This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
When country star Taylor Swift starts strumming her banjo Wednesday in EnergySolutions Arena, the handiwork of a Salt Lake City musician and inventor will allow Swift's fans to hear the instrument over the drums and guitars.
John Kavanaugh received U.S. Patent No. 7,115,809 for the "Kavanjo" in 2006 — and now the instrument, which could revolutionize the banjo the way Les Paul electrified the guitar, is being played by traditional musicians and indie rockers looking to add some twang to their sound.
"It was invented out of necessity," said Kavanaugh, who custom-fits his device to a few hundred banjos every year in Salt Lake City. "I couldn't get my banjo loud enough to compete with bass and drums."
So Kavanaugh devised a way to add electronic "pickups" — similar to the magnets in an electric guitar, which catch the vibrations of the strings and transmit them to the amplifier — to a banjo, punching holes in the instrument's tensioned drumhead.
There have been other electric banjos, Kavanaugh said, but "nobody had gone through the plane of the banjo head before."
There is a trade-off, Kavanaugh said, because piercing the banjo's drumhead reduces the acoustic resonance by about 5 percent. It's unlikely the folks in the cheap seats at a stadium are going to notice.
The popularity of the "Kavanjo" has grown since 2009, Kavanaugh said, when Deering Banjos — a major seller of the instrument — put the electric add-on in its catalog. A "Kavanjo" drumhead goes for $299, while a banjo with the device factory-installed goes for $798.
Besides Swift, established stars like Keith Urban and John Mellencamp have a "Kavanjo" in their bands. And, Kavanaugh said, new independent rockers — such as Mumford & Sons and Avett Bros. — have incorporated the electric banjo into their sounds.
"I plug it into my Fender amp, and it's great," said Greg Putz, of Bountiful, an amateur banjo player and one of Kavanaugh's students. "You not only get a louder sound, [but] this is a great way to change your soundscape."
Yes, an instrument more familiar for bluegrass and "The Ballad of Jed Clampett" could start inspiring Jimi Hendrix-like licks. Kavanaugh is himself exploring the possibilities with other inventions for the banjo — such as a variation on the "whammy bar," the pitch-bending device familiar to electric guitarists from Duane Eddy to Eddie Van Halen.
"It's opened up a whole new generation to the banjo," Kavanaugh said. "It's expanding everybody's musical ideas."
Taylor Swift in concert
P Country star Taylor Swift performs tonight. Needtobreathe and Charley Worsham are the opening acts.
Where • EnergySolutions Arena, 301 W. South Temple, Salt Lake City.
When • 7 p.m.
Tickets • $25-$69.50, at SmithsTix.com.