Through his performances, his teaching, and his recordings, Ed Sweeney honors people and their history by presenting music that entertains as well as educates. He uses his musical expertise, breadth of knowledge, and wonderful sense of humor to help listeners come to understand the motivations, stories, and culture that have made us what we are today. For 35 years, Ed has studied with and performed alongside many of the top professionals in the field of traditional music, and his work has earned accolades throughout the United States, Canada, and parts of Europe. Reviewers call him “a master of unpretentiousness” and “delightfully fresh.” He newest CD, Passing Through, joins six previous solo recordings, including Inside Fezziwig’s, which USA Today called “the best Christmas release of its kind.” Some of Ed’s music can be heard in Disneyland Paris and in the Ken Burns documentary Not for Ourselves Alone: The Story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton & Susan B. Anthony. Ed performs a wide-ranging repertoire of mostly traditional music, some ragtime and blues on 6- and 12-string guitar, 5-string banjo, and fretless banjo. The style of guitar he plays is called finger-style, which is performed on steel strings. His style of banjo playing is known as clawhammer, frailing, or old-timey. Frailing banjo and fretless banjo are two uniquely traditional American instruments. Ed performs on a longneck 5-string banjo that was custom made for him. The fretless banjo also was custom made of parts manufactured around 1910.