Brian Anderson is a California banjo player who won the National Bluegrass Banjo Championship at Winfield, Kansas, in 2005. Twenty years later, in 2025, he placed second in the same contest. He plays melodic banjo and posts fiddle tunes, classical pieces, and his own tunes on his YouTube channel.
Why Anderson matters
Anderson’s story is a comeback. He put the banjo down for about 20 years, picked it up again in 2001, and won the national title four years later. Two decades after that win, he was still placing at Winfield.
Life and career
Anderson started playing banjo in 1977. The banjo on the TV show Captain Kangaroo caught his ear as a child, and Earl Scruggs records hooked him later. At 19 he joined Gloryland, a gospel bluegrass band, and toured the western United States with them starting in 1979.
After Gloryland he set the banjo aside for about two decades. In 2001 he moved to Sonora, California, and started playing again. There he played with The Grass Menagerie and Faultline. He later had 11 Strings, an instrumental guitar and banjo group that played jazz, blues, Celtic, and rock. He also gave banjo lessons.
He placed third in the RockyGrass banjo contest in Colorado in 2004, second in 2005, and first in 2006. In between, he won Winfield in 2005. He now lives in Rancho Cordova, near Sacramento, and often plays in local parks. In January 2025 he met bassist Jesse Guerra at the California Bluegrass Association’s Great 48 jam in Bakersfield, and the two began playing together. Later that year he placed second at Winfield.
Playing style
Guerra calls Anderson’s playing melodic and says he does things many banjo players don’t. His videos show that range. He plays fiddle tunes such as Whiskey Before Breakfast and Temperance Reel, classical pieces such as Bach’s Cello Suite No. 1, and his own tunes, such as Placer County Breakdown.
Awards and honors
RockyGrass Banjo Contest, third place (2004) RockyGrass Banjo Contest, second place (2005) National Bluegrass Banjo Championship, Walnut Valley Festival, first place (2005) RockyGrass Banjo Contest, first place (2006) National Bluegrass Banjo Championship, Walnut Valley Festival, second place (2025).
Watch and listen
Anderson plays his own tune, Placer County Breakdown, on a Bales banjo.
Anderson plays Shenandoah Valley Breakdown in 2025.
What to learn from Anderson
A long break does not end a banjo life. Anderson came back after 20 years away and won the national title four years later. To borrow from his playing, learn a few fiddle tunes in melodic style, then take on a classical piece.
Sources
Brian Anderson, banjo man, Rancho Cordova Independent (2025) Brian Anderson profile, Pickers Paradise 2025 contest winners, Walnut Valley Festival Walnut Valley Festival winners archive, chronological (PDF) Brian Anderson, YouTube channel
Related players
See the banjo players hub and the bluegrass banjo guide for more pickers. Charles Wood placed third behind Anderson at Winfield in 2005. Steven Moore won the 2025 title when Anderson placed second.