Laugh with Lucas at the Banjo Farm
By Brent Wilcox, Minco Millennium
“I want to hear Lucas Ross again,” said Kai from the back seat of the vehicle as we were driving from Oklahoma City to Minco.
I had no problem with that request so I started Banjo Farm playing again.
The comedic genius of Lucas Ross is that he makes me laugh (I’m 51 years old) and he makes seven year old Kai laugh too. Lucas also happens to be a darn good musician.
On Ross’ new album his banjo playing shines on all eight tracks, but it stands out even more (in my opinion) on the last three tracks. These three songs were recorded live with the Oklahoma Community Orchestra.
On the first of those three songs, we hear orchestra conductor Irvin Wagner ask Lucas what he is doing up on stage. “I thought I could join the string section!” Wagner tells him he has to audition first. The audition is Lucas playing his banjo against the entire orchestra in Duelin’ Banjos.
The other two songs Ross recorded live with the orchestra are his original song S.O.B.K. (We Got Bees) which was on his first album and The Muppets’ song Rainbow Connection.
On the title song, Lucas calls his grandma and tells her that he needs “something new to play” and so his Mema takes him to the Banjo Farm “the one place that instruments get to play.” Accordions swim in an aquarium, triangles grow on trees and “all the instruments on display from xylophones to old trombones.” The song tells a fun story and is cartoonish, which in my mind, makes me envision animated characters.
The next song is Kai’s favorite, probably because he can relate to the main character who is a kid who “Faked Sick” to stay home from school, but there are also many lines in the song that makes Kai laugh out loud. The kid in the song has a 190 degree temperature because he put the thermometer up to a heater and he tells his mom he needs to stay home. A couple of the lines that draws laughter out of Kai every time he hears it include: “Mom, my toenails and my rear hurts,” and later he’s telling his mom about an embarrassing incident at school which includes “Mom, my food went everywhere plus I ripped my pants and everyone saw my underwear.” The song starts out with just Lucas playing the banjo, but shortly other instruments join in. Lucas also plays the accordion on this song.
On Ninja Dog, the third song on the album, the barking dog in the song is actually Ross’s six-year-old son Simon. In the song, he thinks his dog might be a super hero. Or he could be an archeologist because he digs and “maybe he’ll dig up a dinosaur, ooh! and be on the front page of the newspaper!” His real dog actually did appear on the front page of the Millennium a couple weeks ago when we covered the release of the new album. The Ross’s dog Sprocket appears on the roof of the house behind Lucas in the cover art of Banjo Farm.
Bored Cow, the fourth song on the album, has an awesome beat that makes me and Kai both want to get up and dance. But Lucas sounds totally different. He sounds like a cross between Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley singing to a Beach Boys beat. There are many bovine-related jokes. You will be “a-moooosed” listening to Bored Cow.
The fifth song is a cover of Late for School, the Steve Martin song from his 2009 Grammy-winning album. Anyone who knows Lucas knows that Steve Martin is his comedic idol, but probably also his biggest banjo influence. Lucas does a super job covering this song, and his banjo playing is exceptional. Ross wrote all the songs except this one, Duelin’ Banjos and Rainbow Connection.
I highly recommend this album for anyone who has a sense of humor and likes laughing and those who enjoy music. For those who have never listened to Ross, if you like Steve Martin, or Sesame Street, or the Muppets – then you will enjoy Lucas Ross and his second album. Banjo Farm is good clean fun for adults and children. You can download it digitally from iTunes for $7.92 or we have CDs available for $8 at the Re-Store.
