Love That Twang!

Nothing else sounds quite like a Deering banjo.

When Greg Deering was 12, The Kingston Trio inspired him to save his paper route money and buy a banjo. He wanted to play along with “Tom Dooley.” Half a century later, Deering and his crew of craftsman in Spring Valley, CA have built more than 100,000 of the stringed instruments. Artists such as Bela Fleck, Taylor Swift and Keith Urban strum Deerings.

Deering, who launched his company in 1975, is the largest manufacturer of banjos in the nation. He produced 10,000 of this musical instrument in 2013. In his 18,000-square-foot factory, banjos begin as pieces of hardwood, which are cut into long, tapered necks and rounded triple-ply rims. The craftsmen sand and stain the necks before affixing frets and inserting decorative inlays. The rim is covered with a synthetic “skin” and attached to metal rings, which give the banjo its unique tone and twang.

After the neck and body are joined, the instruments are fitted with bridges, tuning pegs and other hardware prior to stringing and tuning. Viola! A unique banjo is born.

Moral to the story: Find something you love and excel at, then follow your dream. The sky’s the limit!