Carl Yaffey — Columbus, OH, USA

More About Me

Carl Yaffey, a Multi-instrumentalist (banjo, mandolin, bass, and guitar), grew up in Norfolk, VA and has been playing music on and off since 1962. During the “folkie days”, Carl played banjo and guitar in several Kingston Trio “clone” groups in Norfolk. He moved to Columbus, OH in 1966, and has been involved in the Columbus music scene ever since. Early on he played bass in a country band and several Rock and Roll “oldies” bands (“Bill and the Brunettes”, “Streamliner”). Carl played clawhammer banjo in several old-timey bands (“Turkeys in the Straw”, ”Pit Bull String Band”) and played 3-finger banjo and bass in the bluegrass band “One Riot One Ranger”.

Carl’s professional life began with his move to Columbus to accept a job as a systems analyst/programmer with Bell Laboratories, now Lucent Technologies. After retiring from Lucent in 1989, Carl established his own business, Yaffey Software Development, in order to do independent software design. His other interests and hobbies include Amateur Radio (K8NU), riding a recumbent bicycle, and dancing (contra, folk). Carl is married to Debbie Shaw and lives with her by a wonderful ravine in Columbus.

Carl is now a full-time musician. He is the author of several Mel Bay books, "A Banjo Player's Guide to Jamming", "A Flatpicker's Guide to Jamming", "A Mandolin Player's Guide to Jamming", “A Bass Player’s Guide to Jamming”, and “A Fiddle Player’s Guide to Jamming”. Carl teaches clawhammer and 3-finger banjo, guitar, mandolin, and both electric and upright bass. He plays banjo in “Timbre Wolves” , Bohemian Highway, and, of course, “Grassahol”.