By Sean P. Ray | Managing Editor

HISTORIC DEUTSCHTOWN — The banjo might not have a reputation as the most elegant or prestigious of instruments, but for the members of the Pittsburgh Banjo Club, it certainly is among the most fun ways to make music.

“It’s the happiest instrument ever made,” Norm Azinger, the club’s music director, said confidently. “And it was made in the US of A.”

Performing every Wednesday at the Allegheny Elks Lodge in Deutschtown, the club has 35 members, with 20 of them as performers. Dozens of patrons gather at the lodge to hear the group perform classic songs from the 1920s, 30s and 40s. There’s even sing-a-long books, enabling audience members to get involved in the act.

Not too shabby for a group nearing 37 years of age. The club was founded in 1988 by Frank Rossi, a New York man (though originally from Ambridge) who edited The Resonator, a magazine for banjo enthusiasts. When Rossi moved to Pittsburgh in 1988, he contacted banjo players he knew from the area, including Azinger, and formed the club.

It took many years for the group to find its current home. The group first performed at Penn Café until it closed down. A litany of other venues hosted them over the years, including Jimmy G’s, Max’s Allegheny Tavern and James Street Tavern.

The group began performing 19 years ago at the Elks Lodge, which they have called home ever since.

“It’s been a wonderful thing,” Azinger said of the club’s association with the Lodge. He described the Allegheny Elks as “one of the best-kept secrets in Pittsburgh,” and said the Elks are all too happy to help out the club members when needed.

In fact, cross pollination between the two groups is common, to the point that the Allegheny Elks’ current leading knight (roughly equivalent to vice president of the organization) is a banjo club member. TC Weinlandt has performed with the club for two years, and is both the youngest member of the club and second newest member at time of writing.

Weinlandt said he didn’t play much music before joining the club, besides dabbling with the bass in his high school years, but he found the banjo to be straightforward and easy to pick up.

“You can get surprisingly good pretty quickly,” he said. Weinlandt said the club’s performances help to fill out the lodge on Wednesday nights, and many people have joined the lodge through banjo club performances or from the players themselves.

But what makes the banjo so attractive of an instrument to play? According to Tim Halloran, a Banjo Club member of six years, it’s the “sweet, sugary sound” its strings produce.

Halloran said he enjoys playing an instrument which was important in the birth of jazz music, as well as the camaraderie that comes with performing as part of the club.

“It’s good to play with other musicians,” he said. “A lot of them are really good.”

Azinger said the banjo has a way of sticking with someone once they “get caught with it.” He should know, as Azinger first came to love the instrument when he heard it being played on television in 1954.

“I just like all banjo music,” he said. “I’m screwed up with banjos.”

Anyone interested in hearing the Pittsburgh Banjo Club perform can attend any of their shows at the Allegheny Elks Lodge free of charge. The club show starts around 7:30 p.m. at the Lodge, which is located at 400 Cedar Ave. and can be reached by phone at (412) 321-1834 Those interested in joining should meet with Azinger at a club performance. He said those interested must show a serious interest in the club, though do not technically need to be banjo players. In fact attendees at a show might see a trumpet, clarinets, electric bass or a singer perform alongside the banjo players.