There is a lovely, secluded rest area about 100 km west of Brisbane, Australia, just near the summit of Cunninghams Gap. We often stop there when travelling on through to the Darling Downs and beyond. As we make ourselves our coffee, we enjoy the truly magnificent chiming sounds of innumerable native bellbirds that inhabit the beautiful surrounding forest. For years, my brother Mark and I have always made a point of having our banjo and guitar with us when we stop here, and we soon take to as much parkin' lot pickin' as time can allow.
There is nothing like the ring of fine Bluegrass instruments in a forest, and as we play, the swelling, pinging notes of the bellbirds always get closer and louder, as if joining in with us. For years I had thought that if I ever made a banjo, I would call it a Bellbird, as a tribute to them. Well, now I am making what I consider to be the finest banjos being made today, and it is a privilege to name my instruments and my company after these wonderful little pickers of the forest!
Various species of Bellbird can be seen by clicking on the image below.
