Yes… in a manner of speaking.
Tonight’s episode of the popular musical comedy series, Glee, features the cast of fresh-faced high schoolers putting on a production of Grease.
In the funny way things work, the call for a banjo player for the soundtrack ended up going to G2’s Jens Koch, who showed up at a tracking session not knowing what to expect.
“One of the producers called me and wanted banjo in one of the songs for the Glease episode (Look at Me I’m Sandra Dee), and I showed up not really knowing what they wanted me to play.
Turned out that they wanted it just like the original – we’re talking plectrum style banjo. It wasn’t even worth trying with picks. So, I bowed silently to Earl, took off the fingerpicks and played it like they wanted it.
It was quite a new experience to play it like a plectrum banjo, being more of a rhythm instrument, and I hope I did it justice.
If they ever do a bluegrass episode, I hope I’ll get the chance to play more of my style, with picks that is!”
Glee airs on the Fox network on Thursdays at 9:00 p.m. (ET/PT). Keep an ear out for Jens’ experiment in plectrum banjo on this evening’s show.
