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by anything. I just want to stick to my own ideas and things and all I do when I hear other
people is think oh, let’s hear what they’re doing right there. It turns beyond just like enjoyment
listening and I tend to turn into like critiquing things and stuff, so I just stay away from it, and
hopefully, when I’m back touring again, I’ll be listening to music again. A lot of the older artists
I’m huge fans of. I’m a big Elvis fan and I love classical music. I love Beethoven and so I listen to
a lot of oldies rock and other stuff in the past.

BiTS: Good for you. Tell me about this beautiful banjo of yours, the black Deering banjo which
I think is one of the most lovely banjo-type instruments I’ve ever seen.

MJ: Thank you. I have a Goodtime Midnight Special that’s really pretty, but my newest banjo is

this Rustic Wreath for Deering, which I had custom made. It’s got all the black hardware on it
and the black head, which I like. Which also actually the black head and this is what Deering
banjos provides is their various heads, banjo heads that they have. The black one actually has a
more mellow tone than the white one has, the frosted top, and then they have two a shiny and
a matte and I just love like the depth too. It’s not just an aesthetic thing, is what I’m trying to
get at. It looks beautiful. I love
the all-black. I’m really into the
Goodtime Midnight Special
all-black banjo look because so
traditionally it’s always that
white happy, blonde wood look
[laughing]. And I like playing in
the more minor keys.

BiTS: It looks absolutely great.

MJ: Thank you. Thank you, but it
does sound, the dark head does
give a tone to it, which I like.

BiTS: Is it a signature model? Do
they do signature models of
banjos?

MJ: They do, but this one is not.
This is just one of the regular
line, well it’s a newer line that
came out. They’re considered a

very minimalistic banjo. They
don’t have a lot of fancy on them,
and they’re designed more in the
old style. I can’t remember what
they call this series, but it’s old-
day type of style and I really love
the minimalistic look on them.
But mostly, I just love the sound
because probably for me, as far
as the price point goes, it’s like
the highest quality sounding at
the lowest price range as far as the tone.

BiTS: Sound is very important to you. I read somewhere that you try and produce in the
studio the sound that people are going to hear when you’re doing a live gig. Is that true?