The Willow Glen Resident

Photograph by Skye Dunlap

Finger-Pickin' Good: Lead strummer Charlie Tagawa puts the Peninsula Banjo Band through its paces at Straw Hat Pizza on Meridian Avenue as fan Betty Cooper enjoys the music.

Musicians pull strings at a local pizza parlor

Every Tuesday is banjo night at Straw Hat Pizza

By Michelle Ku

Betty Cooper is your typical groupie. She's faithfully attended every rehearsal and appearance of her favorite band for the last three years. She also knows and is known by every member of the band. What's atypical is the band she follows.

Cooper's band isn't a popular rock & roll band, nor is it designed to make its members rich. The group, the Peninsula Banjo Band, is one of a small number of banjo bands throughout the country, and it rehearses every Tuesday night at the Straw Hat Pizza at 1535 Meridian Ave.

"They have their own little following that comes with them," Straw Hat Pizza co-owner Maryam Sadeghi says. "There's this one lady [Cooper] that comes in every Tuesday and sings and dances every time they play."

The rehearsals draw approximately 30 to 50 loyal followers of the band to Straw Hat every week. During the nine years the band has held its rehearsals at the pizza parlor, the groupies have formed a bond with each other as they come together to appreciate the music.

"I love the band, and I love the music," says Don Fiehmann, a Bird Avenue resident who has attended the rehearsals with his wife on the first Tuesday of every month for the last nine years. "We've been coming here so long we've gotten to know the people. We see pretty much the same faces each week. Good company, good pizza and good beer. What more can you ask for?"

Fiehmann jokingly calls Cooper "Bouncing Betty" because of how involved she gets in the music. Cooper bounces along and keeps time with the music as the band plays.

"I love the band. I love their playing. I love everything about the band," Cooper says. "It's the only place I go, and I enjoy it."

Before the band rehearses, groupies and band members alike sit down and have dinner together. During rehearsal, the crowd claps and sings along. The band members play up to the audience, and Charlie Tagawa, the Peninsula Banjo Band's musical director, gestures for the crowd to become louder to inspire the band.

Management of the Straw Hat enjoy having the band rehearse there as much as the patrons do. "It's definitely good for business," says restaurant manager Dave Maida. "It would be dead without them. More people come out on Tuesday for the band. It keeps the people entertained, and on some nights we've had up to 150 people come to hear them play."

The band members began rehearsing at the Meridian Straw Hat when the owner of the Campbell Straw Hat kicked them out, Fiehmann says. After the band moved to the Meridian restaurant, the Campbell Straw Hat wanted the band to return. The banjo band didn't, and the Campbell restaurant eventually closed.

"With the help of community support, we are going to continue to have the banjo band play here," says Saeed Sadeghi, co-owner of Straw Hat. "We like the music and the atmosphere they create in the restaurant with the people they attract."

What makes the Peninsula Banjo Band special is its existence at a time when there are relatively few banjo bands in the country, Tagawa says. Each state only has one or two banjo bands. The Bay Area is home to not only one of the few banjo bands in the country, but one that is internationally renowned.

"Every banjo band in the United States plays at least one or two songs that have been arranged by Charlie," says Joe Birdsley, the band's librarian and a Willow Glen resident.

The band has performed at Candlestick Park, the De Young Museum and the Cherry Blossom festival parade. It also has played for President Clinton and Vice President Gore and at the opening of the World Trade Center. The Peninsula Banjo Band has a sister group in Kobe, Japan, called the Kobe Peninsula Banjo Band.

Despite the relatively few banjo bands in the country, the Peninsula Banjo Band has a rotating membership of 35 to 70 people from all over the Peninsula. A nonprofit and volunteer band, the group performs for the enjoyment of the public and to raise money for cancer-related charities.

The band earns money by charging admission to its annual Banjo Jubilee, for which it brings in some of the best banjo players from throughout the world; selling CDs of its music and songbooks of Tagawa's musical arrangements; and playing at some paid engagements. Over the years, the band has donated $151,000 to organizations such as Stanford Children's Hospital, Dr. Wilbur's Research Institute of San Francisco and Hospice of the Valley.

Ranging in age from 36 to 89, the members of the band play for the love of the music and the instrument and for the contribution they make to cancer research.

Edna Fisher, a Campbell resident, has been playing with the band for 18 years. "It's fun, but very hard," she says. "I had never played an instrument at all. Playing the banjo really gets me going, and it makes me feel good that we donate our money to children's cancer-related diseases. If it keeps even one child alive one more day, it's worth it."

The youngest member of the group, 36-year-old Mary Horne of south San Jose, has been playing with the band for 21 years. She began playing in the Peninsula Banjo Band's junior band and eventually moved up to the senior band.

The banjo band does not currently have a junior band but is offering scholarships for teenagers interested in learning how to play the banjo. The Peninsula Banjo Band is offering a year of free banjo lessons and a free instrument to play on, says band president Floyd Oatman.

"When I started playing, banjo was not so popular all over the world," Tagawa says. "I wanted to preserve it. The sound of banjo music makes the listener happy."

Now, 40 years after he began playing, Tagawa and the Peninsula Banjo Band are working toward that goal of preserving the music for the enjoyment of the public.

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