Winston Marshall's Duelling Banjos

As he puts his name to two new Deering banjos, the Mumford & Sons star introduces us to the guitar’s plucky little cousin...

- Grant Moon

Since forming in 2007 London’s hugely successful Mumford & Sons have had No.1 albums on both sides of the Atlantic, won Brit Awards and earned Grammy nods, and they’ve become poster boys for the ‘neo-folk’ revival. Winston Marshall’s powerful five-string banjo playing has been a trademark on hit records like Sigh No More and Babel, and it’s there amid the more electronic textures of Wilder Mind and current album, Delta. Marshall has now teamed up with leading US banjo company Deering to produce two new models. The Winston Marshall Signature model is a high-end instrument aimed at similar, top-level professionals, and comes with a price tag to match. Then there’s the GOTR Goodtime Banjo, a more affordable model produced with the aim of encouraging more people to give the banjo a go. We caught up with Marshall to talk to him about these, the Mumfords, and to get his view on what TG readers might get out of this wonderful little instrument…

Give us a little background on your association with Deering.

“We’ve been working closely with Deering for eight years now. They’re a hands-on family business and they get stuck into everything with us. Jamie Deering is the daughter of the founders, she runs the business now, and she’s been building charity banjos specific to gigs we do around the world. She’ll find local charities and raise money for them through the auction of banjos made specifically for that location. So if the gig’s in a certain state it’ll have that state’s outline engraved into it; they’re really detailed. I genuinely believe Deering are making the highest-quality banjos today. They’re all made by hand, unlike almost every other major banjo maker, and their value for money is pretty amazing.”