The Story of the Banjo, A Comeback For The Ages
Music is changing at a breakneck speed in today�s modern culture. Spurred by new technology and increased access via the internet, new genres are popping up nearly every day. EDM has influenced the popular music sphere, rap has gone mainstream, and thumping bass seems to be creeping its way into all sorts of music. If someone just a few decades ago flipped through today�s radio channels, they would be utterly confused by the futuristic qualities of the music. However, if a denizen of perhaps the 1940�s or 50�s flipped to a modern alternative channel, they would recognize something very familiar: the loud twang of a banjo. To understand the banjo, we must first look at its history. It started as an African folk instrument fashioned out of a hollow gourd and sticks. Slaves brought the instrument over to the America�s where it slowly evolved. These slaves taught their masters to play the banjo and soon the instrument caught on in the popular culture of the South. In the mid-...