Sixth-grade picker proves himself a banjo prodigy

By Bev Davis
CNHI News Service

Beckley, W.Va. November 04, 2008 03:50 pm

— For the most part, Blaine Johnson is like any other 11-year-old boy growing up in southern West Virginia.
He likes to hunt, ride a four-wheeler, shoot his BB gun, tease his sister Claire, watch fireworks and “build stuff.”
But when this sixth-grader from Shady Spring picks up a banjo, he’s in a class all by himself.
His left hand glides effortlessly up and down the neck of the instrument while three pick-laden fingers of his right hand fly through “Foggy Mountain Breakdown.”
His facial expression is serious and studied. Blaine says it’s not because he is concentrating.
“If I start thinking about the music, I mess up. If I just play, I get it right.”
Blaine's banjo ability was realized a little more than two years ago, when his grandmother Jean Johnson bought him a “canjo” at an arts and crafts fair.
“It was just a can with one string, and I bought it because I thought it was interesting. I gave it to Blaine, and he got interested in playing it,” she said.
The hobby blossomed into serious interest. Johnson gave Blaine a banjo she had stored in her closet. She found a banjo instructor for him at House of Harmony in Beaver, between Shady Spring and Beckley.
After six months of dedicated study and practice, Blaine was ready for the next level. He began studying with Brandon Green at The Strings of Green. Together they cut a CD, when Blaine was still 10.
The title of the CD plays on Blaine’s somber expression: “I’ll Pick; You Grin.”
This past summer Blaine won a scholarship to the world-class Steve Kaufman acoustic camp in Maryville, Tenn. He took lessons daily from professional banjo players such as Janet Davis, Bob Black and Gary "Biscuit" Davis, the only three-time winner of the prestigious National Bluegrass Banjo Championship at the Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield, Kansas.
Blaine met musicians from all over the world. He jammed with them and performed on stage during evening concerts.
During the summer, he also brought home several first-place ribbons from banjo contests. One -- from the Old Fiddler's Convention held in the coal region of Southwest Virginia -- is his favorite.
“Blaine had his sights set on the biggest and oldest fiddlers convention in the world, in Galax, Va.,” his grandmother said. “He won fourth place there last summer in the youth competition. This year, he reached his goal and won first place at the 73rd annual fiddlers’ convention, which involves players of all kinds of stringed instruments.”
Blaine plays with two Beckley-area bands — The Songcatchers, a group formed through Dr. Everett Lilly at Mountain State University, and a gospel group called The Brothers and Sisters of Bluegrass.
The Songcatchers performed this fall at the International Bluegrass Music Association's World of Bluegrass and Fan Fest in Nashville, Tenn. The group cut a CD at the Risen Son studios in Beckley.\
The Brothers and Sisters of Bluegrass often play community and church events. They have played together, under the direction of Frankie Facello, for several years.
Both bands feature younger musicians with older, more experienced members.
“One of the things we’ve been so pleased about is that everywhere we have gone with Blaine, there have been musicians who were so willing to help him and to set a really good example for him. We’ve met some of the finest people you could imagine in this business,” his grandmother said.
Despite his exposure to banjo pickers, Blaine has developed a style of his own.
“He really surprised all of us,” said his dad, Roger Johnson. “He really took to this, and it’s been something that has kept his interest all along.”

Bev Davis writes for The Register-Herald of Beckley, W.Va. She can be reached at bdavis@register-herald.com.

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