Champion, best in the country.
Musician Mike Sumner returned from last month's Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield, Kan. as the reigning National Banjo Champion, toting home a top-of-the-line banjo and a trophy as prizes.
An IT systems manager at Interlochen Arts Academy by day, after hours Sumner is immersed in bluegrass as both a solo artist and member of the band Detour. A dedicated musician with loads of talent, he previously won National Banjo Champion in 2001; contest rules had kept him out of the field until this year.
In 2000, he was runner up at Winfield and Sumner also has a string of other firsts from festivals including MerleFest in North Carolina and Rocky Grass in Colorado. Sumner has also been the Indiana State Champion and the Kentucky State Champion, the latter three times.
One of the two tunes he played during the competition last month in Winfield, "Winds of Winfield,” he composed after winning last time. Sumner admitted to being a nervous wreck during the first round, which winnowed the players down from 17 to five finalists.
"I didn't know I was going to make the first cut,” he said. "But once I got into the finals, I didn't let up.”
"These guys were very good, there were other national champions there, too,” Sumner added.
A native of Evansville, Ill., Sumner began playing the banjo when he was eight years old and his dad gave him a full sized instrument. He started out with "Shortnin' Bread,” a tune he found so hard he cried from anger and frustration. After a year or so, he was "past the humps,” Sumner recalled, and by his teen years he was composing music and entering competitions.
"My dad taught himself to play out of an Earl Scruggs book back when he was 32 and I wouldn't leave him alone,” said Sumner, whose seventh grade son, Kody, also plays the banjo. "I just wanted to be like my daddy.”
Throughout his playing career, dating back to his early days with the instrument, Sumner sets himself a rigorous rehearsal schedule to hone and sustain his skills. Even today, with family and work demands on his time, he carves out between a half hour and two hours four days a week to practice.
"It depends on the timing and what captures you,” said Sumner of those sessions. "Sometimes you can't get away.”
A natural talent and feel for the music provide the foundation for his success, which he reinforces with rehearsals as well as composing songs from his heart.
"He's incredibly musical,” summarized Jeff Rose of Brethren, who plays with Sumner in the bluegrass band Detour. "Mike's playing is very lyrical, very accessible.”
In addition to Sumner on banjo and Rose on the mandolin, Detour also includes Zak Bunce on string bass, Peter Knupfer on fiddle and Scott Zylstra on guitar. Together for nearly two years, the band released it's first CD in June, "Radio Hill.” A regional effort, they recorded the tunes at Frontier Recording in Copemish, which is owned by Zylstra, and the cover features art by Glenn Wolff.
"Since I met Mike, I haven't played my banjo — I'm not really a banjo player,” added Rose. "When you play in a band with somebody like Mike, your estimation of your banjo prowess runs into a reality shock.”
Last winter was a busy time at the recording studio for Sumner as he put together his first CD, "Winds of Winfield,” which also came out in June.
"That's always been a dream,” he said.
For more information on Mike Sumner and the band Detour, see their web site at www.detourbluegrass.com.