If your favorite film is Deliverance, then you should check out the American Banjo Museum in Oklahoma City. It has the largest display of banjos anywhere in the world. Visitors learn about the instrument’s beginnings in 17th century American slavery to its use in today’s bluegrass and folk music scenes. The museum even has a replica of a Shakey’s Pizza Parlor, the first pizza chain where every one of its restaurants had a banjo player. There are currently 340 banjos on public display; some are ornate pieces of art, while some are not as fancy or detailed. The oldest is from the 1890s. The most expensive is a 1937 Gibson, worth about $170,000. I don’t know if the song “Dueling Banjos” is on constant loop at the museum, but it should be. “Goddamn, you play a mean banjo.”
American Banjo Museum in Oklahoma City
