Gina Furtado – photo by Scott Mason, The Winchester Star
Gina Furtado is the latest banjo player to be memorialized by Bud Bennett at Radford University in his video oral history project of prominent 5-stringers. Billed as Banjo Masters, his previous interviews have included discussions with icons Butch Robbins, Sammy Shelor, Jens Kruger, John Bullard, and several others.
Since these are all long form interviews, there are no time constraints placed on the artists’ responses, so they can provide in-depth information both about their own lives and careers, and the way they look at the banjo.
Furtado’s video runs just under an hour and includes discussion of her early life in a deeply musical family, how she learned to play and came to live as a professional musician. It was recorded as Gina was transitioning from a gig with Chris Jones & The Night Drivers to a full time job fronting her own band, The Gina Furtado Project.
Save this one for when you have an hour to focus your attention on getting to know Gina.
If you haven’t seen them, all of Bud’s videos are worth your attention. Students of the banjo in particular are encouraged to visit Bennet’s Vimeo channel online.
