This is a feature we are running to memorialize the creative and musical legacy of the late J.D. Crowe, who we lost just before Christmas. We are calling it My Favorite Crowe Lick, and each episode will feature a prominent bluegrass banjo player sharing both their thoughts about Crowe and his influence, and showing us a lick they learned from his playing that sticks with them.

Today’s installment comes from Ned Luberecki, familiar to bluegrass fans not only for his work as banjo picker with the Becky Buller Band, but also for his broadcast work on SiriusXM’s Bluegrass Junction, channel 62. He was chosen as Banjo Player of the Year in 2018 by the voting members of the IBMA, and is an in-demand banjo instructor at workshops all over the world. You can find his banjo instructional videos at TrueFire.

Prior to joining Becky’s band in 2016, he toured as a member of Chris Jones & The Night Drivers for 13 years. There he had the chance to express himself banjoistically, and as a humorist and all around character, which he has continued to the present.

Ned’s most recent solo project was Take Five in 2017 where he showed off his banjo chops on a wide range of bluegrass and jazz music, both classic and original.