ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Sleepy Man Banjo Boys - Bluegrass musicians
The Sleepy Man Banjo Boys is made up of 11-year-old banjo sensation Jonny Mizzone and his brothers Robbie, 14, on fiddle, and Tommy, 15, on guitar.

Why you should listen

These days your kid can get famous on YouTube for having water sprayed at him, for being duped about his Halloween candy, and for being high off laughing gas. But what if your 8-year-old gets famous on the Internet for being an absolute genius on the banjo? So goes the story of Jonny Mizzone, who first became a YouTube sensation in early 2011 for videos of him and his brothers tearing it up playing Earl Scruggs's Flint Hill Special. It wasn't long before the press started calling.

Now Jonny, Robbie (fiddle) and Tommy (guitar), known as the Sleepy Man Banjo Boys, are 11, 14 and 15 respectively. In 2011 alone they got calls from The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Jimmy Kimmel Live and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and in the summer of 2011 they appeared as musical guests on The Late Show with David Letterman and NBC’s Today Show.

While the trio grew up in New Jersey -- which is known more for rock music than for bluegrass -- they fell in love with the unique sounds of J.D. Crowe, Ralph Stanley, Clarence White and Earl Scruggs after some creative YouTube searching. Now, having become sensations on the platform themselves, the trio has accumulated more than 17 million video views. Their first album, America’s Music, was released in September 2011 and charted top eight on the Billboard Bluegrass Album Chart. In October 2012 they released their second album, The Farthest Horizon, which cracked the top three. The group is already at work on their next album.

More profile about the speaker
Sleepy Man Banjo Boys | Speaker | TED.com
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Sleepy Man Banjo Boys: Teen wonders play bluegrass

Mladí virtuosové hrají bluegrass

Filmed:
2,427,615 views

Bratři Jonny, Robbie a Tommy Mizzone tvoří The Sleepy Man Banjo Boys, trio mistrovských bluegrassových hudebníků hrajících s úžasným elánem. Zmínili jsme se už, že ani jednomu z nich ještě nebylo 16?
- Bluegrass musicians
The Sleepy Man Banjo Boys is made up of 11-year-old banjo sensation Jonny Mizzone and his brothers Robbie, 14, on fiddle, and Tommy, 15, on guitar. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:16
TommyTommy MizzoneMizzone: TonightDnes v noci we're going to playhrát si you two songspísně.
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Tommy Mizzone: Dnes vám zahrajeme dvě písničky.
00:19
We're threetři brothersbratři from NewNové JerseyJersey,
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Jsme tři bráchové z New Jersey
00:21
and the funnylegrační thing is that,
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a věc se má tak, že,
00:22
believe it or not, we are hookedzahnutý on bluegrassbluegrass
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věřte nebo ne, jsme posedlí bluegrassem
00:25
and we're excitedvzrušený to playhrát si it for you tonightdnes večer.
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a jsme rádi, že pro vás budeme dneska hrát.
00:27
(MusicHudba)
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(Hudba)
02:23
(ApplausePotlesk)
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(Potlesk)
02:26
TMTM: Thank you, thank you.
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TM: Děkujeme vám.
02:28
(ApplausePotlesk)
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(Potlesk)
02:32
RobbieRobbie MizzoneMizzone: Thank you.
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Robbie Mizzone: Děkujeme.
02:34
I'm RobbieRobbie MizzoneMizzone. I'm 13, and I playhrát si the fiddlehousle.
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Já jsem Robbie Mizzone. Je mi 13 a hraju na housle.
02:36
This is my brotherbratr, JonnyJonny. He's 10, and he playshraje the banjobendžo.
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Toto je můj brácha, Jonny. Je mu 10 a hraje na banjo.
02:39
And on guitarkytara is my 14-year-old-let starý brotherbratr, TommyTommy.
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A na kytaru hraje můj 14ti letý brácha Tommy.
02:42
(ApplausePotlesk)
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(Potlesk)
02:45
We call ourselvessebe the SleepyOspalý Man BanjoBanjo BoysChlapci.
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Jmenujeme se Sleepy Man Banjo Boys.
02:52
(MusicHudba)
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(Hudba)
04:48
(ApplausePotlesk)
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(Potlesk)
04:51
TMTM: Thank you.
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TM: Děkujeme.
04:52
JMJM: Thank you all.
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JM: Děkujeme vám všem.
04:53
TMTM: Thank you very much.
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TM: Mockrát vám děkujeme.
Translated by Helena Brunnerová
Reviewed by Marek Petrik

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Sleepy Man Banjo Boys - Bluegrass musicians
The Sleepy Man Banjo Boys is made up of 11-year-old banjo sensation Jonny Mizzone and his brothers Robbie, 14, on fiddle, and Tommy, 15, on guitar.

Why you should listen

These days your kid can get famous on YouTube for having water sprayed at him, for being duped about his Halloween candy, and for being high off laughing gas. But what if your 8-year-old gets famous on the Internet for being an absolute genius on the banjo? So goes the story of Jonny Mizzone, who first became a YouTube sensation in early 2011 for videos of him and his brothers tearing it up playing Earl Scruggs's Flint Hill Special. It wasn't long before the press started calling.

Now Jonny, Robbie (fiddle) and Tommy (guitar), known as the Sleepy Man Banjo Boys, are 11, 14 and 15 respectively. In 2011 alone they got calls from The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Jimmy Kimmel Live and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and in the summer of 2011 they appeared as musical guests on The Late Show with David Letterman and NBC’s Today Show.

While the trio grew up in New Jersey -- which is known more for rock music than for bluegrass -- they fell in love with the unique sounds of J.D. Crowe, Ralph Stanley, Clarence White and Earl Scruggs after some creative YouTube searching. Now, having become sensations on the platform themselves, the trio has accumulated more than 17 million video views. Their first album, America’s Music, was released in September 2011 and charted top eight on the Billboard Bluegrass Album Chart. In October 2012 they released their second album, The Farthest Horizon, which cracked the top three. The group is already at work on their next album.

More profile about the speaker
Sleepy Man Banjo Boys | Speaker | TED.com