About Me
Born in 1955, I started to get interested in 5 string open back banjos when I was 18. That was the "Folk" period in France. I was very impressed by the New Lost City Ramblers, Pete Seeger and any thing that sounded like that.In France too, some musicians where deeply involved in Banjo and Old Time music:
-Steve Waring, a very good banjo player who made a famous record here: "Special Instrumental Banjo" with tablatures. One of the tunes had Steve Potts on saxo and it was turning into jazz improvisation which was very unusual and courageous by this time among Folk musicians...
-Dominique Mayoud: We were student in the same class. He was the first who showed me how to play. He played real Old-Time music with his twin brother fiddler, Jacques.
-Youra Marcus, Michel Hindenoch, Derroll Adams and some other musicians we could see at the Folk Club "La Chanterelle" in Lyon, where I live, used banjo in their music and were of a great influence on many of us.By this time I made my first banjo in the workshop of my father from a saucepan opened at the back...
Then, work, other musics and other interests took me far away from banjos. but it remained somewhere in my head.
I came back to it in 1993 when I decided to make a pretty and nice sounding banjo with many pearl inlays . It never stopped since...I am mostly interested in Open back, minstrel and gourd banjos. Everything about Banjos from the begining to about 1910.
It is only a hobby, fortunately I don't have to live on it. So I can make banjos just for the pleasure. Not many, no hurry! only two or three a year. To try new sounds, new tonerings, different rims and new decorations. Banjo after banjo, other's or mine, my tastes slowly get more and more precise on what I like and what I don't.
About decoration I like to make something different each time, sometimes around a theme that fits the whole banjo. It can be in different styles: classical or more modern, very elaborate or more simple, according to the situation. It depends of so many things... But it always had to be thrilling for me in one sense or another.I also have a site where you can see the banjos I made and the vintage ones I have:
http://revelbanjos.com
This site is also to meet people, to talk, play or whatever...
