Brian Anderson– Biography Brian Anderson was born on
the Olympic Peninsula in Tumwater, Washington August
29,1959. He first heard the banjo on the Captain
Kangaroo TV show. “I was sick, stayed home
fromschool, and heard ‘Mr. Green Jeans’
play the banjo. It was a wonderful sound, like no
other instrument. I had to learn to play it!”,
says Brian.
The first serious playing he heard
was Earl Scruggs. Brian got first banjo 1976, while
a senior in high school. Bluegrass records and method
books were his first early influences. Later, he began
to attend Bluegrass Festivals, and in 1978, Brian
placed first in a contest in Auburn, California, playing
his original tunes, Gold Water Creek and Placer
County Breakdown.
“In southern California,
I took some lessons 1979 with John Hickman and Craig
Smith. Hickman gave me some tapes of live Flatt &
Scruggs shows. Craig showed me how to play intros,
how to ‘walk’ into a break, some licks
borrowed from pedal steel guitar playing using chokes
and going from the G position to the C chord [at the
fifth fret], hammering on those notes.
From January 1979 through January
1980, Anderson played with Gloryland, a touring
gospel band. “We’d play at small churches,
with an average audience of 50-75 people, and sometimes
at festivals.” Only 18 years old, living in
Rio Linda at the time, Brian got a call, was hired
and then on the road. He learned only a year ago that
Tiny Moore had referred him to the band. (Tiny Moore
was a well known mandolin player and owned a music
store in Sacramento).
Living in the band’s van.
Brian relates that, “It was a spiritual time.
I drew closer to God in my personal walk.” Band
members were leader Steve Curtley on guitar and lead
vocals, his wife Gwen on mandolin, singing tenor parts,
Dave Dalton (now with Gospel Creek), played
bass, singing baritone and bass. Brian, on banjo of
course, played an Hendricks archtop at first. He preferred
the flathead sound, though. In San Diego, he bought
a Stelling Gospel model right at the factory.
In down times, Brian would go off
by himself and practiced, learning all he could, trying
to improve. The Gloryland band, modeled after
the Ralph Stanley/Scruggs sound, required straight
playing, but on his own Brian was doing melodic and
Newgrass stuff as he learned and developed his banjo
style. Because food and lodging were taken care of
by the Curtley’s, Brian’s paycheck went
to buy more recorded music and books. To this day,
Brian continues to learn and write tunes, and has
incorporated single note technique into his arsenal,
largely inspired by Ryan Cavanaugh, and also influenced
by Scott Vestal, Béla Fleck and others. He
can often be seen playing informally at shopping centers,
always searching for new sounds.
Anderson left the band after January
1980, and moved to Fresno, California. Though he played
at church, the Sunrise project, he had pretty much
laid his banjo aside for a season. He realized he
needed discipleship, and to focus on his walk with
God. He worked at various jobs. Brian married in 1981,
concentrated on raising a family, and on his ministry.
In 1989, he and his wife Debbie
moved to Hayward, California, pastoring a nondenominational
church with a congregation of about 125 people. Next,
Brian tells he “…I bought a Goldstar in
South San Francisco in 1985 or ‘86 to replace
the Stelling which was stolen in 1983. I began playing
again.”
“I started my business, Master’s
Window Cleaning, in the fall of 1999. I moved
to Modesto and got accounts there. I saw a bumper
sticker ‘I Love Bluegrass’ and
that led to a bluegrass jam. I met Rick Cornish, CEO
of the California Bluegrass Association, and later
joined Grass Menagerie, with Rick on fiddle,
Bill Schneiderman on guitar, and Chuck Thornton on
bass.”, Brian recalls. He moved his business
and family to Tuolumne County in 2001, starting back
to the banjo in earnest. Brian continued to compete
at banjo contests, eventually winning the prestigious
National Banjo Championship at Winfield,
Kansas in September of 2005.
Brian released his first CD in
2006, all original tunes ranging from Celtic to jazz
to blues. His son Jonathan plays one of his fingerstyle
compositions on guitar alone, and Brian did the same
with one banjo tune. Here are some comments by Bill
Evans and Scott Vestal:
“Get ready to experience
a new blend of contemporary acoustic music from California,
featuring stunning banjo and guitar playing on a set
of original tunes that gracefully embrace jazz, Irish
and new age influences. Brian Anderson and The New
Generation create a complex and intimate sound that's
contemporary, warm and welcoming. You'll enjoy it!”–––Bill
Evans
“I just finished listening
to the new CD by Brian Anderson and The New Generation.
I love it! This father and son combination sound so
good together. The material is well written and easy
to listen to, as well as being very well executed
with beautiful melodies. I'll be looking forward to
hearing more out of both of them––very
exciting!”–––Scott
Vestal
If you would like to hear 4 of
the tunes, and learn more about the music and band,
go to
For the future, Brian envisions
Christ centered performances, a Gospel ministry, with
his son Jonathan, and Matt Martin, as part of the
show. Brian’s wife Debbie will sometimes join
them, singing songs like In Christ Alone,
and Before the Throne of God.
Brian now owns and plays 3 banjos:
a 1935 Gibson TB 1 conversion, also a Nechville, quieter
and warmer, not as bright. Had it inlayed with gospel
patterns depicting the life of Christ sequentially,
by Jason Clark at Custom Inlay, Inc. (9126
Beaver Dam Road Caneyville, Ky. 42721 (270) 879-0779,
www.custominlay.com).
He also plays a Deering Tenbrooks Saratoga Star,
which
he won at Winfield. He describes it as, “Powerful,
solid. That’s the banjo I play when travelling.”
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