Banjo Business in Norfolk

Allison Brown will headline Infinity Hall Norfolk on Thursday, June 6.
Provided
Allison Brown will headline Infinity Hall Norfolk on Thursday, June 6.
Bridging the banjo spectrum from Harvard to Hazard, Grammy-winning musician Allison Brown will headline Infinity Hall Norfolk June 6.
Brown grew up in North Stamford, Conn., and started playing guitar when she was eight. She soon discovered another stringed sound that piqued her interest.
“I was taking guitar lessons from Paul Guernsey. He brought a copy of Flatt and Scruggs’ “Foggy Mountain” album. That was my introduction to the banjo, and I just loved the sound. Paul gave me a few banjo lessons, and when my family relocated to La Jolla California in the mid 1970s, I discovered the San Diego Bluegrass Club. My focus shifted to banjo after that,” Brown says.
She learned to play Scrugg’s-style 5 string banjo (with 2 finger picks and a thumb pick on her right hand). Though her music veers into other styles (jazz, Latin, Celtic), she primarily uses Scrugg’s technique.
Her path to success has been unusual. After completing undergraduate studies at Harvard and receiving an MBA from UCLA, Brown worked in investment banking. But she missed bluegrass so much that when Alison Krauss called looking for a banjo player, she dropped her Wall Street career to pursue music. She toured with Alison Krauss and Union Station, and Michelle Shocked before forming her own group, The Alison Brown Quartet, in 1993.
“The lure of the banjo was just too much to resist. And I just couldn’t muster that much passion for tax exempt bonds. But I’ve put my MBA to work as co-founder of Compass Records, which will celebrate its 30th anniversary next year,” Brown says.
Since then, she has performed at festivals throughout the USA and Europe. Her band traveled to Latin America and to Japan as Friendship Ambassadors on behalf of the Nashville Mayor’s office to celebrate a new sister city relationship between Kamakura, Japan and Music City.
When asked about the connection between different global styles of banjo, Brown says,
“There are banjo-like instruments in a lot of cultures: the shamisen in Japan and the pipa in China for example. But the banjo that we know in the United States came from the enslaved people from West Africa. Over the course of the 1800s, it developed from being a handmade instrument into a mass-produced instrument and by the end of that 19th century, the banjo was America’s most popular instrument. It was actually the minstrel shows in the early to mid 1800s that brought the banjo to the UK and Ireland. It’s an incredibly versatile instrument in my opinion, and in its long history it has been a part of a lot of different genres: jazz, ragtime, classical (thinking about the banjo orchestras in the late 1800s), old time – all of that before Earl Scruggs ever played a lick. I’ve always felt it’s part of the banjo’s DNA to explore different musical styles.”
Brown has played with many of the greats, including Allison Krauss and Steve Martin.
“Both are incredible artists. Alison’s band gave me the opportunity to dig into the roots of bluegrass and travel through the parts of the country where bluegrass music was created. Steve is very inspiring. He’s a great banjo player with a gorgeous touch on the instrument as well as being a very intuitive writer. We’ve been writing music together lately, including our newest single “Bluegrass Radio” which came out in March and debuted at #1 on the Bluegrass chart.”
Brown is also the co-founder of Compass Records Group, which oversees a catalog of nearly 1,000 releases across multiple labels. She serves on the Board of the Nashville Chapter of the Recording Academy, the adjunct faculty of Vanderbilt’s Blair School of Music and as co-chair of the Steve Martin Banjo Prize.
And she’s released a new album called “On Banjo”, which she recorded at Compass Sound Studio in Nashville. Technology allowed her to collaborate from afar during the pandemic.
“Those strange times created the opportunity for remote collaborations with artists who were stuck at home since no one was on the road. Sharon Isbin and Anat Cohen recorded their parts remotely to tracks we did in Nashville. It was a different approach, but it opened up a way of thinking about how and whom you could collaborate with,” she says.
For her show at Infinity Hall Norfolk, Brown will perform with John Ragusa (flute), Mason Embry (piano), Garry West (bass) and Bryan Brock (drums). She also has family onboard.
“My daughter Hannah is going to be joining us as a special guest vocalist. She just graduated from Berklee College of Music, and it’s always a blast when she sits in with the band. Our set will include some original tunes, some familiar tunes, and some audio-visual accompaniment. The show offers something for everyone,” she says.
Ruth Franklin and Ileene Smith in conversation at Congregation Beth David in Amenia.
Congregation Beth David in Amenia hosted a conversation on the enduring legacy of Anne Frank, one of the 20th century’s most iconic figures. Ruth Franklin, award-winning biographer and critic, shared insights from her highly acclaimed book “The Many Lives of Anne Frank” with thought-provoking questions from Ileene Smith, Editorial Director of the Jewish Lives series. This event, held on July 23 — the date Anne Frank would have turned 96 — invited the large audience to reconsider Anne Frank not just as the young writer of a world-famous diary, but as a cultural symbol shaped by decades of representation and misrepresentation.
Franklin and Smith dove right in; Franklin reading a passage from the book that exemplified her approach to Anne’s life. She described her work as both a biography of Anne Frank and a cultural history of the diary itself, a document that has resonated across the world.
“The diary,”Franklin explained, “has been appropriated in ways that sometimes obscure the reality of who she was and the historical context of her life.” By weaving together different perspectives, including testimonies from those who knew Anne or whose lives were shaped by her, Franklin sought to rehumanize a figure who has, for better and worse, been turned into a symbol.
Franklin’s book examines the many faces of Anne Frank that have appeared in the public consciousness: the girl whose diary became a universal symbol of the Holocaust, the teenage diarist whose words offer an optimistic glimpse of humanity, and the historical figure whose Jewish identity has at times been obscured in favor of a broader, universal message. Franklin highlighted how Anne’s legacy was shaped by her father, Otto Frank. Many of Otto’s decisions have been viewed as controversial such as removing passages that could have alienated potential readers. While often criticized, Franklin suggested that his editorial work was driven by the desire to reach the broadest possible audience.
“I think we have to be so generous in thinking about Otto Frank and the choices that he made,” said Franklin. “He made the decision that he wanted the diary to be read by the greatest number of people possible. He wanted Anne’s message to go out into the world and work, as he said, against prejudice, understood in the widest possible sense. The Anne Frank House today in Amsterdam is carrying on his mission in making Anne’s story relatable and accessible and comparing it to many other different kinds of prejudice around the world. Not everybody agrees with this approach, but that’s what he decided to do.”
The conversation turned to a quote from author Cynthia Ozick, who argued that Anne’s story has been “vulgarized, distorted, and infantilized” in adaptations of the diary, particularly those created for mass consumption. While acknowledging the validity of Ozick’s concerns, Franklin pushed back. The desire to make Anne’s story accessible to a global audience, Franklin suggested, began with Anne herself, who rewrote her diary with an eye toward future readers who might not understand her specific historical context.
The conversation also delved into the profound grief and ambivalence Otto Frank must have felt as he worked to preserve his daughter’s legacy. Franklin’s expressed deep empathy for him, burdened with making Anne’s diary into something more than a personal testament. “He was working with a tragic loss, with an immense responsibility,” Franklin noted.
The evening’s discussion expanded to include the contentious debate over the graphic version of Anne Frank’s diary, which has been banned in several U.S. states. Critics of the graphic adaptation have condemned it for including depictions of Anne’s developing sexuality, citing them as “pornographic.” Franklin pointed out that this outrage stems from “the intersection of homophobia and anti-Semitism” in today’s political climate, highlighting how Anne’s legacy continues to be embroiled in ongoing cultural and political struggles. “The books that are most frequently banned in the country right now are those that have to do with LGBTQ content.This is a serious issue of the Republican Party persecuting gay people and trans people more generally,” said Franklin.
Smith pointedly asked Franklin about what is widely considered the most famous quote from the diary: “In spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart.” Franklin responded, “In many ways, Anne Frank was an optimistic person and that quote is an accurate reflection of who she was. At the same time, that quote is incomplete. It actually comes in the middle of a much longer passage in which she describes feeling hopeless about the future of the world.” Franklin continued, “That quote is often dismissed by Holocaust scholars or other people who have said with a lot of confidence that if Anne Frank had survived the camps to write about it, she would no longer have believed that people are truly good at heart. My own position, which is the perspective I adopt in this book, is that none of us can know what a surviving Anne Frank would have thought about anything at all, and it is irresponsible to speculate about it.We simply can’t go there. “
As the conversation concluded, the room was filled with a sense of reflection and appreciation. The crowd was invited to continue the conversation in the Community Room, where Franklin signed copies of her book, which were available through Oblong Books. Her visit left attendees with much to ponder about how we interpret history, memory, and the cultural artifacts that endure.
The Farm at Pond Lily in Elizaville will be the site of The Ancram Center’s 10th Anniversary bash.
The Ancram Center for the Arts is marking a milestone this summer with a celebration of its 10th Anniversary Season. The Anniversary Bash will be held on Friday, Aug. 2, from 6:30 to 10:30 p.m. The Farm at Pond Lily in Elizaville, promising an unforgettable evening of performance, community, and one-of-a-kind experiences.
Hosted by honorary co-chairs Joan Osofsky of Hammertown and Taylor Mac, the evening will spotlight a lineup of celebrated guest performers including David Cale, Matthew Dean Marsh, Kate Douglass, Maria Christina Oliveras, and a possible appearance by Taylor Mac himself.
A vibrant roster of emcees will guide the festivities, featuring longtime Ancram favorites James Occhino, Danielle Skraastad, Drew Ledbetter, Andrus Nichols, and MaConnia Chesser.
Adding to the evening’s excitement is a silent auction packed with unique experiences, from a curated night out in NYC and a private pontoon party on Copake Lake to a stay-and-play trip to the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and an exclusive Santa Fe opera getaway.
Whether you’re a longtime supporter or new to the Ancram Center, this anniversary celebration promises a night of heartfelt performances, community spirit, and generous surprises in a stunning setting.
For tickets and more information, visit www.ancramcenter.org