[divide icon=”” margin_top=”40px” margin_bottom=”20px” color=”#”]
Boy Named Banjo
[divide icon=”” margin_top=”40px” margin_bottom=”20px” color=”#”]
Boy Named Banjo, a local rock/blues band, recently won a contest through Sonicbids to play at this year’s Bonnaroo, held in June in Manchester, Tenn. Fans voted for their favorite band in a bracket style competition and Boy Named Banjo made it to the final round. The two bands who made it to the finals were awarded a slot at Bonnaroo and $1,000. For those attending Bonnaroo, you can watch them play Friday, June 12 on the Club Stage at 6:30pm. For those Fighting Irish students and alumni, drummer Sam McCullough is a Father Ryan High School alum.
1
How would you describe your sound?
Our sound isn’t limited to a specific genre, but we are more a mixture of rock, blues, country, and bluegrass. When people ask us which genre we fall under, we usually say Folk/Rock or Roots/Rock.
2
What bands, current or old, inspire you?
Old Crow Medicine Show, Dawes, Trampled By Turtles, The Avett Brothers & The Band.
3
How long have you each, individually, been playing music and how long has the band been together?
Willard Logan, Guitar, 11 years, William Reames, Guitar 9 years, Barton Davies, Banjo, 6 years, Abe Scott, bass 2 years & Sam McCullough, Drums 9 years.
The original Boy Named Banjo trio (Barton Davies, Willard Logan, William Reames) has been playing together for 5 years now. The full, 5 member band has been together for 2 years.
4
How did you come up with the band’s name?
William Reames and I (Barton Davies) as a duo called ourselves the “Blue Moon Bluegrass Band,” because we really liked Blue Moon beer. A couple months later, we decided that was a terrible name for several reasons. One – we were a duo, not a band (much less a bluegrass band), and two – we soon discovered that Blue Moon beer really wasn’t all that great. So, William and I sat down one day to come up with something different. At first, we thought of “The Whiskey Shivers” but found out that this name had already been taken. We parted ways that day with nothing, until William texted me “Boy Named Banjo.” I still don’t know how he came up with it or what it means, but we both liked it and it stuck.
5
What was your first reaction when you found out you won and would be playing Bonnaroo?
Tears
