Renee Karnes

Renee Karnes recalls meeting her future mentor when she was just eight years old.  Over the years she developed both a love of banjos and a friendship with Henry Lea, who taught her the craft of banjo making.  With his skills as a builder and her artistic flare, she soon began creating her own banjos with elaborate scenes of animals, waterfalls and beautiful flowers.  She also repaired and researched the banjos of the past and applied her knowledge and history she learned to pay tribute to those luthiers before her and to raise the level of craftsmanship within the process of building a playable instrument –and work of art.