Summary: <p>The Banjo is a very popular instrument, and it's popularity is currently growing rapidly. However, there's a convoluted and misconstrued history of this instrument. On today's episode of Jack Dappa Blues Podcast, I speak with <a href="https://classic-banjo.ning.com/profiles/profile/show?id=TonyThomasMFABlackBanjoist&">Tony Thomas</a>, African American Banjo Scholar, about the history, origins and commercial explosion of the Banjo.</p> <p>Along with Sule Greg Wilson and Cece Conway, Tony Thomas organized the <a href="https://indyweek.com/music/features/black-banjo-gathering-ii/">2005 Black Banjo Gathering </a>that launched the contemporary Black Banjo revival. </p> <p>In 2013, “<a href="https://read.dukeupress.edu/books/book/1623/chapter-abstract/177113/Why-African-Americans-Put-the-Banjo-Down?redirectedFrom=fulltext">Why African Americans Put the Banjo Down</a>,” Thomas’s contribution to Duke University Press’s <a href="https://www.dukeupress.edu/hidden-in-the-mix"><em>Hidden in the Mix: The African American Presence in Country Music</em> </a>became the first scholarly essay on the banjo by an African America to be published. In 2018 his chapter, "<a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5406/j.ctv80c9r6">Gus Cannon--'The Colored Champion Banjo Pugilist of the World' and the Big World of the Banjo,</a>" appeared in <em>Banjo Roots and Branches,</em> published by Duke University Press, the first scholarly anthology on the banjo. </p> <p>Tony Thomas’s “The Banjo and African American Musical Culture", published online in 2014 by <em>African American National Biography</em>, a joint project of the W. E. B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research at Harvard University and Oxford University Press. It follows Thomas’s earlier contributions to <em>African American National Biography</em> on African American fiddler Joe Thompson and on the legend of the 19th century banjo figure Picayune Butler. </p> <p>Thomas was one of the advisors to the Marc Fields PBS Film <em>Give Me the Banjo</em> in which he appears. He was also an adviser to and appears in Jim Carrier’s film <em>The Librarian and the Banjo</em>.</p> <p>Tony Thomas has presented many times at the Banjo Collectors Gathering, the central banjo history event, and at banjo camps, and at other old-time music, folk, and blues events the United States and Europe. He has also performed as a vocalist, banjoist, and guitarist as a solo artist for many years and with New York’s <a href="https://www.theebonyhillbillies.com/">Ebony Hillbillies</a>.</p> <p>Tony Thomas was born in New York City in 1947, lives in West Palm Beach, Florida, and holds a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing degree from Florida International University. </p> <p>Here are links to his writing and presentations - </p> <p><a href="http://www.oldtimeherald.org/archive/back_issues/volume-9/9-7/black-banjo.html"><strong>Why Black Banjo:</strong><br> <strong>The Black Banjo List Serve</strong> </a></p> <p><a href="https://networks.h-net.org/node/2606/discussions/93925/tony-thomas-presentation-banjo-collectors-gathering-2015-now"><strong>Tony Thomas presentation to the Banjo Collectors Gathering 2015</strong> </a></p> <p><a href="http://usslave.blogspot.com/2011/06/blog-post.html">US Slave: <strong>About the Banjo</strong></a></p> <p><br></p> <p><strong>Remember to Like, subscribe, share and DONATE!</strong></p> <p><a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/jackdappablues/"><strong>FACEBOOK GROUP PAGE</strong></a></p> <p><a href="https://www.facebook.com/jackdappabluesradio/"><strong>FACEBOOK LIKE PAGE</strong></a></p> <p><a href="https://www.facebook.com/jackdappabluesheritagepreservationfoundation/"><strong>JACK DAPPA BLUES HERITAGE PRESERVATION FOUNDATION PAGE</strong></a></p> <p><a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/306415603178631/"><strong>BLACK SPIRITUALS, SLAVE SECULARS & FIELD HOLLERS PAGE </strong></a></p> --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/africanamericanfolklorist/message
