Boy Named Banjo

About Boy Named Banjo:
Long before Boy Named Banjo, two of the founding members of the genre-breaking band grew up a mile down the road from each other in Nashville. William Reames and Willard Logan both picked up the guitar at an early age, took lessons from the same teacher in town, went to the same school, and even played in the same middle school band together. 

A shared love for bluegrass, folk, and singer/songwriter music sparked a different musical friendship for Reames between him and banjo player, Barton Davies. Before long, the two youngsters enthusiastically bounced songs off each other and discovered some of their favorite bands like The Steel Drivers, John Hartford, and The Infamous Stringdusters together. In no time at all, they were writing and performing songs of their own, an at the age of 16, they formed their own band. Only, they needed a mandolin player. That's when they called Logan - and the two longtime friends, and now, Davies, were bandmates once again. 

"We were still too young to step foot inside a bar when we first started to play," Davies recalls, "so we'd set up shop on the sidewalk outside of Robert's Western World in downtown Nashville and play our own songs for whomever would listen." According to Davies - about halfway through one of their sets, a man came stumbling out of Robert's, got in Barton's face and yelled "play that thing, Banjo Boy! Faster now, ya hear? C'mon, Banjo!"  

Reames texted Davies later that night - "Boy Named Banjo."

With a brand new band name and a bunch of original songs, the trio recorded The Tanglewood Sessions, an honest, emotional, roots-driven look into the lives of the young outfit. Unexpectedly, the debut album was received quite well and now has over 3 million streams on Spotify.

In 2014, BNB added drummer Sam McCullough and released its sophomore album, Long Story Short. The band got its first breakthrough by earning a spot on the 2015 Bonnaroo lineup, which led to some hometown love for the native Nashvillians, including a nomination for Best Local Band by The Tennesseean. Shortly after releasing Lost on Main EP in 2015, Boy Named Banjo found its missing piece - Ford Garrard (bass), hit the road, and hasn't stopped touring since.

Boy Named Banjo's sound has grown up alongside them into an energetic blend of rock, folk-pop, and alt-country that will keep listeners smiling, clapping, and dancing along for many years to come. You won't want to miss what they have have been cooking up for 2018. Catch a live show and find out why.

About Asher McGlothlin:
I’m a musician based out of Charlottesville, Virginia, but very proud to be from Grundy, Virginia, a small town in the heart of the Appalachian Mountains. I spent many hours as a kid playing in the woods behind my house by day and jamming out to the jukebox in my grandparent’s living room by night. I don’t think it’s any secret to those that know me that my hometown molded me into who I am today, and a touch of that place will always be woven into the music I write. 

I’ve lived in Charlottesville for six years and in that period of time I’ve played over a hundred gigs from staples on the Corner such as Coupe Deville’s and Crozet Pizza to venues on the downtown mall. My debut EP Bardo is set to be released on January 9th, 2018. The term bardo is a Buddhist term that means the intermediate state between two lives on earth. The bardo can be pleasant or treacherous, depending on one’s perspective. I view the transition from youth to adulthood as being a transitional period similar to the bardo, and view the songs on this EP as telling the story of my own experience in this intermediate state.

I hope you’ll give Bardo  a listen in January. See you on the road!