Playing in front of people felt 'like an impenetrable wall'

The motorbike-riding, music-obsessed American writer Steven Sherrill has always enjoyed ruffling feathers with words, even when it got him into trouble in his youth. With the Minotaur of the Greek myths as his creative companion, he would eventually become a bestselling novelist and professor at Pennsylvania State University. Alongside words, he is strongly drawn to Old Time banjo playing which has its roots in the 19th century and beyond. As Covid lockdown eased, Steven set off on a pilgrimage to visit his banjo idols and play at their graves. But the journey didn’t quite turn out the way he had planned it.

Sam Lee collects songs and stories from Traveller communities in the British Isles. To preserve them, he then records his own takes on them, adding a distinctive jazz and global feel. Sam spoke to Outlook in 2016.

Presenter: Jo Fidgen
Producer: Radek Boschetty

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(Photo description: Steven Sherrill at the grave of Clarence Ashley, September 2021. Steven, in blue jeans, a green shirt and a baseball cap, is sitting in front of Ashley's gravestone at the Ashley family cemetery deep in the US countryside, and plays his banjo Theseus. Credit: Steven Sherrill)