it's a way of life

i have a confession to make:

i've been trying to sell my banjo.  i know, i know, i know.  it has been an integral part of my life for the better part of 3 years.  but let's be honest: i haven't learned how to play it, i haven't given it the time and love it deserves, and it spends more time sitting alone in my room than it does actually being played.

when you take into consideration the fact that i could desperately use some extra cash...it just makes sense.

that being said, i have no desire to just "give it away."  i want it to go to a good home.  so i really didn't want to pawn it because a) they screw you over on a price and b) it often just goes to a crappy owner.  i also didn't want to sell it on ebay because a) there is a commission and b) it's not guaranteed to sell...and will still cost money to list even if no one buys it.

so i did what any logical person would do:  i put it up on craigslist.

in the roughly one-and-a-half months that it has been there, i received no e-mails or any interest in it whatsoever. then on thursday--completely out of the blue--i received an e-mail from a guy inquiring if i still had the banjo for sale.  i told him yes and exchanged phone numbers.  on friday he gave me a call, and we decided to meet at a local coffee shop so that he could view the banjo.

when he walked in, i was surprised because he definitely was not the type of guy i was expecting to buy the banjo.  he was this really tall guy who was absolutely ripped.  he had a thick british accent, smelled of cigarettes, and quite frankly intimidated the piss out of me.  i'm glad we met at a public place because (honestly) had we met one-on-one i probably would have just handed him over the banjo in fear that he might take my life.

anyway.  after i talked to him for a bit, i learned that his name is johnny butten.

this probably means nothing to the average person.

but johnny butten is quite possibly the single greatest banjo player to have ever graced the earth.  i'm not making this up.

he currently owns the guiness book of world records for fastest banjo playing at 260 beats per minute.  he is also attempting to break the world record by playing banjo for 25 hours consecutively.  he has won numerous awards and is often rated as the best banjo player in the world.

take for example this video:



look closely.  do you see his left hand?  that's right: he's NOT EVEN FINGERING IT TO MAKE CHORDS.  ohhh no.  he's playing this song just by screwing around with the tuners.  unbelievable.

as he took the banjo out of my case, he inspected it for a bit, and then just went balls out and played all these amazing riffs and jazz ensembles and classic banjo pieces.  it was absolutely incredible.



this video is from when he played dueling banjos at 260 beats per minute.  (it wasn't the official world record attempt...he just replicated it shortly after he broke the record.)  at about the 2 minute mark is when he starts getting janky.

needless to say, it was an honor to have him play my banjo.