Person Record

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1 of 1977 Brad Roth

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Name

Roth, Brad

Role

Banjoist

Spouse

Linda

Places of residence

California

Titles & honors

American Banjo Museum Hall of Fame Class of 2021

Sphere Of Activity

In the world of instrumental music, it is particularly difficult for a musician to develop a unique and instantly recognizable sound and style on any particular instrument while simultaneously being thought of by his peers and fans alike as simply being a "good guy." However, through innate musicality coupled determination and a lifetime of positive spirited performances, plectrum banjo artist Brad Roth has done just that.

Immersed in his parent's music as a youngster, after his father taught him to play the ukulele at the age of nine, Brad's musical course was set in motion. Seguing to the plectrum banjo, after Roth heard, in his words, "the miraculous banjo style of Eddie Peabody," his singular focus became learning to play in the manner of the "Banjo King." A quick study, with tutelage by players such as Hank Dougherty, Cuppy Ames and Frank Vodich, the young banjo phenom was soon a featured performer at major West coast banjo festivals.

Although determined to be a soloist, through his father's powers of persuasion Brad was introduced to the banjo's role in Dixieland jazz, ultimately becoming a member of the Jazz Minors. After being the first youth band in history to be featured at the Sacramento Jazz Jubilee in 1975, the Jazz Minors toured the nation - including a White House concert for President Jimmy Carter - prior to taking up a five-year residence at Disneyland in Anaheim, California. While enjoying his role in the band, Brad's solo identity resurfaced at Disney where he was introduced to a national audience on the New Mickey Mouse Club television program.

Growing to old to be "minors" the band left Disney and broke up in 1984 at which point Brad took a drafting job with a civil engineer and banjo player friend named Steve Simpson. With a gift for business and promotion, Simpson parlayed a coincidental meeting of musicians at a casual gig into a mainstream act known as Banjomania. Ultimately comprised of Brad Roth, Doug Mattocks, Steve Simpson and Charlie Warren, Banjomania toured constantly, performing everywhere from small auditoriums to the Grand Ole Opry and the MDA Jerry Lewis Telethon. Thanks to Brad Roth's sensitive musical direction, Banjomania introduced a national audience to the banjo's unlimited musical scope and potential at its highest level.

Tiring of the road, Brad left Banjomania in 1987, settling into a happy marriage and raising a family while working in the growing computer industry. Although music had become an avocation, his nearly 20 year association with the Night Blooming Jazzmen kept Brad's amazing banjo and guitar skills in front of an appreciative audience of classic jazz fans while inspiring his two daughters, Noelle and Sophia, to become musicians as well. Gravitating towards the pop music of the 1930s and 40s, their family band, Euphoric Swing, joyfully extends the Roth family's love of music one more generation.

As demand for the banjo in the jazz world had diminished, recent years have seen Brad adapt his musicianship and technique to a new instrument, developing into a masterful jazz guitarist. However, just about when he'd given up hope that the phone would ever ring looking for a banjo player, in 2020 Steve Simpson called inviting Roth to reunite with Banjomania in the production of a new recording project entitled Painting The Clouds With Sunshine. And, with that, Brad's love affair with the banjo was instantly rekindled, much to the delight of banjo fans everywhere.

To paraphrase Walter Houston in the film Yankee Doodle Dandy, "I don't know of any musician who - in the long run, wouldn't rather be thought of as a great guy rather than a great musician." Without question, Brad Roth is thought of as both. Johnny Baier, American Banjo Museum