Elmer Bird was a banjo player from West Virginia. He came from a family of musicians and learned how to play “two-finger style,” wishing he could master the drop-thumb clawhammer style.
When he finally figured out how to play clawhammer, it came to him quickly. He played for years to hone his skill and one day in 1955 he was asked to fill in for a banjo player in a Bluegrass band.
He informed the band he wasn’t a Bluegrass player. He could pick two-finger and play clawhammer, but he couldn’t play the more traditional three-finger, Bluegrass style. The band didn’t mind what Bird deemed an inadequacy and what was supposed to be a one night gig turned into 15 years playing together.
At that time, banjo competitions were popular and Bird entered a contest only to be told not to “grass it” or he would be disqualified. He changed his style to fit the competition but was still disqualified because the judges thought what he did was “too slick.”
Despite losing the competition, Bird continued to play and, perhaps in spite of the stereotype those judges put on him, he learned how to play “double drop-thumb” style. He recorded albums, traveled to play all around the country and became famous as The Banjo Man from Turkey Creek.
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