What the banjo player wore

As a banjo player, there is an expectation that you'll be found wearing overall straps, sleeping in the tall grass with a breath full of moonshine and growing a beard wide as the roses on a summertime plant. Truth be known, many banjo players are gentle and sweet like a drop of sugarcane in a cup of coffee. You may find them to be strange, why they chose an instrument that draws comparisons to rolling thunder, why do they carry a moon-shaped case that encourages stares and questions, why not settle in and play the beloved guitar? There are different reasons for every player as to why we let our bedrooms be filled with banjo air, but for many, the reason we play is because we hear the banjo calling and it sounds a lot like home.

I look at my banjo as it stands by a painting of flowers, a table of pine cones, and three dusty unfinished bottles of bourbon (no moonshine as some would have you believe). To me, this banjo is the most beautiful thing in the room. I can pick it up and press it against my belly like a symphony of song birds inside of a womb — how brave, how sweet, how delicate, how naked this banjo reveals me to be. I could travel to the saddest forest with a fine tooth comb for an eye, as long as my banjo came to be played, I would know where to look for seeds and flowers sprouting from the earth. This banjo is the cathedral in which I visit to find myself again, and again, and again. Give me callouses and aching fingers, take away summer and soft fruit, but never take away my banjo.

Here I am clothed in my own banjo picker's outfit. The overall dress was a gift from The Wanderly, a handmade & vintage goods boutique based in Montreal. A dress like this one lets me know I'm on my way to a wardrobe that is both pretty and ready to answer the banjo's call.

The Outfit
Overall Dress The Wanderly*
Hat Gift
Blouse & Boots The Bay
 
The Location
Griffith Woods

9 comments:

  1. Amy — Thank you for your words about the banjo. It's the loveliest description of the instrument I've come across in a long while. People always joke with me about learning to play the banjo, but they simply don't know ... "the reason we play is because we hear the banjo calling and it sounds a lot like home." I'm saving that quote and posting it above my banjo stand.

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  2. Ciara11.5.15

    As a 7 months pregnant lady, I wish I learned to play the banjo so this growing baby could hear it. When you described the symphony of songbirds in the womb, I could only think of my little baby and how I'd like to make music a big part of their life even if I don't know how to play an instrument myself. If you decide to have babies, they'll be so lucky to have a banjo picking mama like you <3 <3 <3

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  3. You write poetry! Such a beautiful post and its also really bad ass that you play the banjo! I would love to pick up an instrument and just learn rn :) Do you compose music as well?
    lovely post!
    Virginia
    http://www.saltandbleach.com/

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  4. What an amazing outfit! And I love the banjo, I think that it's really underrated ♥
    Amy xx

    Little Moon Dragon

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  5. Lovely photos as always. You make me want to keep growing my hair long.

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  6. As per usual Amy, your photos are just perfect.
    I love the banjo, everything about it. It's a wonderful instrument.
    You're little world over the pond looks magical :)
    Much love from a tiny seaside village in South England

    Sarah xxo | thesaltyseablog.blogspot.co.uk

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  7. I’m too tired and want to have some rest. So can you type my essay for me so I could relax a bit more after college? Everyone deserves to have a good rest when it’s needed! Delegate your essays for me assignments to our penmen and enjoy your day. College is supposed to be fun, isn’t it? So let’s bring back the fun and put the boredom and fatigue aside together!

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