Hank Smith Performs With His Custom Deering Banjo

In December 2024, Deering Artist Hank Smith visited the Deering factory for a special purpose: to have a new custom neck fitted to his long-serving Maple Blossom model. Keep a lookout in the near future for a special article on that!

While Hank was here, we were fortunate to capture the first full performance on it - a solo rendition of his original piece, "Sous Les Etoiles". Here is what Hank had to say about it: 

"I think French Impressionist piano music can translate well to the banjo. The cascading chord inversions, chromaticism, and experimenting with different tonal centers have an inherent banjoistic quality to them.

Messing around with those ideas, inspired by Claude Debussy, and after lots of trial and error, I felt it captured the emotion I was going after. It's called "Sous Les Etoiles", which means "under the stars", and it imagines a mysterious journey only to end up safe and sound under the comfort of the night sky. 

Since recording the tune on our album, Paper Lanterns, and subsequently at Deering, there are now two more pieces that precede it, forming a suite. So, we conclude the journey under the stars, but we must also learn how we arrived there. Regardless,

Sous Les Etoiles is a nod to the emotionally charged music of Debussy, Ravel, Satie, and others who painted with sound as Monet did with a brush."

If you don't know Hank Smith by now, then you haven't been watching all the fantastic lesson content he has been creating with us over the past few years. We have had the pleasure of knowing Hank for a long time and include him in a tight circle of friends whom we truly love getting to be around. 

Based in North Carolina, Hank is a founding member of Hank, Pattie & the Current. More so, Hank is also a Lecturer at the University of North Carolina's College of Arts and Sciences; one half of the duo Resonator, featuring former Hank & Pattie bandmate and Deering artist Billie Feather; co-founder of Beer & Banjos bluegrass nights, and an awesome private banjo teacher.

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