|
LeRoy's
first exposure to playing music as a child was with a ukulele.
After he heard someone play a banjo he knew that was the instrument he
wanted to play. His father actually sold a cow to pay for his
first banjo.
In 1970 Larson began playing six
nights a week at the "Ground Round" restaurant which lasted for 14
years. His career pursuit was to be a music educator and
while working on his master and Ph.D. he continued to practice and
perform on his tenor banjo. In 1973 he started his own record
label Banjor Records. His first record was Banjo Ragtime
& Other Classics. The second album was Banjo On My Mind.
During this time he also started a new group called the "Minnesota
Scandinavian Ensemble." It was this group that made numerous
appearances on Garrison Keilor's A Prairie Home Companion radio
show.
LeRoy's love and dedication to
the banjo resulted in his record company reissuing Perry Bechtel's 1958
record album The Greatest of All.
|
