Fabulous Banjo Video

Loose Cannon Boost 1.26.22

photo by Devanie Johnson

I didn’t say the banjo was fabulous. However, I will draw your attention to the video below which, most certainly, is fabulous. On top of that, the video captures an amazing place, Cave Valley on the edge of Zion National Park. From my vantage, living a few miles down the hill, it is one of the loveliest places on earth.

360 Degree Video

I had never seen a 360-degree video. If you don’t have virtual reality gear (AR Goggles) perched on your noggin, then a phone or tablet is the best way to watch. It will be boring if you view it on a stationary computer screen. Hold your smart phone or tablet steadily in the hand and then wag the device up or down or side to side. The video responds by showing you all 360 degrees of the scene around you. It’s cool.

“Call of the Canyon: Zion National Park”

The 360-degree video is ancillary to a new TV special from PBS Utah. “Call of the Canyon,” premieres Thursday,  January 27, at 7 pm Mountain Time.  You can stream the broadcast live by clicking HERE then going to WATCH in the menu.

The show takes the viewer through the natural, social and cultural history of Zion, then goes on to show how the place continues to draw artists, conservationists and millions of visitors to its towering red cliffs each year.

I was drawn to this place not just because it’s a stunning landscape. There is something spiritual about Zion. Not a day goes by that my surroundings don’t inspire me. I came here the summer after high school to work at Zion Lodge. Later, in 1977, when I was state folklorist, I started the Southern Utah Folklife Festival in Zion. I always dreamed of living here and finally a decade ago we re-settled in the little town of Virgin near the park.  I was particularly glad when the good folks at PBS Utah, channel 7, asked me to be part of the production.

The show was produced by Joseph Prokop. The 360-degree video was produced by Carol Dalrymple and the music video of our group 3hattrio singing our original song, “Zion Song,” was recorded by Michael Greene and produced by Dan Whitaker. You can see the music video live HERE

3hattrio was asked to write “Zion Song” and create a live album of music to commemorate the 100-year anniversary of Zion National Park in 2019 through the vision of Scott Anderson. A donation from each CD sale goes to Zion Forever, the organization that works to preserve and enhance the Park experience.

A Final Note about the Much Maligned Banjo

Every time I pick up the banjo, I feel like it is the musical conduit to something otherworldly. I’m not sure what it is about this instrument that is so powerful. Perhaps it’s complex history holds the key. The banjo does not exactly have a pure sound and it’s an odd concept of engineering.

In reality the 5-string banjo is a drum on one end and a guitar neck with a drone string on the other end. As musicians we play and it is great fun to match the notes of the melodically driven fiddle on our banjos. The majority of five-string players love the machine-gun barrage of prickly notes that come out of it. I appreciate that style of playing and respect that it is considered virtuoso. For my taste, though, it’s the drum end of the banjo that I find alluring, using melodic lines to follow the rhythms. In addition, my taste leans to the less piercing sound of nylon or gut-type strings that plunk when you hit them. And however much I revere this much maligned instrument, I still love to laugh at a good banjo joke.