Bill Sullivan always credited his venturing down the banjo road to the final chapter in the Earl Scruggs and the Five String Banjo book. He said it turned out he was much better at constructing the instrument than playing it, but the influence Mr. Scruggs had on Bill Sullivan and the rest of those that proudly choose to play the banjo proved to be immeasurable. Like the rest of the music community we were deeply saddened to hear of his passing. We want to send our condolences to the entire Scruggs family and let them know they are in our ...
A LITTLE HISTORY NORTHERN HEMISPHERE What caused this type of growth? Climatic conditions. There is a period of time called the LITTLE ICE AGE. This was a period of abnormal climatic cooling lasting from the 14th century until the middle of the 19th century. The Little Ice Age brought bitterly cold winters to many parts of the world but is most thoroughly documented in Europe and North America. In the winter of 1780, New York harbor froze allowing people to walk from Manhattan to Staten Island. The severe winters affected human life in ways large and small. Many spring and summers ...
Jack Hicks Jack was born in Louisa, Kentucky and he now lives in Ashland. Jack’s talents were discovered and cultivated early, resulting in his performances at the Grand Ole Opry at the early age of 15. Jack has had a long and varied musical career, having been a part of such legendary groups as Jim and Jesse, Del Reeves, Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys, the Whites, Lester Flatt, Sonny James, and spent a decade performing with Conway Twitty. Jack’s talents have been heard on many #1 country records. Known primarily for his outstanding banjo picking, Jack also owns a recording studio; Jack’s Place, where ...
We recently received an email from Martin’s folks and we thought we share…
Jay Lyn Greene, a veteran musician of some 48 years recently purchased a new V35 from one of our super Sullivan Banjo Dealers – Ron’s Pickin’ Parlor in Stanfield, NC. Jay Lyn we appreciate your kind words and we’re happy to add another satisfied customer to the family of Sullivan Banjo owners. We’ve shared Jay Lyn’s note below.
We received a note from our friends at Janet Davis Music in Bentonville Arkansas. They wanted to share a photo with us of new Vintage 35 owner. In the photo Jake Kennedy is holding his brand new Vintage 35 Maple. We’d like to welcome Jake to the Sullivan Banjo family and wish him many years of enjoyment with his banjo, thanks again Jake for choosing a Sullivan.
If you’re in the Bentonville area be sure to stop in at Janet Davis Music and get your hands on a Vintage 35!
Bill Sullivan always credited his venturing down the banjo road to the final chapter in the Earl Scruggs and the Five String Banjo book. He said it turned out he was much better at constructing the instrument than playing it, but the influence Mr. Scruggs had on Bill Sullivan and the rest of those that proudly choose to play the banjo proved to be immeasurable. Like the rest of the music community we were deeply saddened to hear of his passing. We want to send our condolences to the entire Scruggs family and let them know they are in our thoughts and prayers.
We’re about to ship off another Maple Vintage 35 to our friends down at Ron’s Pickin Parlor in Stanfield, NC. This one is a really nice one, great sound and some beautiful curly maple. If you live in the area this is a must stop by and pick! Go by and see Ron and folks at the Pickin’ Parlor.
Around the Sullivan Banjo Company we have a great friend that stops in to visit us on a regular basis. This friend’s name is Bob Burkett, a local banjo picker, multi-talented individual and just all around great guy. Bob not only loves to pick the banjo but he likes to tinker around in the shop on the banjo building side of the business.
Bob keeps an eye out for old banjo parts and likes to piece together banjos just to see what he can come up with. After Bob puts the instruments together you’ll generally find him giving them away to folks in need. Bob’s most recent project is one that we think our friends in the banjo community will find really interesting and heart warming.
During his latest scavenging for parts, Bob found himself with an old Oriole block rim, all the necessary metal, an old Gibson resonator (early 50’s at our best guess) and the most interesting part a prewar plectrum neck. You might ask why an old plectrum neck would be of any interest to a fellow that puts together 5 string banjos but that’s the coolest part, especially for those that like to fiddle around with banjo parts and pieces. Bob saw an opportunity to take an old discarded neck (it was actually quite a disaster, with numerous holes in the peg-head, just pretty much left for the trash bin) and turn it back into a useful neck for this parts banjo project. He started by splitting the neck in half and then inserting a piece of old growth maple between. The lamination gave him a neck blank large enough to reshape the original narrow plectrum neck into a five string banjo neck. It turned out fantastic.
Bob is originally from southwestern Virginia, a place well known for it’s large pool of traditional music loving musicians. He found out that his relative Clay Lillard had not only taken up the banjo but he had become quite accomplished at the instrument. For about the last year he has been the banjo picker for traditional bluegrass artist James King.
A number of years prior Clay lost his father suddenly. Clay’s father was a banjo player and due to circumstances (which we won’t get into here) unfortunately none of his father’s instruments found their way to Clay. Bob was aware of this situation and felt his relative deserved a fine instrument with which he could follow his vocation. Well you know how the story ends. James and his band took a little pit stop at the store but the real reason for the stop over, unbeknown to Clay, who was very pleasantly taken aback by the whole experience. Needless to say when he saw a banjo hanging on the wall with his name on the truss rod cover he was more than a little surprised!
Bob you’re one fine friend and we’re proud to know you.
Keep pickin’ that 5 Clay!
Back last October we had the Banjo Hangout Meetup when the BJH’s webmaster Eric Schlange was in town and it was a great old time. Chris Watts came over from Missouri to attend that event and to order himself a custom Sullivan Greenbriar. We finished up that custom banjo today and sent it over to our dealer First Quality Music to ship off to Chris. Chris picked out his neckwood and resonator and we made the rest of the instrument to his personal specs. Complete with a black Remo head, a speed neck, Keith D Tuners, Vintage 35 Brown color and “Chris” in the fingerboard nameblock this truly is a one of a kind. And Chris the icing on the cake it is a great sounding banjo! Thanks from all of us at Sullivan Banjo, enjoy your new custom Greenbriar!
Another Vintage 35 banjo hot out of the shop and ready for shipment. This one is a beauty and it sounds great! On it’s way down to Stanfield North Carolina and our dealer Ron’s Pickin’ Parlor. Be sure when your in the neighborhood to stop into the Pickin’ Parlor and check a new Sullivan Banjo. Tell Ronnie we said howdy.
Thanks to the overwhelming support and success of our Banjos, Sullivan Banjo Co. is expanding the manufacturing facilities to accommodate the demand. We are in the process of adding another 3000 square feet of shop space to our existing layout. In addition we are adding a state of the art spray booth and bringing online more CNC technology. Here at Sullivan Banjo we have over 40 years of banjo building experience and as we move into the new year we are continuing to use and adopt cutting edge technology along with our 40 years of expertise to bring our customers one of the finest banjos made today.
If your in the Louisville area, stop on in and see in person all the exciting things happening here at Sullivan Banjo Co.
