I grew up on a farm in rural southwest Virginia in the shadow of the Blue Ridge Mountains. My exposure to music as a child was limited to singing "Froggie Went a Courtin'" with my brother and father in the front yard on summer nights, and listening to the "Blue Danube" and beautiful waltzes that my Mother would play on our old phonograph. I learned some guitar as I grew older, and eventually played rhythm in a bluegrass band with the McCabe brothers of Forrest, Virginia in 1974-5. We were heavily influenced by bands such as the Seldom Scene and The County Gentlemen, as well as players such as John Hartford and the "Old and in the Way" band. I moved to Arkansas shortly thereafter and have not played professionally since, although I have played on a few front porches and kitchens, and learned a little mandolin along the way. A good friend in the music business (Roscoe's Music in Eureka Springs) gave me a Ramsey student banjo in the mid nineties, and I began learning "clawhammer" style of playing. Later I met Clarke Buehling, who lives in my hometown, and soon began taking lessons from him (and do still). I learned a lot from Clarke (stroke and 3-finger styles) and soon became interested in his gourd banjos. He eventually sold me a rough prototype that he made and I soon became obsessed with them. I developed a plan to put a booklet together featuring Clarke showing how to build a gourd banjo, and then decided to build one myself so that I would know what questions to ask during the interview. This banjo I gave to my son John-Paul. Soon I built another that I still have, and another that I sold to a fine gent in Iowa, and another for Cliff Drane, and now I'm ready to get back to my original plan! I did think that a website is in order to promote these banjos and the fine work being done today.

I have a wonderful family here in the Ozarks, and a very rewarding job in the Sam M. Walton College of Business at the U of A. I am fortunate to be able to put this site together. I am forever indebted to Cliff Drane for his imagination and creativity in making this site work.

First, David owes me nothing, since he gave me one of his exquisite banjos. I am honored to own it, and I feel lucky that I was able to jump on David's bandwagon and convince him to let me design and build this site!

So, about me: I'm a Creative Director for a major internet consulting firm, and a banjo freak. I live in Katy, Texas (suburb of Houston) with my wonderful wife and 8 year old daughter. I grew up in a little town called Brenham which is known for being the home of Blue Bell Ice Cream. I fell in love with the blues as a teenager, devoted myself to playing blues guitar (electric and slide), and gradually found myself delving more and more into roots music. In late 2000, I discovered the banjo (which I had always kind of ignored as an instrument) and frailing/clawhammer. It was love at first listen. I have since all but given up the guitar and spent an inordinant amount of time thinking about, listening to, playing and just plain worshiping the banjo.

It is a testament to the infectious nature of the banjo that David and I, who have never met in person, are willing to collaborate across a vast geographical distance on this site. I hope you banjar lovers out there enjoy the site. Drop me a note at thraktor@yahoo.com with your thoughts.