In 2013, when my then four-year-old daughter asked for a banjo for her birthday, I couldn’t find anything small enough that wasn’t a toy. I thought that maybe I could make a small one for her. With essentially zero building skills I managed to put one together using a scrap 2x4, some nails for fretbars, and a small tambourine. When it sounded better than I expected, I thought I’d try to build a full-sized banjo for myself. I was hooked.

Over the next few years I learned more about construction and history of the banjo, being drawn especially to early American designs, as well as to African and Indian instruments. After some time making banjos for friends I launched Lowly Mountain Banjos in 2018 as a way to spread the love of this instrument to as many people as possible. My name is Fred and I want to build your banjo.