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Canjo Man
>JACKSONVILLE, N.C. -- I met Herschel Brown when he was 83. We shot a story with him that day at his home in Jacksonville, NC.After we first aired it I received phone calls and e-mails from all over. Everyone wanted to buy one of Herschel's Canjos.
A Canjo, as Herschel called it, is basically a stick, an empty soda can and one guitar string. Voila! A musical instrument for even the simplest human. Someone like me, for example.
Herschel Brown had this idea to build an instrument on which literally anyone could learn to play music. He'd seen this one-stringed instrument somewhere before. So he marched out to his backyard shop and started tinkering. A few days later he emerged with the Canjo, a one-stringed guitar.
I could go on and on about how simple it is to play and how it, in the most modest way, opens up a world of music to even those with zero musical ability. But if I said it once I've said it 15,000 times. That's 15,000 the number of Canjos Hershel said he manufactured and either sold or gave away. That is a staggering number. But Herschel was an honest man and I didn't doubt he was telling me the truth.
Sadly, Herschel Brown passed away a few weeks ago on Sept. 20, 2008. He was 87 years old.
We're airing Herschel Brown's Canjo story again with great admiration for the man. A general contractor by trade, it was his Canjo and his crazy idea to build them that made playing simple music possible for so many other people his claim to fame. Thanks for allowing us into your life, Herschel. Godspeed.
