ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Sleepy Man Banjo Boys - Bluegrass musicians
The Sleepy Man Banjo Boys is made up of 11-year-old banjo sensation Jonny Mizzone and his brothers Robbie, 14, on fiddle, and Tommy, 15, on guitar.

Why you should listen

These days your kid can get famous on YouTube for having water sprayed at him, for being duped about his Halloween candy, and for being high off laughing gas. But what if your 8-year-old gets famous on the Internet for being an absolute genius on the banjo? So goes the story of Jonny Mizzone, who first became a YouTube sensation in early 2011 for videos of him and his brothers tearing it up playing Earl Scruggs's Flint Hill Special. It wasn't long before the press started calling.

Now Jonny, Robbie (fiddle) and Tommy (guitar), known as the Sleepy Man Banjo Boys, are 11, 14 and 15 respectively. In 2011 alone they got calls from The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Jimmy Kimmel Live and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and in the summer of 2011 they appeared as musical guests on The Late Show with David Letterman and NBC’s Today Show.

While the trio grew up in New Jersey -- which is known more for rock music than for bluegrass -- they fell in love with the unique sounds of J.D. Crowe, Ralph Stanley, Clarence White and Earl Scruggs after some creative YouTube searching. Now, having become sensations on the platform themselves, the trio has accumulated more than 17 million video views. Their first album, America’s Music, was released in September 2011 and charted top eight on the Billboard Bluegrass Album Chart. In October 2012 they released their second album, The Farthest Horizon, which cracked the top three. The group is already at work on their next album.

More profile about the speaker
Sleepy Man Banjo Boys | Speaker | TED.com
TED@New York

Sleepy Man Banjo Boys: Teen wonders play bluegrass

Adolescentes virtuosos tocando bluegrass

Filmed:
2,427,615 views

Los hermanos Jonny, Robbie y Tommy Mizzone conforman el grupo "The Sleepy Man Banjo Boys", un trío de músicos virtuosos que interpretan bluegrass con asombrosa vivacidad. ¿Hemos mencionado que todos tienen menos de 16 años?
- Bluegrass musicians
The Sleepy Man Banjo Boys is made up of 11-year-old banjo sensation Jonny Mizzone and his brothers Robbie, 14, on fiddle, and Tommy, 15, on guitar. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:16
TommyTommy MizzoneMizzone: TonightEsta noche we're going to playjugar you two songscanciones.
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Tommy Mizzone: Esta noche vamos a interpretar dos canciones.
00:19
We're threeTres brothershermanos from NewNuevo JerseyJersey,
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Somos tres hermanos de New Jersey,
00:21
and the funnygracioso thing is that,
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y lo gracioso es que,
00:22
believe it or not, we are hookedenganchado on bluegrassbluegrass
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lo creáis o no, nos encanta el bluegrass
00:25
and we're excitedemocionado to playjugar it for you tonightesta noche.
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y será un placer tocar para vosotros esta noche.
00:27
(MusicMúsica)
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(Música)
02:23
(ApplauseAplausos)
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(Aplausos)
02:26
TMTM: Thank you, thank you.
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TM: Gracias, gracias.
02:28
(ApplauseAplausos)
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(Aplausos)
02:32
RobbieRobbie MizzoneMizzone: Thank you.
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Robbie Mizzone: Gracias
02:34
I'm RobbieRobbie MizzoneMizzone. I'm 13, and I playjugar the fiddleviolín.
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Soy Robbie Mizzone. Tengo 13 años y toco el violín.
02:36
This is my brotherhermano, JonnyJonny. He's 10, and he playsobras de teatro the banjobanjo.
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Este es mi hermano, Johnny. Tiene 10 años y toca el banjo.
02:39
And on guitarguitarra is my 14-year-old-edad brotherhermano, TommyTommy.
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Y a la guitarra, mi hermano Tommy, de 14 años.
02:42
(ApplauseAplausos)
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(Aplausos)
02:45
We call ourselvesNosotros mismos the SleepySoñoliento Man BanjoBanjo BoysChicos.
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Nos hacemos llamar "The Sleepy Man Banjo Boys".
02:52
(MusicMúsica)
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(Música)
04:48
(ApplauseAplausos)
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(Aplausos)
04:51
TMTM: Thank you.
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TM: Gracias.
04:52
JMJM: Thank you all.
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JM: Gracias a todos.
04:53
TMTM: Thank you very much.
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TM: Muchas gracias.
Translated by Blanca Martinez
Reviewed by SANDRA GUTIERREZ

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Sleepy Man Banjo Boys - Bluegrass musicians
The Sleepy Man Banjo Boys is made up of 11-year-old banjo sensation Jonny Mizzone and his brothers Robbie, 14, on fiddle, and Tommy, 15, on guitar.

Why you should listen

These days your kid can get famous on YouTube for having water sprayed at him, for being duped about his Halloween candy, and for being high off laughing gas. But what if your 8-year-old gets famous on the Internet for being an absolute genius on the banjo? So goes the story of Jonny Mizzone, who first became a YouTube sensation in early 2011 for videos of him and his brothers tearing it up playing Earl Scruggs's Flint Hill Special. It wasn't long before the press started calling.

Now Jonny, Robbie (fiddle) and Tommy (guitar), known as the Sleepy Man Banjo Boys, are 11, 14 and 15 respectively. In 2011 alone they got calls from The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Jimmy Kimmel Live and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and in the summer of 2011 they appeared as musical guests on The Late Show with David Letterman and NBC’s Today Show.

While the trio grew up in New Jersey -- which is known more for rock music than for bluegrass -- they fell in love with the unique sounds of J.D. Crowe, Ralph Stanley, Clarence White and Earl Scruggs after some creative YouTube searching. Now, having become sensations on the platform themselves, the trio has accumulated more than 17 million video views. Their first album, America’s Music, was released in September 2011 and charted top eight on the Billboard Bluegrass Album Chart. In October 2012 they released their second album, The Farthest Horizon, which cracked the top three. The group is already at work on their next album.

More profile about the speaker
Sleepy Man Banjo Boys | Speaker | TED.com