You may recognize banjoist, producer, songwriter, and community builder Hannah Mayree as the founder and driving force behind the Black Banjo Reclamation Project. Mayree is equally talented in activism and culture-crafting as in music, as evidenced by this, our second edition of the Sierragrass Sessions.
Hannah Mayree was just one of many excellent artists on hand for AJ Lee & Blue Summit’s Sierragrass festival held in California in May. For the latest BGS session from the event, Mayree performs two lovely numbers on solo, open-back banjo. Her approach is contemporary in some respects and timeless in countless others, innovation and tradition speaking in dialogue throughout each of her songs.
Mayree begins with “Laying Hen” (watch above), a track first recorded on their 2017 debut recording, Thoughts of the Night. With a towering scultpure for a background (Colossus by Zachary Coffin, one of several art installations at Sierra Meadows, the campground and venue where the festival was hosted) they return to “Laying Hen” with ease and a languid, prominent back beat.
“I’m like a hen, I wanna lay all day,” they sing. “Scratchin’ and squawkin’ in the same old hay/ Everywhere I go I wanna stay/ My wings they clipped, but I ain’t gonna fly away…” The language of the lyrics is simple, down to earth, but with limitless poetic potential and appeal.
Next, Mayree offers “Acid Bama,” a more recent song with an impeccable groove and simple while mind-bending chord changes. She had also performed the track for a submission to NPR’s Tiny Desk Contest in 2024. In that version, she’s accompanied by layered textural vocals, pads, synths, and many more sonic details as she plays and sings along with a track she produced herself. In both iterations, “Acid Bama” shines. Again, poetic and artful, it immediately gets your toe or hand tapping along with her fingers striking the banjo’s head and the danceable, cyclical beat.
Another endlessly enjoyable Sierragrass Session, thanks to Hannah Mayree’s artistry, intention, and time-bending musical prowess. Be sure to follow and support Mayree and the Black Banjo Reclamation Project on social media and beyond.
Conceived, curated, and hosted by AJ Lee & Blue Summit, the inaugural Sierragrass was held May 9-11 at Sierra Meadows Resort in Ahwahnee, California, tucked into the shadow of the Sierra Nevada just across the Central Valley from Blue Summit’s home turf of Santa Cruz. For a debut, band-founded festival, the event was a smashing success. Our friends, the incredible team at I Know We Should, were on hand for this first edition of Sierragrass to capture live performance videos of artists from across the festival roster.
Stay tuned for more sessions by artists from the Sierragrass lineup coming right here on BGS every other week.
Video Credit: I Know We Should, Brad Wagner, Juan Soria, and Charlie Peterson.
