Don Reno
Don Reno as Donald Wesley Reno ( born February 21, 1927 in Spartanburg, South Carolina, USA; † 16 October 1984) was an American bluegrass banjo player and guitarist.
Life
Childhood and youth
Don Reno grew up in rural South Carolina. At age five he built his first banjo and played already as a teenager with the Morris Brothers and Arthur "Guitar Boogie" Smith. A little later he took on first plates with Woody Guthrie before he served in the U.S. Navy 1944-1946.
Career
After his return from military service in Reno first worked as a front man of a local bluegrass band, before he replaced as a banjo player in Bill Monroe's backing band, the Blue Grass Boys, Earl Scruggs. As Scruggs had done it before, Reno influenced the Bluegrass with the 3- finger style instrumental and contributed to the popularization of this style of play at.
1949 Reno left the Blue Grass Boys to Tommy Magness and his Tennessee Buddies join. In this band, he met his future long-term partner Red Smiley know. Together they formed the bluegrass duo Reno and Smiley, which remained one of the most successful bluegrass formations until 1964. During his partnership with smiley reach Reno hits like I Know You're Married, Do not Let Your Sweet Love The I'm Using My Bible or for a Road Map. Reno and Smiley were simultaneously popular musician in the popular Old Dominion Barn Dance and moderated their own television show.
After Smiley had diabetes in 1964 because of his tours severely limited, Reno began in 1966 with the multi-instrumentalist Bill Harrell a new musical partnership that held the next ten years. With Fiddler Benny Martin Reno later gained another chart hit with Soldier's Prayer in Vietnam.
In the 1970s, Reno played with Bill Harrell for Dot Records, Monument Records and CHM Records a few albums that played now and again Renos old fellow Smiley. In the fall of 1976 Reno separated from Harrell and settled in Lynchburg, Virginia, where he continued to deny appearances with his sons. In 1979, he teamed up again with Arthur Smith for the album Arthur Smith and Don Reno Feudin 'Again together.
Don Reno died in 1984. He was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame posthumously in 1992.
Banjo style
Reno played the 5 -string resonator banjo in bluegrass music. Reno developed the "single string" O.A. "Double Thumbing " style (there the strings are played in a similar the plectrum / Tenor Banjo, but played individually alternately with plectrum, with thumb and index finger and thumb and index - thumb - index, etc.) in combination with the " Brushtechnik ". The Brushtechnik is also similar to the Plectrum / Tenor Banjo inspired game, but this only played two or three strings in the chord with the thumb pick. Reno plays the chords it slowly, not as fast as in jazz. Be used to play a thumb pick and two metal finger picks on the index and middle fingers.