Rik Barron, Mike Hanrahan, and Neil Rosenberg will take you on a journey showcasing the musical applications of the banjo. In addition to demonstrating their own individual playing styles, they will welcome any discussion or questions pertaining to this versatile, and occasionally maligned instrument. Park your banjo jokes at the door!

RIK BARRON: Rik Barron was born and raised in St. John’s, Newfoundland. A professional entertainer since 1980, Rik has performed throughout Canada, the United States and Europe. A consummate performer Rik entertains his audience with a seamless blend of great baritone singing, expert playing and irreverent humour. As an instrumentalist, Rik is known particularly for his unique banjo and guitar styles. An audience and critic favourite alike, Rik won his first award from the Newfoundland Folk Arts Council in 1972 having been named Best Instrumentalist. Showing his versatility he was named Children’s Artist of the Year in 2000 by the East Coast Music Association.

MIKE HANRAHAN: Mike is a member of the ECMA/JUNO Award-winning IRISH DESCENDANTS, and has been playing since his mid-teens. Very versatile and equally adept on the bouzouki, mandolin, guitar and banjo, Mike also is a fine singer with a large repertoire of traditional songs from both sides of the Atlantic.

NEIL ROSENBERG: A native of the western US, Neil Rosenberg is banjoist in Crooked Stovepipe, Newfoundland's oldest and best-known bluegrass band. Author of the definitive Bluegrass: A History and a Grammy winner in 1998 for his album notes, Rosenberg has been playing the 5-string banjo since 1959. During the sixties he worked for bluegrass patriarch Bill Monroe, playing in Monroe's Blue Grass Boys on a number of occasions. He's lived in St. John's since 1968, playing in the 70s with such groups as Sneed Hearn and the Smiling Liberators and Country Dream. In recent years he's played with the Black Auks, the Bannerman Park Band, and Terri Thomson. In addition to his Crooked Stovepipe and Black Auks CD appearances, he can be heard on recent albums by Newfoundland artists Rik Baron, Pam Morgan, Sara and Kamila, Kevin Collins, and Wayne Morgan. He's a two-time winner (1963, 1964) of the banjo contest at the Brown County Jamboree in Bean Blossom, Indiana.