Twain honored in free Reno banjo jam tonight

They'll be "strummin'" on the ol' banjo" in Reno, with Gardnerville's Georgette Twain joining more than 50 banjoists at Harrah's Casino Hotel in Reno tonight.

Twain, who has had a big year with plans to be inducted into the Banjo Hall of Fame in Guthrie, Okla., in May, will be honored at a free banjo jam session today, 7:30-9:30 p.m. at Harrah's Tower East Hobby Horse Room, 219 N. Center St. in downtown Reno.

"It's a big banjo jubilee. I'm going to be the featured artist since I'm going to be inducted into the Banjo Hall of Fame," said Twain. "My daughter (Cecilia Yale, a violinist with the Carson Valley Pops) is going to be there. She'll play with me."

Twain will be joining artists like Jack Convery, winner of the 1973 United Artists best banjoist of Northern California contest, who has performed and worked with such music legends as Bing Crosby and Perry Como, and has been the band director of the S.F. 49ers band since 1987.

Twain was born on June 10, 1925, to parents George and Cecilia Collignon, both professional actors and musicians. At age 9, Twain, an operatic soprano, embarked on a singing career which was ended in 1951 when she became a victim of the polio epidemic. At that time, her father gave her a banjo for both therapy and another way to perform. By the 1960s and 1970s, she had become a banjo star, producing an LP recording and appearing on television and making countless performances on stage.

Twain moved to the Valley in 2002 where she teaches banjo lessons and would like to start a new band of four-string banjo players.

For more information on the free banjo jam session call Harrah's at 786-3232. For information on banjo lessons or joining a four-string banjo band with Twain, call her at 265-5217.