Video: Banjo music isn’t just music made for and by white people

By Staff Reports

May 6, 2025

Some people think of banjo music as music for white people.

In a new episode of “Billy Ball Explains NC,” Senior Editor Billy Ball breaks down the formative role Black folks played in developing this very North Carolina kind of music, and how the Grammy-winning Greensboro native Rhiannon Giddens is changing that image.
Giddens performed recently in “Biscuits and Banjos,” a three-day festival curated by her. If you like this video, make sure to share it. And for more North Carolina news and culture, sign up for Cardinal & Pine’s award-winning, free daily newsletter.

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Video: Banjo music isn’t just music made for and by white people

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