Red & Brown

Mention the banjo and Red Brown and it will be assumed the color of the finish on the instrument's neck is being described. There was also a banjo picker named Red Brown, real name Joe Barnes and stage billing "Red Brown the Banjo Maniac," when he could get away with it. The banjoist was introduced to western swing and country listening audience by the Tune Wranglers, an innovative Texas band from the mid-'30s that featured fiddler and singer Charlie Gregg and guitarist and lead vocalist Buster Coward. Barnes was the replacement for Eddie Fielding, and he began hiding behind t...