Biography
Bernard Noël "Banjo Barney" McKenna (16 December 1939 - 5 April 2012) was an Irish musician who played the tenor banjo, mandolin, and melodeon - though he was most renowned as a banjo player. He was a member of The Dubliners from 1962. Immediately prior to his death he was the only living member of the original (1962) formation. Before joining The Dubliners, McKenna spent a few months in The Chieftains. In addition to his work on traditional Irish music, he also played jazz on occasion.
Born in Donnycarney, County Dublin), McKenna played the banjo from an early age, beginning because he could not afford to buy the instrument of his choice, a mandolin.
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McKenna used GDAE tuning on a 19 fret tenor banjo, an octave below fiddle/mandolin and, according to fellow Irish musician Mick Moloney, was single-handedly responsible for making the GDAE tuned tenor banjo the standard banjo in Irish music.
Biography text from Last.fm, available under CC BY-SA.