Susan,

What you're doing with the banjo is breaking new ground, and I understand how gratifying that can be. I've done a fair amount of playing with non-bluegrass musicians, and I can generally find a place to fit. In many cases it really can enhance the music, but I advise to keep in mind that that should be first in your mind, not just your own fun in experimentation. You seem to be doing this, but it's still worth a reminder.

I have played with rock bands (mainly on bluegrass-type tunes, but once in a wide-open "jam" situation with Phish), Dixieland, folk, Cajun, blues, jug band stuff, chorales, etc. In each case you have to keep well aware of what the band needs to make its music work, such as different ways of feeling the rhythm, which instrument is rhythmic center, what volume breaks and accents should be, etc.

As far as good examples of recorded music with 5-string included, I can recommend any of the old recordings of the Jim Kweskin Jug Band, with Bill Keith on banjo (late 60s), and a relatively unknown guy from New York named Curtis Eller, who aims for a turn-of-the-century "circus" sound to his music. You can Google him and get one of his records.

Rogerio Santos and various others play Bach and other classical composers on banjo and a lot of it sounds great (but hard). Jazz, like Béla stuff in general, is scary because it really requires a thorough knowledge of scales and modes, chord substitutions, etc. to sound fluent. I think Bela does it really well, but I don't aspire to head that way.

Tony Trischka is another fearless character who can and does put himself in a variety of non-bluegrass settings and pulls together a lot of new and interesting music. His record World Turning is a masterpiece to me, covering an awful lot of bases. Then there's his Christmas record, Glory Shone All Around. At his live shows he does a Beatles medley and lots of wonderful stuff mostly outside the boundaries of bluegrass. And of course he's also a great bluegrass player.

You might want to check out my stuff with Flexigrass, or either of my two solo albums. There's a lot of stuff that comes out of my head, that I have recorded with bluegrass instruments (or not) that doesn't really sound like bluegrass. Flexigrass (formerly The Live Five) music does visit funk, old jazz, swing, and various as-yet-unnamed styles, and as you indicate, it's a thrill making it work and thus creating good new sounds.

I think the main thing you need is the right attitude ("If there's a way, I'm going for it"), which you clearly have; plus as much aesthetic sensitivity as you can muster while your main concentration is on following the changes. There's a lot to learn, and as you have discovered, you can learn a lot just by trying to make something happen.

When you do the above, then revisit bluegrass, you get a sense of how demanding bluegrass can be, especially to other musicians who aren't familiar with it. It's something you have to keep in your brain and fingers regularly, or it can get pretty rusty. But knowledge of and interest in other forms (such as Earl Scruggs has always shown, from back when he added Farewell Blues and Bugle Call Rag to the bluegrass repertoire) can do nice things for your bluegrass playing.

Keep it up, and have a ball!

Pete Wernick