Steve Arkin

This member of the thriving New York acoustic music scene is the cousin of Alan Arkin, and it was the famous actor himself who helped provide the climate of music which eventually helped turn Steve Arkin into an accomplished banjo player in several styles. Before he was an actor, Alan Arkin played in the hit late-'50s folk group the Tarriers. Steve was also a fan of other folk acts of this era, such as the Weavers and Pete Seeger. Alan was responsible for passing along the mastery of a few basic strums when the young cousin was about 13. The next year, Steve tried out his first five-string banjo, becoming even more attracted to Pete Seeger's recordings of Appalachian ballads. He also discovered the recordings of the archival revival band the New Lost City Ramblers. He studied a banjo style known as drop thumb frailing with Ricky Brandt, a New York musician who became a member of the Left Banke, basically the one-hit wonder behind the song "Don't Walk Away Renee." Arkin hit onto bluegrass the way quite a few others did in the '60s, mainly Flatt and Scruggs and "Foggy Mountain Breakdown." Area players who influenced him included Eric Weissberg, the session musician famous for coming up with the "Dueling Banjos" track, and Bob Yellin. Arkin formed his first band in 1960 out of jam session players who gathered in Washington Square Park, including Frank Benedetto, Greg Levasseur, and Jody Stecher. He kept practicing, and these workout sessions must have had some effect because the next year, at the ripe age of 17, Arkin managed to come in second against none other than major banjo player Bill Keith at the Philadelphia Folk Festival banjo contest. In 1962, Arkin played with the Down State Rebels, again with mandolinist Stecher, and also featuring Gene Lowinger on fiddle and...