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Clawhammer Banjo Circle
I've spent a lot of time in 2006 working on my clawhammer banjo technique and it's starting to pay off. When I get into something I tend to go a little overboard
. One night during dinner I was talking about going to a clawhammer banjo workshop with Dan Levenson (Clawhammer Dan). My daughter asked who Clawhammer Dan was in a very condescending tone and I told her that he was the Ohio State Clawhammer Champion and very well know in Clawhammer circles. My daughter started howling with laughter and saying, "How many people are in your (she used her fingers as quotation marks) clawhammer circle?" She started making jokes about the four people in the U.S. who are in the clawhammer circle. The wife joined in and the both had a nice laugh. Now I can't talk about the banjo around them or one of them will bring up the circle and the laughing resumes.
I needed to find a way to show my wife the the clawhammer banjo was a serious instrument and that the people that play them aren't wimps. I racked my brain and suddenly it came to me. Back in 1969 a spaghetti western was made starring Lee Van Cleef as the hero and William Berger as the villian known only as Banjo. Banjo was one bad-ass clawhammer player and I knew if my wife and daughter could see him in action there would be a serious change in attitude. Finally I (and other members of the clawhammer circle) would get some respect in this household.
I went to YouTube and found a clip from the movie and embedded it here. Watch the short clip from the movie and then respect the clawhammer circle.