Lawrence, Kans. — Today we announce the launch of Banjo Cafe. Site content and creation began January 6, 2015. The site went live behind password protection January 1, 2016 operating as it would be if visible to the public. This allowed us to hit the ground running on April 1, 2016 with a full featured site that was already operational.
Banjo Cafe hopes to be a modest part of the future of this amazing instrument, which for well over 200 years has already enjoyed such a rich and vibrant history. And we have every reason to believe that the future of the banjo is bright. Indeed, we are now living in the midst of a banjo renaissance, and theres plenty of evidence to back this claim up.
Banjo builders have proliferated to such an extent that you need a world map to chart them all. (We have one of those maps, by the way.) Banjo workshops, where players from beginner to advanced can receive instruction from some of the best banjo players in the world, have also sprung up across North America and Europe. (We have a map for each of those too.)
In recent years, the banjo has even extended its appeal beyond familiar musical genres such as Bluegrass, Folk, Celtic, and Jazz. Today, the banjo is making forays into modern pop and rock.
Heck, the banjo even has it's own museum, the American Banjo Museum in Oklahoma City, that is attended by increasing numbers of the banjo-converted or just banjo-curious every year.
Banjo Cafe will attempt to honor the banjo's past and foster its future by hosting content and discussion that relates to all banjos — regardless of the number of strings on that banjo, or the type of music that's being played on it. We hope you find our site useful, entertaining, or, at the very least, a welcome distraction from whatever might be weighing you down at the moment.
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