Featured Musicians

Sean Moyses is regarded as one of Europe's top professional banjo players. He has been playing banjo since he was eleven years old, encouraged by his family who all played music. He mastered the ukulele, mandolin, five-string banjo, plectrum banjo, guitar and uke-banjo and as well as playing folk, country, bluegrass and acoustic music, developed a love for jazz and swing music of the 1920's and 1930's.
     His ambition of playing with the famous Pasadena Roof Orchestra soon became a reality and with them he performed major concerts, television and radio broadcasts not only in England, but in Holland, France and Germany too.
     He has performed musical comedy with the hilarious Bob Kerr's Whoopee Band and visited over fifteen countries in six years doing concerts in true Spike Jones City Slickers style. He is at present a member of Rod Mason's Hot Five and has guested with such notable bands as The Barrelhouse Jazzband, Papa Bue's Viking Jazzband, Joe Wulf's Gentlemen of Swing, The Best of British Band, The Aces of Syncopation, and Ralf Wagemann's European Top Eight concerts.

Charlie & Nori Tagawa with Mary Horne. In 2005, Charlie was inducted into the National Four-String Banjo Hall of Fame. He began playing banjo and guitar at age 20 in Tokyo. He was a favorite with the Americans who heard him with the Dixieland Dukes at Tokyo's Gaslight Club. A Bay Area restaurant owner convinced him to come to the U.S in 1964 to entertain. He eventually became the music director of the Peninsula Banjo Band, organizer of a great youth band, and an outstanding performer at almost every Banjo-Rama in recent times. He is joined today by his son, Nori, who plays an outstanding banjo, and with Mary Horn on washtub bass. Get ready to hear everything from honky tonk to the classics.

Bill Dendle. Here is a master musician who can play banjo, guitar, trombone, and drums fantastically, but not all at the same time. He played in the South Market Street Jazz Band in southern California for many years. After moving to northern California, he joined the Avalon Swing Band, led by his wife, Shelley Burns. He has entertained past Banjo-Ramas with Eddie Erickson, and Gary Ryan. Bill is noted for his great sense of humor along with his outstanding music. He also directs the STJS Jazz Camps for Kids and for Adults each summer.

Jack Convery. Born in 1954 in Wichita, Kansas, Jack spent his childhood in Fresno, California. He learned how to play the banjo at the age of 12 and he paid his dues by attending festivals and performing at pizza parlors. He was for many years the musical director for the San Francisco 49ers. He won the 1973 award fo the United Artist "Best Banjoist of Northern California." His success as an entertainer has brought him into the entertainment booking business. Jack has volunteered to help the Capital Kids, and Paul Doerner especially, in their quest to master the banjo. Jack has just released his latest CD, "Beatles on the Banjo."

Dick and Helen Martin. This wonderful husband and wife team has headlined banjo gatherings all over the U.S.A. Dick plays either plectrum or tenor banjo and Helen accompanies him with the sweetest washtub bass and voice you have ever heard. Dick learned banjo with his dad's Southern California Banjo Band. The family moved north to the Bay Area and Dick and Helen were members of the great Peninsula Banjo Band. They are back in Sacramento due to popular demand. They now live in Sweet Home, Oregon, near Mom and Dad Martin, site of the Annual Oregon Trail Camp.

Paul Doerner started with the Capital Kids four years ago. He has made tremendous progress and now plays regularly with the Sacramento Banjo Band. He has performed at several major banjo festivals throughout the country. He was recently recognized in the Fretted Instrument Guild Association magazine for his outstanding accomplishments.

Steve Peterson. When not working as a design engineer in Silicon Valley, Steve spends much of his time practicing and performing his plectrum banjo. He joined the Peninsula Banjo Band as a yourth. He has entertained at many lounges and functions in the Bay Area, including Mariott's Great America, Marine World, the Peninsula Banjo Band Jubilees. He has also been featured at earlier Banjo-Ramas, at the Fretted Instrument Guild Convention and at the Sacramento Jazz Jubilee.

Bill Lowery. Bill joined the Peninsula Banjo Band in 1977. During his college days he performed with the Salt Flat Five Dixieland Band at the Sacramento Jazz Festival. He entertained at the Utah Jazz Basketball games. He was the opening performer for the Bob Hope Show at the Provo Freedom Festival, was headliner at the Boise Banjo Band Show and has played at Marine World USA, Scarlett LaRue's and several Peninsula Banjo Band Jubilees. He plays both banjo and guitar with great skill.

Gary Ryan From 1964 to 1975 he played his banjo at the Warehouse on Cannery Row in Monterey as “one of the resident wackos.” He plays all over the country at many festivals, like the Dixieland Monterey Jazz Festival, with his own group, Ryan’s Raiders, and with Mike Vax’s Great American Jazz Band.

The Bands

The Capital Kids Banjo Band. Some of these kids are in their eighth year of banjo lessons provided by Peggy Lewis, assisted by Barbara Kampe. Some are new to the band and are performing for their first time. They are all dedicated to learning how to play the banjo. Thanks to the financial support of many groups, the banjos donated by numerous players, the wonderful cooperation from the parents, and the hard work by the youngsters, they are on their way to keep banjo music alive and well.

East Bay Banjo Club. Here are some of our good neighbors from the Bay Area, who have been featured at all of our Banjo-Ramas. They have been playing in the Diablo Valley since 1963, and under the leadership of Bill Cooper since 1978. In September of 2005, the club was invited to the Czech Republic by the Orinda/Tabor Sister City Foundation where they presented traditional American Jazz before large, enthusiastic crowds at an annual Medieval Festival. Each year they donate their earnings from play outs to the Las Trampas School for Developmentally Delayed Adults, to the Barbara Milliff Center, to the Bay Area Crisis Nursery, and to the Capitol Kids Banjo Band. Visitors and new members are always welcome at their Tuesday night practice at 7:30pm at the Round Table Pizza Parlor, 1938 Oak Park Blvd, Pleasant Hill.

Peninsula Banjo Band. This band organized in 1963 to preserve the four-string banjo and its music. They ahve up to 70 members including plectrum and tenor banjos, as well as the washtub bass players. They have played for numerous functions in the Bay Area including Candlestick Park, the 50th Anniversary of the Golden Gate Bridge, the Black and White Ball, the Tech Museum in Oakland, and the Mayors' Convention in San Francisco where Mayor Willie Brown directed the band. They have raised over $180,000 for charities such as the Research Institute of S.F., the Stanford Hospital, Hospice of the Valley and the Ronald McDonald House. Charlie Tagawa is their music director. They meet each Tuesday from 8:00 -9:00 p.m. at the Straw Hat Pizza, 1535 Meridian San Jose. They hold a wonderful Banjo Jubilee each September with great banjo performers and bands.

Oregon Trail Camp. Ralph Martin has had a wonderful influence on banjo playing wherever he lives. In 2003, he was honored and inducted into the National Four-string Banjo Hall of Fame. He started the Southern California Banjo Band many years ago. Now he's in Oregon and he holds an annual camp. inviting all his friends from the "good old days." No doubt you will see some outstanding banjo playrs, and they will have some special suprises and great arrangements.

WineLand Banjo Band. The WineLand Banjo Band consists of musicians from many locations in Northern California, including the Livermore Valley, Sonoma Valley, Gold Country, Shenandoah Valley, and San Jose areas. Some of the members drive long distances just to attend our weekly get together at Milano's Restaurant located in Livermore, California.

Sacramento Banjo Band. Beginning their 46th year as a banjo club, the band has grown to over 50 playing members and about 60 Friends of the Band. They have been performing each year at the Sacramento Jazz Jubilee in May. On the first and third Sundays of the month, from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m., they fill the Straw Hat Pizza Parlor on Mather Field Road with happy players, fans, and music. Last summer they performed a concert for the Tahoe Music Festival at Squaw Valley. In 2005 they donated over $12,400 to children's charities, including Shriners Hospitals for Children, the Make A Wish Foundation, W.E.A.V.E., Sacramento Children's Home, Red Cross, Salvation Army and other deserving charities.