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
TED@New York

Sleepy Man Banjo Boys: Teen wonders play bluegrass

Jugendliche Wunderknaben spielen Bluegrass

Filmed:
2,427,615 views

Die Brüder Jonny, Robbie und Tommy Mizzone sind die Sleepy Man Banjo Boys, ein meisterhaftes Bluegrass-Trio, das mit umwerfender Lebhaftigkeit spielt. Haben wir schon erwähnt, dass sie alle unter 16 sind?
- 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: TonightHeute Abend we're going to playspielen you two songsLieder.
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2165
Tommy Mizzone: Heute Abend werden
wir zwei Lieder für Sie spielen.
00:19
We're threedrei brothersBrüder from NewNeu JerseyJersey,
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2000
Wir sind drei Brüder aus New Jersey,
00:21
and the funnykomisch thing is that,
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1648
und das Witzige ist,
00:22
believe it or not, we are hookedsüchtig on bluegrassBluegrass
3
6870
2640
ob Sie es glauben oder nicht,
wir sind süchtig nach Bluegrass
00:25
and we're excitedaufgeregt to playspielen it for you tonightheute Abend.
4
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2156
und wir freuen uns, Ihnen den
heute vorspielen zu dürfen.
00:27
(MusicMusik)
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115814
(Musik)
02:23
(ApplauseApplaus)
6
127480
2853
(Applaus)
02:26
TMTM: Thank you, thank you.
7
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2469
TM: Danke, vielen Dank.
02:28
(ApplauseApplaus)
8
132802
4285
(Applaus)
02:32
RobbieRobbie MizzoneMizzone: Thank you.
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Robbie Mizzone: Danke.
02:34
I'm RobbieRobbie MizzoneMizzone. I'm 13, and I playspielen the fiddleGeige.
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Ich bin Robbie Mizzone. Ich bin
13 Jahre alt und spiele die Geige.
02:36
This is my brotherBruder, JonnyJonny. He's 10, and he playsTheaterstücke the banjoBanjo.
11
140831
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Das hier ist mein Bruder Jonny.
Er ist 10 und spielt das Banjo.
02:39
And on guitarGitarre is my 14-year-old-Jahr alt brotherBruder, TommyTommy.
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143391
2729
An der Gitarre ist mein
14-jähriger Bruder Tommy.
02:42
(ApplauseApplaus)
13
146120
3847
(Applaus)
02:45
We call ourselvesuns selbst the SleepySchläfrig Man BanjoBanjo BoysJungen.
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Wir nennen uns die
Sleepy Man Banjo Boys.
02:52
(MusicMusik)
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116493
(Musik)
04:48
(ApplauseApplaus)
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272799
2603
(Applaus)
04:51
TMTM: Thank you.
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TM: Danke.
04:52
JMJM: Thank you all.
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922
JM: Danke Ihnen allen.
04:53
TMTM: Thank you very much.
19
277736
4000
TM: Vielen Dank.
Translated by Eva Rinner
Reviewed by Tanja Daub

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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