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

Trei frați adolescenți interpretează muzică bluegrass

Filmed:
2,427,615 views

Frații Jonny, Robbie and Tommy Mizzone alcătuiesc un trio de muzicieni numiți „The Sleepy Man Banjo Boys”, care interpretează cu uimitoare vivacitate muzică bluegrass. Toți sunt sub 16 ani.
- 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: TonightIn seara asta we're going to playa juca you two songscântece.
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Tommy Mizzone: În seara asta o să vă cântăm două cântece.
00:19
We're threeTrei brothersfrați from NewNoi JerseyJersey,
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Suntem trei frați din New Jersey
00:21
and the funnyamuzant thing is that,
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și, credeți sau nu,
00:22
believe it or not, we are hookedcoroiat on bluegrassbluegrass
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suntem fani ai muzicii bluegrass.
00:25
and we're excitedexcitat to playa juca it for you tonightastă seară.
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Suntem încântați să vă cântăm în seara asta.
00:27
(MusicMuzica)
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(Muzică)
02:23
(ApplauseAplauze)
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(Aplauze)
02:26
TMTM: Thank you, thank you.
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TM: Mulțumesc. Mulțumesc.
02:28
(ApplauseAplauze)
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(Aplauze)
02:32
RobbieRobbie MizzoneMizzone: Thank you.
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Robbie Mizzone: Mulțumesc.
02:34
I'm RobbieRobbie MizzoneMizzone. I'm 13, and I playa juca the fiddlevioara.
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Sunt Robbie Mizzone. Am 13 ani și cânt la vioară.
02:36
This is my brotherfrate, JonnyJonny. He's 10, and he playsjoacă the banjobanjo.
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Acesta este fratele meu, Jonny. Are 10 ani și cântă la banjo.
02:39
And on guitarchitara is my 14-year-old-de ani brotherfrate, TommyTommy.
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La chitară e fratele meu de 14 ani, Tommy.
02:42
(ApplauseAplauze)
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(Aplauze)
02:45
We call ourselvesnoi insine the SleepySomnoros Man BanjoBanjo BoysBăieţi.
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Ne numim Sleepy Man Banjo Boys.
02:52
(MusicMuzica)
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(Muzică)
04:48
(ApplauseAplauze)
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(Aplauze)
04:51
TMTM: Thank you.
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TM: Mulțumim.
04:52
JMJM: Thank you all.
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JM: Vă mulțumim tutror.
04:53
TMTM: Thank you very much.
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TM: Mulțumim frumos.
Translated by Alin Andrei
Reviewed by Ariana Bleau Lugo

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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