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

Tiener-wonderboys spelen bluegrass

Filmed:
2,427,615 views

Gebroeders Jonny, Robbie en Tommy Mizzone vormen The Sleepy Man Banjo Boys, een trio van virtuoze bluegrass-muzikanten die met schitterende levendigheid spelen. Hebben we al gezegd dat ze allemaal onder de 16 zijn?
- 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: TonightVanavond we're going to playspelen you two songssongs.
0
1057
2165
Tommy Mizzone: Vanavond spelen we
twee liedjes voor jullie.
00:19
We're threedrie brothersbroers from NewNieuw JerseyJersey,
1
3222
2000
We zijn drie broers uit New Jersey en
00:21
and the funnygrappig thing is that,
2
5222
1648
het gekke is dat we,
00:22
believe it or not, we are hookedverslaafd on bluegrassBluegrass
3
6870
2640
geloof het of niet, verslaafd zijn aan bluegrass.
00:25
and we're excitedopgewonden to playspelen it for you tonightvanavond.
4
9510
2156
We vinden het geweldig om vanavond
voor jullie te spelen.
00:27
(MusicMuziek)
5
11666
115814
(Muziek)
02:23
(ApplauseApplaus)
6
127480
2853
(Applaus)
02:26
TMTM: Thank you, thank you.
7
130333
2469
TM: Dank je, dank je.
02:28
(ApplauseApplaus)
8
132802
4285
(Applaus)
02:32
RobbieRobbie MizzoneMizzone: Thank you.
9
137087
1424
Robbie Mizzone: Dank je.
02:34
I'm RobbieRobbie MizzoneMizzone. I'm 13, and I playspelen the fiddleviool.
10
138511
2320
Ik ben Robbie Mizzone,
ik ben 13 en speel viool.
02:36
This is my brotherbroer, JonnyJonny. He's 10, and he playstoneelstukken the banjobanjo.
11
140831
2560
Dit is mijn broer, Jonny.
Hij is 10 en speelt banjo.
02:39
And on guitargitaar is my 14-year-old-jaar oud brotherbroer, TommyTommy.
12
143391
2729
En op de gitaar:
mijn 14-jarige broer, Tommy.
02:42
(ApplauseApplaus)
13
146120
3847
(Applaus)
02:45
We call ourselvesonszelf the SleepySleepy Man BanjoBanjo BoysJongens.
14
149967
2955
We noemen onszelf de 'Sleepy Man Banjo Boys'.
02:52
(MusicMuziek)
15
156306
116493
(Muziek)
04:48
(ApplauseApplaus)
16
272799
2603
(Applaus)
04:51
TMTM: Thank you.
17
275402
1412
TM: Dank je.
04:52
JMJM: Thank you all.
18
276814
922
JM: Dank jullie allemaal.
04:53
TMTM: Thank you very much.
19
277736
4000
TM: Heel veel dank.
Translated by Christel Foncke
Reviewed by Rik Delaet

▲Back to top

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