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

Adolescenti prodigio suonano il bluegrass

Filmed:
2,427,615 views

I fratelli Jonny, Robbie eTommy Mizzone sono "The Sleepy Man Banjo Boys", un trio di magistrali interpreti di bluegrass che suonano con gran vivacità. Abbiamo già detto che hanno tutti meno di 16 anni?
- 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: TonightStasera we're going to playgiocare you two songscanzoni.
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Tommy Mizzone: Stasera suoneremo due canzoni.
00:19
We're threetre brothersfratelli from NewNuovo JerseyJersey,
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Siamo due fratelli del New Jersey,
00:21
and the funnydivertente thing is that,
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e la cosa divertente è,
00:22
believe it or not, we are hookedadunco on bluegrassBluegrass
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che ci crediate o meno, che siamo patiti di bluegrass
00:25
and we're excitedemozionato to playgiocare it for you tonightstasera.
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e siamo emozionati di suonare per voi stasera.
00:27
(MusicMusica)
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115814
(Musica)
02:23
(ApplauseApplausi)
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2853
(Applausi)
02:26
TMTM: Thank you, thank you.
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TM: Grazie, grazie.
02:28
(ApplauseApplausi)
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(Applausi)
02:32
RobbieRobbie MizzoneMizzone: Thank you.
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Robbie Mizzone: Grazie.
02:34
I'm RobbieRobbie MizzoneMizzone. I'm 13, and I playgiocare the fiddleFiddle.
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Sono Robbie Mizzone. Ho 13 anni e suono il violino.
02:36
This is my brotherfratello, JonnyJonny. He's 10, and he playsgiochi the banjobangio.
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Questo è mio fratello, Jonny. Ha 10 anni e suona il banjo.
02:39
And on guitarchitarra is my 14-year-old-anni brotherfratello, TommyTommy.
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Alla chitarra c'è mio fratello Tommy di 14 anni.
02:42
(ApplauseApplausi)
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(Applausi)
02:45
We call ourselvesnoi stessi the SleepySonnolento Man BanjoBanjo BoysRagazzi.
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Ci chiamiamo Sleepy Man Banjo Boys.
02:52
(MusicMusica)
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(Musica)
04:48
(ApplauseApplausi)
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(Applausi)
04:51
TMTM: Thank you.
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TM: Grazie.
04:52
JMJM: Thank you all.
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JM: Grazie a tutti.
04:53
TMTM: Thank you very much.
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TM: Grazie infinite.
Translated by Anna Cristiana Minoli
Reviewed by Elena Montrasio

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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