A Man and His Banjo
Nuclear physicist discovers musical career after retirement
Story by Lynsie Dickerson
Video by Michael Zorbas
Don Stevison, BS '57, has seen his share of experiments.
As a nuclear physicist at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base for 31 years, Stevison's work directly involved research and lab work, which he enjoyed. However, it also provided him the opportunity to conduct experiments of another kind — on a banjo.
At the encouragement of co-workers who played banjos together during their lunch break, Stevison bought a used banjo and joined the group practices. He found an immediate connection between music and physics that aided his playing.
"The timing and the notes of the music just kind of all fits together mathematically," he says. "I didn't have any trouble reading music, and playing the chords worked out just fine; I think it was mainly because of my background in physics and all the math I had taken."
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Stevison retired in 1991, and as he became a more proficient musician, he became discontent with the way the music books taught the banjo, prompting him to write his own book.
He has since published numerous lesson books and CDs, from how-to-play books to song compilations. Stevison has taken his teaching strategies to the Internet, offering lessons via Skype. He teaches one student in Australia and another in Bulgaria, with whom he chats while working around time differences.
Stevison also plays with the Kettering Banjo Society, which performs popular music from the 19th and 20th centuries, such as ragtime. Stevison plays the four-string banjo, a popular instrument for this style of music.
His passion for this era is not only reflected in his playing, but also on his face: Stevison grew a handlebar mustache to better suit the style of music he was playing. He even inspired several bandmates to do the same. "I wouldn't shave it off now for the world," says Stevison of his mustache, which garners many inquisitive looks and comments.
It was this handlebar mustache that enabled him and fellow musicians to be the guinea pigs for a mustache wax company searching for a new formula. "You never knew what to expect," Stevison says, adding he and his friends tested 209 formulations of wax in about one year's time. "Some of it was like super glue, and some of it was like sand, and it was quite a variety."