce’s new album, Cowboy Carter.

I leave you with what Ed says is one of his favorite banjo jokes:

A man went into a restaurant to get something to eat. As he sat at his table, he realized he had left his banjo out in the open in the back seat of his car. Panicking, he immediately got up and went running out to his parked car but it was too late. The back window had been smashed and six more banjos had been put in.

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IF YOU ARE BANJO CURIOUS, I encourage you to read Janay Kingsberry’s excellent profile of Giddens in the Washington Post (it may be behind a paywall; if I can find a gift link, I’ll update), and perhaps listen to her play “Cripple Creek,” one of the first songs I learned how to play on banjo.

Other fine old-timey banjo artists to explore:

• Ed Sweeney (I’m shameless) - check out his website

• Cathy Fink - two thumbs up for Banjo Haiku

• Steve Martin (yes, that Steve Martin) - I especially love his clawhammer-style playing on “The Great Remember”

• Sarah Jarosz - Sweet version of “Little Satchel”