The Sleepy Man Banjo Boys, originally made up of three brothers from New Jersey, made a name for themselves back in 2011 with an appearance on The Late Show With David Letterman. In this 2012 cover of the traditional folk song Dueling Banjos, the three Banjo Boys showed fans yet again that despite their young age, they can play just about anything at whirlwind speed.
The Mizzone brothers each play a different instrument in the family band. At the time, the band’s oldest brother, Tommy, was fourteen years of age and played the guitar; middle brother Robbie, thirteen, played the fiddle; and nine-year-old Jonny played the banjo, according to Cyber Grass. This trio has put in the practice and dedication to make their clearly innate talent truly shine. Watching the video below, you can see that stage fright isn’t exactly a factor for them, as they play for a live audience just as well as they would hanging around, practicing at home.
A well-known classic, the boys begin their rendition of Dueling Banjos. Jonny and Tommy, on guitar and banjo, begin the clip by mimicking the notes of each other’s instruments, gradually picking up speed. Soon, you see their fingers are flying over the frets, almost too fast to watch. Even though the boys seem like they might be shaky in the beginning, this proves to be just an act as the pair quickly escalates their speed to a confident expert level. Around the three-quarter mark of the song, middle brother Robbie sneaks himself and his fiddle into the now-trio, adding his own flair to the old-time favorite.
With talent like that, it’s no surprise that the Sleepy Man Banjo Boys has only become more successful since their Letterman appearance rather than fading away into obscurity. The heartwarming video below was uploaded shortly after their Letterman performance and has been viewed over nine million times since. Constantly growing their talent, these brothers have also enhanced their repertoire, expanding their music to include anything from pop to Americana and bluegrass.
But as of today, the grown-up Banjo Boys are, well, not really boys anymore. The three brothers have grown up to become young men, and along with growing up, the band added a bassist and changed their name to just be Sleepy Man, according to Bluegrass Today.