We just finished reading “Farmer Boy” by Laura Ingalls Wilder, which our son Henry loved. He noticed how hard they worked and how little they had, even though they were prosperous farmers and landowners. He noticed how many things the family made and did by hand, even though they had money to spend in town. I noticed that the characters leaned on honesty and hard work to fix the problem. No excuses, no lies and no backing out of duty and responsibility. I admit that I made a mistake when working on this banjo and found myself thinking “what would the dad in Farmer Boy do?” I messaged the customer, admitted the problem and fixed it so that we are both happy. I’m proud of my work, happy to support my family this way and grateful for the business. We don’t do everything in the old ways, but Farmer Boy really got me thinking. Maybe we should get a few pigs…or build a sleigh…or make some watermelon pickles…or weave our own straw hats…we are gonna need more than 1/2 acre though….

The walnut for this banjo is urban salvage from Goby in Portland. The pistachio is from California orchards. The hands that built it are mine, the hands that play it are yours, the music is for everybody.

“Hi Nicole and Aaron,
I love my mini banjo! It’s fun and easy to play and a work of art. The craftsmanship is beautiful.

- C. M. ”