Bela Fleck rescued the banjo from that fate.
Bela Fleck was not heard by all of country music.
Gotta love the Flecktones...although I liked Bella much more when he was a member of New Grass Revival...my all-time favorite contemporary bluegrass band. I have seen them in concert a bunch of times...can’t believe the range John Cowan has.
Bela did a documentary where he went to Africa to trace the origins of the banjo. Didn’t like all of it, but the one scene where the Ugandan guys laid a bunch of boards across a pit and started pounding on them was absoulutely amazing. Could not believe the sound. It was called “Throw Down your Heart” and that one cut is on youtube somewhere. Worth the 5-10 minutes.