The Glory-Beaming Banjo

This year has already been pretty  extra , but the stakeholders behind the Steve Martin Banjo Prize just said, "Hold my beer." According to a No Depression article today , five banjo players have won the 2020 award. You may recall that after the 2019 award was announced, there was some uncertainty as to whether the prize would continue. In August, which according to the calendar I have here was only two months ago, the non-profit FreshGrass Foundation signed on to continue awarding the prize into its second decade.  In the past, there was only one winner per year, with a cash prize of $50,000. With FreshGrass taking the reins, the organization announced that the prize would an annual award of $25,000 to one or more banjo players across the stylistic spectrum including both five- and four-string banjo masters.  "However, in light of the tremendous need in the musical community this year, the 2020 prize will be $50,000 split equally between five banjo players," accor...