Billy Faier is an American banjo player. He, along with Pete Seeger

Pete Seeger

Peter "Pete" Seeger is an American folk singer and was an iconic figure in the mid-twentieth century American folk music revival. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, he also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of The Weavers, most notably their recording of Lead...

, was one of the early exponents of the banjo during the mid-20th century American folk music revival

American folk music revival

The American folk music revival was a phenomenon in the United States that began during the 1940s and peaked in popularity in the mid-1960s. Its roots went earlier, and performers like Josh White, Burl Ives, Woody Guthrie, Lead Belly, Richard Dyer-Bennett, Oscar Brand, Jean Ritchie, John Jacob...

.

Born in Brooklyn, New York, he moved with his family to Woodstock, New York

Woodstock, New York

Woodstock is a town in Ulster County, New York, United States. The population was 5,884 at the 2010 census, down from 6,241 at the 2000 census.The Town of Woodstock is in the northern part of the county...

 in 1945, and now resides in Marathon, Texas

Marathon, Texas

Marathon is a census-designated place in Brewster County, Texas, United States. The population was 470 in 2007, after growing from 455 in 2000, but had decreased to 430 by 2010.-Geography:Marathon is located at ....

.
Active in the Washington Square Park

Washington Square Park

Washington Square Park is one of the best-known of New York City's 1,900 public parks. At 9.75 acres , it is a landmark in the Manhattan neighborhood of Greenwich Village, as well as a meeting place and center for cultural activity...

 folk scene in Greenwich Village

Greenwich Village

Greenwich Village, , , , .in New York often simply called "the Village", is a largely residential neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City. A large majority of the district is home to upper middle class families...

 from the late 1940s, he recorded two albums for Riverside Records

Riverside Records

Riverside Records was a United States record label specializing in jazz. Founded by Orrin Keepnews and Bill Grauer under his firm Bill Grauer Productions, Inc. in 1953, the label was a major presence in the jazz record industry for a decade...

, The Art of the Five-String Banjo (1957) and Travelin' Man (1958). In 1973, he recorded Banjo for John Fahey

John Fahey (musician)

John Fahey was an American fingerstyle guitarist and composer who pioneered the steel-string acoustic guitar as a solo instrument. His style has been greatly influential and has been described as the foundation of American Primitivism, a term borrowed from painting and referring mainly to the...

's Takoma

Takoma Records

Takoma Records was a small but influential record label founded by John Fahey in the late 1950s.. It was named after Fahey's hometown, the Washington, D.C. suburb of Takoma Park, Maryland.-History:...

 label.

Selected discography

In 2009, Faier decided to make much of his out of print and unreleased material available on his website.

• The Art of the Five-String Banjo (1957 - with Frank Hamilton
  Frank Hamilton (musician)
  Frank Hamilton is an American folk musician and co-founder of the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago, Illinois. As a performer, he has recorded for Folkways Records and, as a member of the folk group The Weavers, for Vanguard Records, as well as for Philips and several other labels and...
  
  )
• Travelin' Man (1958)
• The Beast of Billy Faier (1964 - with John Sebastian
  John Sebastian
  John Benson Sebastian Jr. is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist and autoharpist. He is best known as a founder of The Lovin' Spoonful, a band inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000...
  
  )
• Banjo (1973)
• Banjos, Birdsong And Mother Earth (1987 - with John Sebastian and Gilles Malkine)

External links

• Billy Faier's website
• Billy Faier discography (with some errors and omissions).
• Billy Faier at the Internet Broadway Database.
• Billy Faier Collection at The Southern Folklife Collection, University of North Carolina
  University of North Carolina
  Chartered in 1789, the University of North Carolina was one of the first public universities in the United States and the only one to graduate students in the eighteenth century...
  
   libraries.
• Articles by Billy Faier in No Depression (magazine).
• Feature on Billy Faier on The Banjo Man