He's the Banjo Man

In a big barn in Swansea, Seekonk resident Steve Caddick and eleven other musicians gather regularly to practice for their first gig together as an orchestra. Like any other orchestra they have a string section. Unlike any other orchestra all they have is a string section. Indeed, this orchestra is made up entirely of four-string banjos.

Caddick, who’s been playing the instrument for over fifty years, is both director and organizer of the New England Banjo Orchestra. He got the idea after hearing, and then sitting in with, the Dallas Banjo Band.

“I said ‘That’s what a banjo band should sound like,’” says Caddick. “Just this big multi-layered sound coming from all banjos.”

The New England Banjo Orchestra will be debuting in June at the 1^st biannual Boston Summer Banjo Bash, also organized by Caddick. The event will feature banjo players from all over the country - many in the National Four-String Banjo Hall of Fame - and also a group from Holland. The Boston event will act as a sister event to the biannual Arizona Banjo Blast, and will be the “largest event of its type to date,” according to Caddick.

Caddick began playing the banjo over fifty years ago. His father Bill was a well-known regional banjoist who began teaching his son at the age of nine.

“I’d play melodies and he would create a harmony,” says Caddick. “He did improv. His stuff just came. He didn’t really rehearse. Every time he played something it came out a little bit different.”

When Caddick got older he and his father played together. For years they worked five nights a week at The Ground Round running sing-a-longs and trivia contests. All the while Caddick was making a name for himself playing in bands regionally and nationally. He still plays regular concerts with his band Avalon.

Over the years Caddick has also taught four-string banjo to scores of students. He works out of his home teaching to local students, and over Skype to students as far away as China and Ireland.

Recently Caddick was surprised to find out that some of his students had gotten together to nominate him for the National Four String Banjo Hall of Fame. The process was no small feat and included letters of recommendation, news clippings, biographical material, photographs, and educational materials that Caddick developed. It will be at least a year or two before they hear whether he got accepted, he says.

Until then, Caddick will keep on strumming. “I feel God singing through my fingers when I’m playing.”