Bluegrass at Carnegie Hall–Sleepy Man Banjo Boys Style!

Sleepy Man Banjo Boys have been invited to play at Carnegie Hall on November 30th for Tim Janis American Christmas Carol, benefiting Kate Winslet's Golden Hat Foundation!!!

The Golden Hat Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to eliminating barriers for people with autism around the world.

This is an amazing cause and the SMBB say they are honored to be part of it. . . And oh yeah - they're going to stick with the 5-string banjo, fiddle and guitar - that grand piano looks intimidating !!!

Nine year-old banjo picker Jonny Mizzone along with his brothers Robbie (13) on fiddle, and Tommy (14) on guitar, are The Sleepy Man Banjo Boys. Though their combined age is younger than music’s Hip-Hop era, it’s the 1950’s music of Flatt and Scruggs and The Stanley Brothers that inspires them.

“In my 65 years I’ve never seen a banjo player with this combination of youth and talent. And the group is excellent… They play together so well! This group will be making waves for many years!” Pete Wernick (“Dr. Banjo”)

Best known for their YouTube bedroom practice videos, with over 9 million views, this young bluegrass trio has become an overnight sensation, the only such phenomenon in the history of bluegrass music, going back to 1939. Shortly after the videos started going “viral” in early 2011, the phone began to ring. The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Jimmy Kimmel Live, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno were calling, and in summer of 2011 appeared as musical guests on The Late Show with David Letterman and NBC’s Today Show. In July, the boys were contacted by Fox News to appear on the Mike Huckabee show, and the overwhelming response led to an invitation to appear again the following week – the only musical guests to appear on back-to-back episodes in the history of the show.

In August the boys were named official Martin Guitar Ambassadors, made their Grand Ole Opry debut, and performed with banjo legend J.D. Crowe at a bluegrass festival near their home in western rural New Jersey.

The boys hope to widen the appeal of traditional American string band music to the next generation. The Sleepy Man Banjo Boys invite you to listen and to watch them grow,