page_title: Peninsula Banjo Band
section_title: Members and public practices
hierarchical_section_title: Peninsula Banjo Band / Members and public practices
caption_attribution_description: en:Peninsula Banjo Band, circa 2003, Cupertino, California
context_page_description: The Peninsula Banjo Band is American musical group and 5013 non-profit foundation dedicated to preserving the musical legacy of the four-string banjo as well as raising money for cancer-related and other notable charities. The group is based in Northern California, around San Jose and San Francisco and has performed publicly every week since 1966. One of its other contributions is in the form of music education, frequent free public performances, and the hosting of an annual jazz festival that has featured the best of the professional and amateur banjo community since the 1970s. Formed in 1963, the PBB is known worldwide as one of North America's premier banjo jazz groups that has headlined numerous times over its history and been the opening act for notable entertainers and musical groups of the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s.
context_section_description: Membership has varied from the original nine banjo players to well over a hundred. It includes both banjo and gut bucket (washtub bass) players plus a Band Auxiliary. From its humble beginnings in the basement of the Cupertino Music Store, the PBB did not have an official public venue until 1966. Having outgrown the music store, a gentleman by the name of Ward Pinther offered to host the band at his Straw Hat Pizza Palace in Campbell, California. This hospitality lasted for the next 24 years until Pinther's retirement and the closing of the restaurant. Not to be deterred, the band moved to yet another Straw Hat Pizza restaurant in the nearby San Jose neighborhood of Willow Glen. So from 1966 until Tuesday, June 16, 2009, the band entertained crowds every Tuesday evening at a Straw Hat Pizza restaurant. During the band's heyday in the 1970s and 1980s, it was not unusual to have four rows of twenty to twenty five banjo players performing plus as many as eight gutbucket players and a tuba. The sound produced by a hundred or more banjos is unique and unlike anything else in the world of acoustic performances.
  In a change made to the bylaws in 2000, categories of membership were formally established. Playing members originally made up the band and were the only people who qualified to be Board members. Auxiliary members do not perform, but contribute to the band with their time and services. These services range from assisting with promotional mailings to staffing the Banjo Jubilee. A former member is someone who resigns from the band or who has not attended a practice or performance for at least three years. Both playing and auxiliary members have voting rights as long as they meet certain annual criteria laid out in the Standing Rules of the Bylaws. Former (playing) members are those who have not practiced or performed with the band for at least three years. An honorary member is any person who has made significant contribution to the objectives of the Peninsula Banjo Band and are elected after nomination by the Board of Directors. Honorary members may not vote nor serve on the Board of Directors.
  In the summer of 2009 the band was faced with a serious problem. Their current venue announced that it was closing. For only the second time in over forty years the band was about to lose their weekly performance venue. A search was launched to find a suitable location. After a review of seemingly every "banjo friendly" establishment in the South Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area, yet another pizza restaurant owner offered to host the band. For a short four months Vito's Pizzeria in Sunnyvale, California was the home of the PBB. As word traveled of the band's new venue, crowd's often exceeded the rated maximum for the restaurant. The owner relished the large, hungry, and usually very thirsty audiences that the band attracted, but this was short lived. Citing the need for more space, the band set out to find yet another weekly performance venue. Retired night club owner and veteran band member Bob Lasley suggested that the band give a different restaurant in Sunnyvale a try. In September of that year the band moved to a different location in Sunnyvale, Cabritos restaurant, and changed the day of their performances to Wednesdays. There is a consistent audience with a large percentage being individuals who have attended regularly for years. Visiting banjo players and other performers are welcome to play with the group upon receiving permission from Charlie Tagawa or the presiding band leader of the evening.
  In the spring of 2010 the band made a format change to its weekly performances. Hearkening back to the band's original Straw Hat Pizza restaurant era on Campbell Ave., the band again performs two sets. The first is conducted by Music Director, Charlie Tagawa, in somewhat of a concert style that provides the opportunity for the group to hone its group performance skills. Then after a brief intermission for announcements band veteran and featured performer Bill Lowrey assumes direction of the band when in attendance. Lowrey's leadin
caption: July 2003
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