Blues maestro Deacon Earl shares tools of his trade

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I grew up in church, so I grew up listening to blues type sounding music. It appealed to me as a young kid. But being a preacher’s son, I was only able to listen to gospel music. I found I had to expand my mind and moved out of my parents’ house in high school because of that.

The girl I was dating at the time turned me on to some reggae stuff like Bob Marley and also Jimi Hendrix. I thought “Where has this been my whole life?” That was it.

I wanted to be a musician.

At the time, I had all the clothes but didn’t know how to play a chord. When I learned two chords, I was off.

The main thing is these instruments are my work tools. What I have now is what I need. I can customize them for any gig or style.

As far as naming them, I named the big hollow body guitar “Big Bertha.” The rest of them I named them based on the company name. My Moniker guitar is named “Monica.” My LTD guitar is named “Lydia.” The Ariana banjo named itself “Ariana.”

Black history attracts me to the banjo. It was a West African instrument and originally the blues were played on the banjo. They switched to guitar because it was lighter to carry. Nowadays you don’t see many black folks playing the banjo. Don Flemons was a big inspiration when I saw the Carolina Chocolate Drops and Otis Taylor with the Black Banjo Project. I thought if some young kids could see me play the banjo, it could revive the grandeur of the black banjo historical tradition. But everyone wants to be a rapper and not a musician anymore.

My wife’s dad gave me an old banjo. It was his great great grandpa’s. I researched it and it was only made between 1894 to 1897. It is made by Pollman Professional, which is famous for making the mandolin banjo.

It isn’t valuable. I took it to Elderly Instruments and got it appraised to be valued at $120. In order for it to be in playing condition, I have to get rid of the original hardware. If I added hundreds of dollars more for repairs, it would’ve brought the value up to only $200. So I decided I’ll just keep it as is and use it as a display piece.

I like playing banjo solo and then bass or guitar with a rock band on the same day. I see a lot of musicians eventually get upset about playing the same songs and basic stuff. Changing things up keeps me from hating music. That’s how I’ve been keeping things fresh.

(This interview was edited and condensed by Dennis Burck. If you have a recommendation for “Favorite Things,” please email dennis@lansingcitypulse.com.)


Deacon Earl at the Allen Farmers Market

5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 27. 1611 E. Kalamazoo St., Lansing

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