The first time I heard a banjo was...well, I can't remember. What I DO remember was going to a bluegrass festival in upstate NY with my mom and her friend. I walked around and listened to groups of people jamming, and fell in love with the banjo. Nothing else seemed to sound like it. I remember thinking it sounded like a waterfall of notes. I didn't get one right away, or I might have gotten serious about bluegrass. When I did finally get a 5-string, I learned to play clawhammer.

Banjos get bashed a lot, by both players and haters. No big deal, and some of the jokes are funny. Or they WERE funny the first 10 or 20 times I heard 'em. I do get irritated when someone asks a serious question (about anything) and someone else feels compelled to post a really stupid joke. (about anything, but there are more stupid banjo jokes than, say, stupid hammered dulcimer jokes.) Then I get over it.

Let people pick on banjos all they want - they aren't so frail they need defending.

(Jed, I almost bought one of those banjolin dealies like you recently got, but if I'd been in the buying mood, it likely would have been one of those resonator banjos, which sound INCREDIBLE.)