ABSTRACT Title of Document: NINETEENTH-CENTURY BANJOS IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY: CUSTOM AND TRADITION IN A MODERN EARLY BANJO REVIVAL Greg C. Adams, M.A., 2012 Directed By: Professor J. Lawrence Witzleben, School of Music This thesis demonstrates how members of a modern music revival use the banjo to create a counter narrative to America’s whiteness. Within this revival, nineteenth- century banjos are central to a growing interest in antebellum, early minstrel, and Civil War era music and culture. As researchers, collectors, musicians, and instrument builders pursue this interest, they explore the dissonances of the legacies surrounding slavery, blackface minstrelsy, and the traumas of the American Civil War. Framing this phenomenon within Eric Hobsbawm’s theories of custom and tradition and Thomas Turino’s concepts of habits, socialization, and cultural cohort relationships, I argue that this modern revival supports a form of critical ethnography aimed for advocacy on three fronts—advocacy that challenges marginalizing stereotypes, promotes opportunities to rethink the banjo’s cultural significance as a national instrument of whiteness, and creates greater infrastructure for the knowledge and material culture amassed by members of the banjo community. NINETEENTH-CENTURY BANJOS IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY: CUSTOM AND TRADITION IN A MODERN EARLY BANJO REVIVAL By Greg C. Adams Thesis submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Maryland, College Park, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts 2012 Advisory Committee: Professor J. Lawrence Witzleben, Chair Assistant Professor Fernando Rios Assistant Professor Patrick Warfield © Copyright by Greg C. Adams 2012 Dedication To my wife, mother, family, and friends— some of the world’s most supportive enablers To those members of the banjo community who tirelessly seek to illuminate the banjo’s cultural relevance ii Acknowledgements I would like to thank my committee—Dr. J. Lawrence Witzleben, Dr. Fernando Rios, and Dr. Patrick Warfield—whose excellent guidance and feedback have been invaluable in my graduate work and to this thesis. I owe my deepest gratitude to my wife, Maggie, for always being supportive of my pursuit of banjo- related research, and to my mother who raised me in an environment that nurtured my passion for music, education, and opportunity. I am deeply indebted to all who agreed to participate in this study. This work would not have been possible without their willingness to collaborate with me. I offer special thanks to Bob Winans, George Wunderlich, Shlomo Pestcoe, and Barbara Taylor for their friendship, ongoing support, and encouragement. I also wish to acknowledge Jim Bollman, Peter Szego, and everyone else involved with the 5-String Banjo Collectors Gatherings for the important work they do in bringing to light so many critical aspects of banjo history that would otherwise be missed. Thank you. iii Table of Contents Dedication.................................................................................................................ii Table of Contents.....................................................................................................iv List of Tables ...........................................................................................................vi List of Figures.........................................................................................................vii Chapter 1: Introduction.............................................................................................. 1 Coming to the Early Banjo .................................................................................... 2 Long-Term Involvement with Advantages and Potential Disadvantages ................ 4 Methodology: Critical Ethnography....................................................................... 7 Research Design.................................................................................................... 9 Research Questions ......................................................................................... 10 Data Collection Methods ................................................................................. 10 Ethical Considerations..................................................................................... 12 Description of Research Population................................................................. 13 Timeframe of Field Research........................................................................... 13 Terminology........................................................................................................ 14 Early Banjo ..................................................................................................... 14 Early Banjo Activities...................................................................................... 14 Literature Review................................................................................................ 15 The “Early” Banjo and Early Banjo Players..................................................... 15 Blackface Minstrelsy ....................................................................................... 18 Music Revivals................................................................................................ 21 Civil War Reenacting ...................................................................................... 26 Customs and Traditions; Habits, Socialization, and Cultural Cohorts................... 30 Significance and Goals........................................................................................ 36 Chapter Summary................................................................................................ 38 Chapter 2: Traditions and Customs of a Modern Early Banjo Revival ..................... 40 A Genesis of the Twenty-First Century Early Banjo Tradition............................. 40 Customs: Exploring the Actions of What People “Do” Online and In-Person....... 41 Online Social Networks................................................................................... 42 Online Access to Primary and Secondary Source Material............................... 43 In-Person Events.............................................................................................. 50 Tradition: Music, Modern Analysis, and Material Culture as “Paraphernalia”...... 52 Early Banjo Music and Techniques.................................................................. 53 Modern Arrangements..................................................................................... 57 Early Banjo Material Culture........................................................................... 60 Chapter Summary................................................................................................ 63 Chapter 3: Case Studies of Habits, Socialization, and a Cultural Cohort Network.... 64 Profile of the Interviewees................................................................................... 64 Habits and Socialization of Early Banjo Researchers, Collectors, Musicians, and Builders............................................................................................................... 68 Conducting Research....................................................................................... 69 Collecting Instruments and Ephemera.............................................................. 74 iv Musicians and Early Banjo Music.................................................................... 76 Instrument Builders ......................................................................................... 84 Delineating Deeper Issues in an Early Banjo Cultural Cohort Network................ 88 Chapter Summary.............................................................................................. 101 Chapter 4: Analysis and Conclusion...................................................................... 103 Critical Ethnography ......................................................................................... 103 Traditions and Customs; Habits, Socialization, and Cultural Cohorts................. 104 (Re)Connecting the Banjo to Issues of Race, Revival, Memory, Trauma, and Nationalism....................................................................................................... 106 Conclusion: Inclusively Constructing a Counter Narrative to America’s Whiteness .......................................................................................................................... 115 Appendix .............................................................................................................. 121 References Cited ................................................................................................... 123 v List of Tables 1. Interviewees, banjo interests (by decade), and year of first meeting 65 interviewee 2. Interviewees’ interest in the banjo and early banjo 68 vi List of Figures 1. Framework applying Hobsbawm’s “Customs” and “Traditions” concept to 32 the banjo community 2. Theoretical Model as Applied to People Interested in the Early Banjo 35 3. Hobsbawm and Turino Combined 36 4. Comparison between early and modern banjo tuning 55 5. Banjo Arrangements 56 6. Tablature versions of period banjo arrangements 58 7. Original and reproduction Boucher and Ashborn banjos 61 8. Example of historical image that holds value within the modern early banjo 62 tradition 9. Example of historical textual reference to the banjo