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Famous Banjo Pickin' Tunes QWIKGUIDE
by: Janet Davis

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by Twain Berg

There is a reason for the exclamation point in the title. Mary lives on a different planet than most of us. It has to be a planet with at least 36 or 48 hours in a day. Her accomplishments and interests are so great it would be would be difficult to know where to start and harder to know when to stop. So, I'll just introduce this fantastic lady as a multitalented banjoholic from Tallahassee, Florida and get right to the questions.

TB: Hi Mary. After listening to and enjoying your music for sometime, it is great to be able to talk to you. I asked some banjo friends what they would like to know about you and above all, two questions came up over and over.

First, what does the Z stand for?

MZC: Zaruba! My Dad' s family settled in Palm Bay, Florida on the Indian River in the early 1900s as part of the Indian River Catholic Colony. My Mom and brothers live there today and the Zaruba name is still associated with the early settlement of Brevard county.

Also, I was once hit by lightening while descending a dormant volcano crater in Costa Rica, and the Z reminds me of the lightening bolt. Although I was not scorched, I experienced increased creativity in music and writing after being struck.

TB: Second, how does a banjoholic with severe BAS tell his or her spouse that he or she just bought a $31,000 used banjo? We need guidance here.

MZC: The Gabriella is a beautiful banjo and the Brazilian rosewood is top quality. I was fortunate to buy it from a guitar dealer who had bought it as an investment and was not playing it. Most old time players are not interested in this banjo because it is flashy and bright. That does not bother me because I usually close my eyes when I play. I have to spot other players with it, because I have had two men get dizzy and almost faint when they played it.

I intend to play it at some concerts and to record on it soon. There are a few other Gabriella's out there, but they are locked up tight, and no one ever gets to hear their voices. I am moving slow on this, but you will get to hear it soon.

TB: Mary, I would guess that you could have been an excellent musician in any genre. How did you become directed to claw hammer banjo, mountain dulcimer and folksy music in general?

MZC: We were poor and could not afford a piano that was in tune, or lessons. There was a neighbor girl that made a cardboard keyboard for me and would show me what she learned in her lessons each week, but I never was able to enjoy a silent keyboard of cardboard.

When my parents saved and bought me a banjo from the Sears catalog it was a happy day. The strings moved under my fingers and the banjo rang with a happy sound. My granddaddy Thompson was a professional banjo player, so my Mom was always in favor of someone in the family playing banjo.

TB: Let's talk about banjos for a moment. You have a great collection and show off their different voices very well in your CD's. Can you pick a few favorites and talk about what you like about them? (We'll include some pics here of those if possible)

MZC: Here is what I currently own: Deering Gabriella, Deering custom White Shell Laydie, Deering Old Tyme Wonder, Gibson RB250, Cedar Mountain A2, Custom 12" Lee, Goldtone Elite Classic, Ramsey Woody, 1920's Bacon Professional, Hunchback Wunder banjo, Jeff Menzie's gourd, Joe Masel cigarbox banjo, 1950's Framus.

The Gabriella and the custom Deering White Shell Laydie are in a class by themselves. Many old time players think they are too flashy and the tone is too bright and clear. I think they are the finest banjos made in the world today. The Gabriella is Brazilian rosewood of a quality that we'll never see again. The fingerboard is pearl and fingers like glass. My oldest son has promised to care for it and see that it gets as far into the 21st century as possible when I am gone.

I have found that very few folks (other than banjo collectors) ever get to see or hear the wonderful banjos coming from the Deering custom shop and are surprised and delighted when they do. The White Shell Laydie began as a GDL, but has so many exquisite additions that it is more like the Gabriella than a GDL.

Another favorite banjo is the new 12" custom banjo from Chuck Lee. He really outdid himself when he chose the walnut for the neck. It is one of the prettiest necks I've seen in awhile. It has a Tony Pass ancient wood rim, and he customized his girl sitting in the moon and playing the banjo inlay to include a basset hound floating on a cloud. This banjo has the nicest old time woody sound I have ever heard. I can't wait to get it in the studio and record a tune on it.

The truth of the matter is that every banjo I have has a special and unique voice and I feel fortunate indeed to have many banjo voices to choose from when I try new tunings and tunes for our recordings.

Lo Gordon and I just recorded a banjo duet on our Cedar Mountain banjos which we hope to have on our next CD. I have the A2 model with the rosewood rim and tone ring and a mahogany neck. Lo is a wonderful banjoist as well as a gentleman builder. He taught me the tune we played and let me play all the easy parts and he played the harmony. I can't wait for you to hear it. His banjos have such a clear and balanced recording voice.

A few years ago, I won a Goldtone Elite Classic as first place in the banjo contest at the Florida Folk Festival. It has a spun rim and natural skin head and is much like a reproduction of an SS Stewart. Ken Miller (of Ken Miller Guitars) set it up for me with real gut strings and it is one of the most interesting recording banjos I own. We recorded five songs on it tuned in a low A tuning for "Banjo Dreamin' Suwannee Nights." It really booms and sounds better than most SS Stewarts I have played.

TB: I own or have listened to all of your CD's. My two favorites are Walkin' that Banjo Home and your most recent, Banjo Dreamin' Suwannee Nights. Can you tell us how friends and family are involved in the making of a new CD?

MZC: We began seven years ago with "Vintage Banjo." When my husband and I would play, folks would ask for a CD of our music We were determined to produce a CD that when folks bought it, they would want to hear it more than once. We have tried our best to do that with all our CDs since. We pick only tunes that we love to play and record them in the best possible recording studio we are able to afford at the time.

We spend one- two years on each CD and always have the listener in mind. We have been so pleased that about 90% of our sales are repeat sales. Most folks buy one CD, then they come back and buy the rest. We think that each of our CDs gets better, but every single one is still in print and sells regularly.

TB: Mary, the Seven Hills tune on Walkin' that Banjo Home is a favorite of mine. How do you go about creating your own tunes?

MZC: This particular tune came out of my living room. Kay and I planned to record "Last Chance" in the key of F. We thought it was a shame to only record one tune in that key, but we didn't know any others, so we agreed, "lets try one. " Kay began to play chords in the key of F on her guitar, then I began to play melody notes. We did this for awhile until we found chords and a melody that we liked and the tune began to take shape Afterwards. I named it "Seven Hills" because Tallahassee, like Rome, is built on seven hills.

TB: Can you choose a favorite recording or two of yours and tell us about them?

MZC: Right now, my favorite is "Banjo Dreamin' Suwannee Nights" because we recorded our current favorite tunes on six different voices. We recorded it to sound like you were floating down the Suwannee River at night and you would hear different banjo voices playing as you passed along the Suwannee.

Of course, it's all fantasy as the only time you might hear banjo music playing along the Suwannee, is during the Florida Folk Festival every Memorial Day weekend.Still, if you close your eyes and listen, its not hard to imagine.

Our best seller, so far, is Vintage Banjo. It is very relaxing and has some wonderful tunes, especially the slow, dreamy, "Dixie." Of course, it has been in print for seven years and has been available for the longest time.

Fiddlers tell me that "Walkin' That Banjo Home" is their favorite, which is not surprising since it has the most fiddle/banjo on it. National Public Radio chose "Rachael" from it to play on All Songs Considered.

My oldest son says "Dulcimer Fandango" is his favorite. He even plays it in his lab at Cal Tech while he is working. He says it makes him feel like he is home again and can hear us playing in the other room. It is also our best seller at the Stephen Foster State Park gift shop in White Springs, Florida.

We are folklife demonstrators there, and often demonstrate the mountain dulcimer. It is still a little known instrument to the general public, and we find that when we play it , it is often the first time folks have heard one.

Banjoists and other musicians seem to love "A Secret Life Of Banjo." I think it is the most artistic of our recordings. It was certainly the most challenging to produce. It is not easy to build variety and texture into a solo banjo CD. I played mostly traditional tunes, but expanded with my own arrangements on them. I really enjoyed recording it because it features the voice of a banjo that is not competing with the sound of other string band instruments. The "Soldier's Joy" that I recorded for it is very different than what you would expect to hear, but surprisingly has been one of our best sellers on itunes.

TB: You have at least 4 TAB books now for your CD's. Do you do it yourself or have it done for you? (Can we include a TAB here of one of one of your favorites?)

MZC: I tab by hand, with my banjo in my lap, and a blank tab book and pencil. My husband enters them into Tabledit, prints them out, and I check them again with the banjo for accuracy and ease of fingering. We also edit the timing in the measures a lot too. It is tedious and time consuming , but we get many requests for tab, and we don't want to disappoint our workshop students and listeners who want to learn our music.

I own many big tab books where the tabs are so awkward to play. The fingerings have no flow or logic, and are cluttered with so many grace notes and embellishments that the melody is difficult to decipher. I think that sometimes folks purchase a book with a hundred tunes, but are never able to actually figure out more than one or two. I'd rather learn ten tunes from a book with fifteen tunes than two tunes from a book with hundreds of tunes, and many folks write to us and tell us they feel that way too.

Not many folks realize it, but I am a professional educator, and I plan my workshop lessons and tabs using repetition, clarity and simplicity, which makes it much easier and fun for students.

TB: Besides your CD's you have many banjo , dulcimer and group contest championships to your credit. Which ones mean the most to you?

MZC: The ones where I got big blue ribbons, banjos or cash. I have a few red and yellow ribbons too, but they just don't feel the same as the big blue ones. The blue is softer to the skin and feels great when you rub it on your face. At the last contest I entered (the 2006 Transylvania Halloweenfest in Brevard, North Carolina.) I won the blue in mountain dulcimer, the red in old time banjo, and a white (third) in the old time band contest with a pick up group called Sweet Potato Pie. (Mary Gordon, Tim Gardner, Pat Shields and me). When the winners in the banjo contest were announced, the finalist stood around and we rubbed our ribbons all over our faces and necks and everyone agreed that the blues were so much softer and finer than second or third place ribbons. The first place winner even commented that Chip Arnold's third place ribbon felt like sandpaper on his face.

TB: Well, we are starting to get an idea of just how involved you are in so many aspects of your music. Aside from contests, you also perform with your husband Bob and others. What are some of the venues where fans might be able to go to see you perform? What are some favorites?

MZC: Our next banjo workshop will be at the John C. Campbell Folk School in February. It will be a week long workshop for intermediate players and it is going to be great fun. I'm already in contact with a couple guest banjoists. We will also play a concert at the Keith House on the Campbell campus on Friday night. (February 23rd). Visit the website: www.folkschool.org for more information on the workshop and the concert.

TB: You are a professional music workshop teacher too. Is this a rewarding part of your music? Tell us about what you do as a teacher.

MZC: It is fun working with folks that want to learn the banjo and dulcimer. I focus my teaching on solid right hand technique, and teach in a natural way that allows the student to learn simple tunes using repetitive parts. In class we relax and have fun while playing because I truly believe that if you enjoy learning-you actually learn more.

The banjo life is fun and there is so much more to it than just playing notes! I have been fortunate in that at every camp or workshop I have taught so far-all the students seem to be musical geniuses. You should hear them when they play for a student showcase at the end. They sound like a banjo band and are awesome.

I am a bit of a nazi, though. Although I don't insist on any special techniques, finger placement, or embellishments-I do insist that everyone constantly tune and be in tune with the entire group, and that everyone play together at the same time. In longer workshops, students get a chance at a little individual and small group practice, but when the whole group is together, I highly discourage anyone from noodling off on his/her own. I try to keep everyone playing together so much that they don't have the opportunity to drift off and practice the wrong things on his/her own.

Actually, I find most of the students drive his/herself much harder than I would ever expect or consider. At one camp, I did a really intense review the first day-more than I intended, but the students kept wanting more. The next day, a nice lady came up and her fingertips were raw and bleeding and she wanted to make sure that we would get even more tunes the second day.

I also had a very nice gentleman faint in one of my banjo happenings and when the doctor brought him around, the first thing he said was, "its all Mary's fault." Of course, he was only joking, and I hadn't pushed him hard in class at all-but-he did push himself hard. He was in class a half hour early each day drilling himself before we started and I'm not sure he ever took a break. He sounded real good too. Just another musical genius.

Oh-and it never ceases to surprise and delight me that famous people sometimes show up in the workshops and I don't even know it till later. So far, there has been a Nobel Laureate, a violin maker from Prague, and this really awesome man who saved my husband and me from being blown up in our RV from a leaking propane line-he came right from class and helped Bob drain the line and disconnect it. Also, some really wonderful banjoists have dropped in to my classes and given demos from time to time: Mark Johnson, David Holt, David Brose, Lo Gordon, Chip Arnold.

TB: Recently you received a very special accolade in the Banjo Newsletter. What was that and why is it special?

MZC: The readers of Banjo Newsletter chose me as their fourth favorite clawhammer banjo player in the world. I was shocked. I didn't know that anyone knew I existed other than my friends and family. It was the first survey in eleven years, so I didn't even make the top ten for the last survey.

My husband, Bob, was really proud of me, and I laughed when I heard him on the phone bragging to our grown sons. "She got number four and she's the only girl on the list."

TB: Well, if all of this wasn't enough you have your own website, myspace and several blogs. How do you do all of this? Do you get help with the websites?

MZC: My graduate degrees are in library and information studies, so I can build and maintain a pretty straightforward web page. However, I work full time, so I never have enough time and am always behind on my updates. I absolutely love this digital age and the internet connections. Even ten years ago, a small indie artist like me would never have the opportunity to record and get my music to folks who would like it. Now, artists may record MP3s and market what they are doing with anyone with shared interest. I hear from folks all the time that find our music through itunes. It is really great for international listeners because they don't have to pay postage to download our CDs and wait for them to arrive.

TB: OK Mary, when you are done for the day being a recording artist, performer, Old Time Banjo Champion, teacher, webmaster, blogmaster, banjo collector, wife, mother and homemaker, and professional educator, what do you like to do for fun?

MZC: Most days I rush home, pack orders, and go to the post office. I enjoy playing my banjo and mountain dulcimer as it is very relaxing to just sit and play after a day of teaching and being a media specialist at a middle school.

My daughter, Natalie, moved back in with us in August, and Bob and I enjoy watching movies and going out to eat with her and her boyfriend, Blair. We all wait on our old basset hound, Jezebel, hand and foot. Bob and I hope to retire in a couple years and take a trip to Quebec and Cape Breton in our little Roadtrek camper. We camped in it all the way from Tallahassee to Malibu a couple years ago and we had the best time.

Our oldest son (Robert Sidney Cox III) called last week to let us know his doctoral committee invited him to defend soon. (He is a biogenetic engineer). So we may be planning another trip to California for his graduation in the next year.

My poor bees got demolished by hive beetles this year, but our Meyer's lemon tree is bent over with huge lemons and we have been harvesting them and expect we will be having lemon chicken and other lemony treats. My family has demanded a full Greek Christmas eve dinner this year, so we will be cooking most of Christmas week.

We have begun a new CD for 2007 or 2008. Kerry Blech has recorded some fiddle/banjo duets with me for it, and there will be some other wonderful guests on it too. Our youngest son, Gordon, who lives in NYC, is getting close to producing his first CD, and we have to wait until he is finished before he will be able to mix and edit our new one.

TB: Mary Z. Cox, thank you for the opportunity to talk with you. I look forward to your next CD and can only hope you come out west again to perform. I invite everyone to keep in touch with all that you do on your websites and your blog sites.

Mary's Website; http://www.maryzcox.com/
Mary's myspace: www.myspace.com/maryzcox
Mary's Blogsite: www.secretbanjo.blogspot.com/
Mary's Banjo Duds: www.cafepress.com/dreambanjo
CD's and TAB Books can be purchased at: www.maryzcox.com, http://cdbaby.com/cd/maryzcox, and http://www.itunes.com

Mary's CDs are heard regularly online on the old time radio station, Sugar In the Gourd, Mike Harding's show on BBC, as well as Frank P. Hoppes show on KCSN 88.5 in Southern California. Her MP3s are featured and available on itunes, efolkmusic, and with over 50 digital vendors including CD Baby.

Click to hear Mary's arrangement of Swannee River and Sandy Boys.

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About the Author

I live with my wife of 25 years in Carson Valley Nevada near Lake Tahoe where we pursue every manner of human powered outdoor activity possible.

I am a future Ex-Teacher of Biology.

I have been fingerpicking and flatpicking guitar since 1970 and have enjoyed bluegrass music since my first introduction to it at the Topanga Canyon Banjo and Fiddle contest and by Dillards at the Icehouse in Pasadena in the late 60's.

I have been playing banjo and mandolin for only two years focusing on 3 finger style. The opportunity to play bluegrass with others is difficult here so I play mostly with a couple friends and my son Andy. John Balch was my first introduction to clawhammer style. I love it and I hope to pursue that in the future.

After I retire in June, I hope to make a big trip back east to see some great festivals, music shops and banjo people.

My greatest joy in life is when my son comes home from college and says "let's play".

Samples of my severe lack of musical talent can be heard at http://www.nowhereradio.com/artists/album.php?aid=4324&alid=-1

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