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BiTS INTERVIEW: Dik Banovich

Scottish by descent and with roots in many countries around the world, Dik Banovich is an
accomplished singer / songwriter with his feet firmly planted in the blues. Dik now lives in
France and has done for some time. His new album “Run To You” is a delightful mix of blues
styles and accomplished fingerpicking.

BiTS: Tell me something about your upbringing and how you got into music, especially blues, in the
first place.

DB: Well, my family moved to the
States when I was a year old. My
Dik Banovich mother was from Ireland. My father

was from Yugoslavia, so we were
always listening to people like Séamus
Ennis and various Yugoslav polkas and
God knows what. And then there was
the radio and there was also some
blues and country music and popular
music at the time, and we had

television really early as well. We had
television in the 50s, so yes, it was just
full of stuff.

BiTS: Did your parents or any
members of your family play music?

DB: No. Not at all. My father wanted
me to learn to play the accordion, so
that was my first instrument, in fact.
At the age of eight, he sent me off to
lessons on the other side of Chicago
and I did three years of accordion and I hated it.

BiTS: Did you? Why did you hate it?

DB: Well, I just didn’t like it. I just didn’t take to it at all, and I was on at him to get me a guitar
and he pushed me more into accordion. Eventually, they caved in, and they bought me a little guitar
and away I went.

BiTS: Pretty heavy instrument for a kid to manage anyway.

DB: Well, it was a really nice accordion, actually. It was a make called Crown. I think it was a half-

size or quarter-size accordion, but it was a full 42 key, 120 bass. I wish I had it now, in fact,
because it was actually quite light and a nice-sounding thing.

BiTS: When did you move on to playing the guitar?

DB: When I was about 12.

BiTS: So that would be junior high?