The Sacramento Banjo Band
proudly presents
Banjo-Rama 2006
"Go Down to the Levee"
Sunday, February 26, 2006
Carmichael Elks Lodge
5631 Cypress Avenue, Carmichael, California
The Headliners
The Schreyer Banjos. This is a nationally known family group from Minnesota consisting of Lowell Schreyer and Debbie on banjos and Debbie's husband, Tom Owens, on string bass and vocals. They have performed at Eureka Springs, AK and Guthry, OK Festivals, and toured nationally with "Riverboat Ragtime Revue". Lowell, "Dad," has had a lifetime of playing banjo and writing its history. He spent many years entertaining on the riverboats of the Mississippi. The whole group entertained in 2004 on a 5-day voyage up the Mississippi.
Washboard Wizardz. This zany bunch has been around the world with their acts. Steve Drivon, trombonist, Tom Schmidt, clarinetist, Kurt Abell, banjo and anything else with strings, and Bill Reinhart, bass or guitar, join together making music, cracking joks, having fun and playing washboards from time to time. Sit back and listen for the sounds of the Hoosier Hot Shots.
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.
Performance Schedule
| Time | Main Room |
| 11:40 | The Capital Kids Banjo Band |
| 12:00 | East Bay Banjo Band |
| 12:25 | Oakland Banjo All Stars |
| 12:50 | Jack Convery |
| 1:20 | Bill Dendle |
| 1:55 | Charlie Tagawa, Nori Tagawa & Mary Horne |
| 2:30 | Banjo Hall of Fame Presentation |
| 2:35 | Peninsula Banjo Band |
| 3:00 | Oregon Trail Camp |
| 3:25 | Washboard Wizardz |
| 4:00 | Schreyer Banjos |
| 4:35 | Sacramento Banjo Band |
| Time | Lodge Room |
| 12:00 | Paul Doerner & Jack Convery |
| 12:30 | Charlie Tagawa, Nori Tagawa & Mary Horn |
| 1:10 | Oregon Trail Camp |
| 1:40 | Dick & Helen Martin |
| 2:20 | Washboard Wizardz |
| 3:00 | Schreyer Banjos |
| 3:45 | Bill Dendle |
| 4:20 | The Orphan Band* |
*The Orphan Banjo Band is composed each year of "orphan" banjo players (not playing in another band) or banjo players who wish to be orphans. Ned Poffingbarger has been the dirctor for the past eleven years. Please join Ned as a player or listener. You'll be glad you did.
Food, refreshements and jamming will be available after the show at
Holiday Inn 5321 Date Ave - Aces Lounge
(from the Elks, go west to Garfield, turn right, go to Madison,
turn left, go to Date Ave, just before freeway, turn right)
The Bands
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.
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.
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.
Oakland Banjo All Stars. We welcome the Oakland Banjo Band back for their 14th appearance at our Banjo-Ramas. This band was established in 1963 by Joe Rogers and they play every Thursday night from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. to a big crowd at Porky's Pizza Palace on Manor Blvd. in San Leandro. The band is lead by John Green. Music director is Claude Causley and Jim Bottorff and Keith Presting are lead banjo playrs. This band was voted, "Best of the Bay in 2003" by the San Francisco Bay Guardian.
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.
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.
Paul Doerner, 17, 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. He will be performing today with Jack Convery in the Lodge Room.