A couple of years back, my filk friends and I in the DC area held a small convention. Our main guest, Arizona filker, Celtic musician, and excellent banjo strummer Joe Betancourt brought along a friend and
bandura player with him. We were mighty impressed...

My personal favorite odd instrument (which isn't really all **that** odd...) is my uncle Don Ehrlich's Pellegrina, an ergonomic viola created by Oregon instrument maker David Rivinus. My uncle is the first violist to play one in a major symphony orchestra (San Francisco).

-- Gary