We seek to offer a comprehensive, reliable range of goods and services and a means for the continuation of development and research on the banjo. We desire the mutually beneficial association of sponsors, advertisers, academia, artists, manufacturers and contributors to thebanjoman.com. The National Banjo Society and the periodical, The Banjo Clarion, will endeavor to unite member banjoists and banjo enthusiasts to further the banjo in public perception and insure that knowledge and material will be accessible to future generations, and for enriching musical culture throughout world.

We've initiated sales on the website, and the ultimate goal is a marketing campaign to bring the banjo into prominence to the greater public, far beyond its current 'bubble'. The banjo is enjoying a renaissance, but we haven't seen anything yet. I really believe a paradigm shift in the musical tastes of the public is imminent, and that the banjo is part of that picture.

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If you agree with these goals, and want to join us in this endeavor as advisors, players, teachers, scholars,collectors, luthiers, businesses, students or listeners, please contact us at:

Pete Pardee

• A banjo camp called The California Banjo Gathering (CBG) is in the planning stages. . Similar to events in other states, but broader in scope, embracing as much of the banjo phenomenon as possible. We want to involve living treasures and the best of younger performers and teachers, collectors, audiophiles, and luthiers, with merchants too. This event will be the genesis of a Banjo Foundation and a preliminary charter will be drafted and presented at a pre-Gathering staff meeting, then to participants over the weekend.
  
  On our wish list: Buddy Wachter, Mike Seeger, Tony Trischka, Clarke Buehling, Celtic banjoist Kieran Hanrahan, Bill Keith, Pat Cloud, Frank Hamilton, Tom and Patrick Sauber, Bill Evans, Kieran Hanrahan (Irish tenor banjoist), Walt Koken, Pete Peterson, Sammy Shelor, and several more Tentatively scheduled for Oct. 17-19th, 2008 near Sonora, California. Deposits of $100 to reserve lodging and food at Silver Spur Conference Center can be made as early as January, 2008.
  At another venue, a post-Gathering concert is planned at another venue, open to the general public.
  
• Endeavor to get more participants, especially youth, in playing music. School children perform better in school if they also play a musical instrument or sing. We live in a passive spectator age. The time is ripe for a change in musical tastes. The public deserves better and more varied music and musical instruction, and my passion is for the banjo to take a greater role. The guitar is now the most prevalent popular instrument in the world overall. The banjo is a fascinating instrument with a very rich history, and its unique sound has great characteristics. Certainly appropriate for classical music, the banjo is also gaining traction in jazz. All other historical aspects are alive and well, and the envelope is being pushed as the tradition grows and develops in all genres.
  
• Sponsor more performances throughout the Sierra foothills corridor, from Nevada City south to Fresno by bands carrying a banjo and for banjo soloists.