Forum - Banjo Ben Clark

Michael Ferguson from Kingsville, Missouri

#1

JPG
What’s your favorite lesson on Ben’s site?
That’s a super hard question! For banjo, I really liked Alan Munde’s backup, an his version of Red Wing. For guitar, my favorite is John Hardy. It has a ton of licks that are easy to plug into a lot of different songs.

What’s your instrument of choice and what was your inspiration to learn how to play?
My banjo is a Hatfield The Special. I love the crispness of walnut. My guitar is a Williams Custom TR (thanks Jake Stodgill!). I also play a Redline Reso Guitar, but I’m very much a beginner with that one. My father was my inspiration to learn guitar when I was younger. I learned banjo simply because I’ve never seen an unhappy banjo player!

What’s your goal when playing?
My goal with all of my playing is to simply make the song sound as good as it can and make the other pickers sound their best.

How long have you been playing?
I’ve been playing guitar since 1980. I started teaching myself banjo in 1997.

What’s your favorite hobby?
Other than music, my sole existence is for fly-fishing. I also like to take long motorcycle trips.

How long have you been a Gold Pick member?
Since July of 2012

What do you do for a living?
I have a company that invests in restaurants.

10 Likes
#2

Congrats Michael. Nice Banjo you have there.

#3

Congratulations Michael Ferguson!

#4

Congrats Michael

#5

Way to go Michael! Congratulations!

#6

Congrats Michael…

#7

Hey Michael, It’s a pleasure to meet you! How is the fly fishing been in Missouri so far this spring? I used to try a little fly fishing and even started tying my own flys for a while. I fished a little in N GA but we mainly have stocked fish here and real small streams. I finally gave it up and went back to the cane pole…too far for me to travel to N GA to fish.

#8

Sorry it took me so long to reply…fishing has been interesting here in MO this summer. It’s just been so darned hot. My wife and I went last week down to south MO and had a decent morning before it heated up. There’s some really nice trout streams here. I’m within about 3 to 4 hours from quite a few Blue Ribbon Trout streams. There’s even a small stream that has the last wild producing strain of Mcloud rainbows. They’re super spooky and hard to catch but totally worth the try. I’ve only caught one in all my attempts over the years but I’ll never forget it. I’ve been to north GA several times but have never fished there.

#9

I hear you on the weather. It’s been hot here too, but it’s never too hot to fish!

#10

Congrats Mr. Mike!

Fly fishing, ‘eh? How cool is THAT!

May your fishing and your picking be often and fulfilling!