Album Notes

When most people think of the banjo, they think of that unmistakeable rapid fire succession of bright, hard driving notes generally heard in bluegrass. Few people think of, or have even heard of, “clawhammer”, the intoxicatingly beautiful old-time Appalachian technique for playing the open-back banjo that has roots extending back to Africa.

Two years ago I was surprised to discover in myself a serious desire to play clawhammer banjo. After nearly a year of diligent practice, I was befriended by master banjo builder Patrick “Doc” Huff who built me two extraordinarily beautiful and innovative instruments. Within days of receiving the first of these remarkable banjos, I wrote my opening composition, Sandy’s Joy.

There is something magical in the tonal qualities of Pat’s banjos and the more I explored them, the more my compositions revealed themselves. Michelangelo promised that “every block of stone has a statue inside it and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it.” Devoting myself to this idea, I traded the mission of making traditional old-time music for the discipline of discovering the individual, inherited compositions hidden in these banjos.

This album showcases the eleven compositions I discovered and the instruments that inspired them. Both have brought me profound joy and my sincere hope is that they might do the same for you.

Darren M. Jahn, 2011
http://darrenjahn.com