Banjo history.

This summer, NPR ran a fine series on the extensive sharing and crosslinking between the blues, country music, and white and black musicians. But they inexplicably overlooked the banjo — which pretty much epitomizes the rich, intertwined, and often troubling musical history of America. Today they rectified that omission, with a very nice segment featuring banjo player and music historian Stephen Wade, who discusses oldtime banjo music and plays a few tunes on various banjos: NPR : Stephen Wade and the Banjo (audio)