Pete Ross is a luthier, musician, and teacher who has been playing and building banjos since 1991. He is well versed in stoke-style, clawhammer, and various up-picking techniques,with particular emphasis on the styles of Nathan Frazier, Uncle Dave Macon, and Virgil Anderson. After building early American banjos at the School of Visual Arts in New York City, Pete apprenticed with musician and craftsman Scott Didlake of Jackson, Mississippi until Scott’s death in 1994. Since then, he has been building gourd and wood-rimmed banjos in his Baltimore shop, and often works with the renowned banjo builder and engraver Kevin Enoch. In 2009, Pete served as Kevin’s apprentice through a Maryland Traditions Apprenticeship Award from the Maryland State Arts Council. Pete's banjos are featured in museums and exhibits around the world, and have been played in performance by such banjo icons as Cheick Hamala Diabate, Bob Carlin, Joe Ayers, and the late Mike Seeger. Also a noted scholar of banjo history, he has been interviewed for the documentaries Slavery and the Making of America, The Librarian and the Banjo, and Give Me the Banjo.
Pete Ross
