Pete Wernick (born February 25, 1946), also known as "Dr. Banjo", is an American musician. He is a five-string

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and in modern forms is usually made of plastic, where early membranes were made of animal skin. ...

player in the

bluegrass music Bluegrass music is a genre of American roots music that developed in the 1940s in the Appalachian region of the United States. The genre derives its name from the band Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys. Bluegrass has roots in African America ...

scene since the 1960s, founder of the Country Cooking and Hot Rize bands, Grammy nominee and educator, with several instruction books and videos on banjo and bluegrass, and a network of bluegrass jamming teachers called The Wernick Method. He served from 1986 to 2001 as the first president of the

International Bluegrass Music Association The International Bluegrass Music Association, or IBMA, is a trade association to promote bluegrass music. Formed in 1985, IBMA established its first headquarters in Owensboro, Kentucky. In 1988 they announced plans to create the International ...

. Wernick is also an outspoken atheist and humanist, and at one time led a secular humanist congregation in Boulder, Colorado.

Biography

Pete Wernick was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and began playing the banjo at the age of fourteen. He pursued studies at Columbia University, hosting New York City's only bluegrass radio program in the 1960s on WKCR-FM and earning a Ph.D. in sociology, thus the moniker "Dr. Banjo". In 1970 while working at Cornell University, he formed Country Cooking in

Ithaca, New York Ithaca () is a city in and the county seat of Tompkins County, New York, United States. Situated on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake in the Finger Lakes region of New York (state), New York, Ithaca is the largest community in the Ithaca metrop ...

together with

Tony Trischka Anthony Cattell Trischka (born January 16, 1949) is an American five-string banjo player. Sandra Brennan wrote of him in 2020: "One of the most influential modern banjoists, both in several forms of bluegrass music and occasionally in jazz and ...

Russ Barenberg Russ Barenberg (born October 8, 1950) is an American Bluegrass music, bluegrass musician. Biography Barenberg began playing guitar at age 13, taking lessons from Alan Miller, whose brother, John Miller, Barenberg would later play with. His style ...

, John Miller, and Nondi Leonard. They recorded four albums for

Rounder Records Rounder Records is an independent record label founded in 1970 in Somerville, Massachusetts, by Marian Leighton Levy, Ken Irwin, and Bill Nowlin. Focused on American roots music, Rounder's catalogue of more than 3000 titles includes records by A ...

, adding the talents of

Kenny Kosek Kenny Kosek (born 1949 in The Bronx, New York), is an American fiddler who plays bluegrass, country, klezmer, folk music and roots music. In addition to his solo career, he has performed with many other well-known performers and contributed to ...

, Harry Gilmore (later known as Lou Martin), and

Andy Statman Andrew Edward Statman (born 1950) is a noted American klezmer clarinetist and bluegrass/newgrass mandolinist. Life and career Statman was born in New York City and grew up in the borough of Queens. Beginning at age 12, he learned to play banj ...

, among others. In 1976, Wernick and his wife Nondi Leonard (now known as Joan Wernick), settled in

Niwot, Colorado Niwot is an unincorporated town, a post office, and a census-designated place (CDP) located in and governed by Boulder County, Colorado, United States. The CDP is a part of the Boulder, Colorado Metropolitan Statistical Area. The Niwot post of ...

, and with Tim O'Brien he began to develop "Niwot Music", consisting only of banjo, mandolin and bass. The music was showcased on his 1977 solo album "Dr. Banjo Steps Out". In January 1978, with O'Brien, Charles Sawtelle, and Mike Scap, he started the bluegrass band

Hot Rize Hot Rize is an American bluegrass music, bluegrass band that rose to prominence in the early 1980s. Established in 1978, Hot Rize has appeared on national radio and TV shows, and has toured most of the United States, as well as Japan, Europe an ...

. Nick Forster replaced Scap in May, 1978, completing the band's classic lineup that recorded and performed nationally and internationally full-time for 12 years, through April, 1990. Hot Rize recorded many Wernick-penned originals, including the standard "Just Like You", and instrumentals "Gone Fishing" and "Powwow the Indian Boy". After disbanding as a full-time unit, the group continued with several performances a year until 1998, the year before Sawtelle's death. Currently he leads the bluegrass/jazz combo Flexigrass, and performs with his wife Joan ("Dr. and Nurse Banjo"). In 1986 the Board of the newly formed IBMA (International Bluegrass Music Association) elected Wernick its first president, a position he held until 2001. Wernick was one of the members of the banjo supergroup Men with Banjos who Know How to Use Them, a group that included

Steve Martin Stephen Glenn Martin (born August 14, 1945) is an American comedian, actor, writer, producer, and musician. Known for Steve Martin filmography, his work in comedy films, television, and #Discography, recording, he has received List of awards a ...

and

Earl Scruggs Earl Eugene Scruggs (January 6, 1924 – March 28, 2012) was an American musician noted for popularizing a three-finger banjo picking style, now called "Scruggs style", which is a defining characteristic of bluegrass music. His three-finge ...

and 2 others. In 2010, the Wernicks became the first Americans to tour in Russia as a bluegrass act, performing at the first annual Russian-American bluegrass festival in Vologda and Semenkovo, and in St. Petersburg. The duet has also performed in recent years in Ireland, England, Denmark, Israel, the Czech Republic, Germany, Switzerland, and Holland. Wernick is a prominent teacher of bluegrass, having hosted over 200 music camps since 1980 and still conducting several each year. After starting as banjo camps, since 1999 the camps have focused mostly on bluegrass jamming for all bluegrass instruments. Wernick has produced 10 instructional videos for Homespun and his books "Bluegrass Banjo" and "Bluegrass Songbook" have together sold over a third of a million copies. He also co-authored in 1987 with Tony Trischka, the encyclopedic "Masters of the Five String Banjo". Since 1999 his website, DrBanjo.com has presented many instruction articles and an Ask Dr. Banjo section. In 2010 Wernick created The Wernick Method, a national network of bluegrass teachers he certifies to teach bluegrass jamming. As of 2025, Wernick Method teachers have conducted 1500 classes in 46 states and 12 countries, with student registrations totaling over 16,000. Wernick is also a survivor of the

United Airlines Flight 232 United Airlines Flight 232 was a regularly scheduled United Airlines flight from Stapleton International Airport in Denver to O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, continuing to Philadelphia International Airport. On July 19, 1989, the DC-1 ...

air disaster July 19, 1989. He composed a song inspired by that incident, called "A Day In '89 (You Never Know)"; however, he has not released a recording of it yet. He showed up for the bluegrass festival Winterhawk two days after the crash, having to use spare musical instruments, as his had not yet been located (both were damaged but restorable).

References

Wernick, his Wife Joan and their son William were in the crash of Flight 232 in Sioux City, Iowa on July 19, 1989. The source is his wife Joan.

External links

Official WebsiteFlexigrass
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wernick, Pete 1946 births Living people Survivors of aviation accidents or incidents Jewish American musicians American atheists American country banjoists Hot Rize members 21st-century American Jews