Cedar Mountain Banjos

A Family History

​

Cedar Mountain Banjos exists within a longer family history rooted in music, teaching, and community in Western North Carolina.

In the mid-1990s, Lo Gordon, a musician and craftsman, founded Cedar Mountain Banjos as a small banjo workshop focused on traditional design and hands-on building. At the same time, Lo and his wife Mary were deeply involved in the local music scene—not only as performers, but as educators and mentors.

​

For many years, they also ran a local music store that served as a gathering place for musicians of all ages. It was a space where instruments were sold and repaired, but just as importantly, where music was shared, learned, and passed on. Lessons, conversations, and community happened there daily.

​

Growing up in that environment, Tim Gardner was immersed early in traditional music, instrument building, and the values that surrounded them. Cedar Mountain Banjos later became Tim’s primary workshop, where he continued building custom banjos by hand for over two decades. His work was shaped not only by technique, but by the musical community that had supported the shop from the beginning.

​

The lineage continues beyond instrument making. Tim now works in forest products auditing and research, exploring the material origins of wood and the global systems that supply it, while remaining an active touring musician. The questions that once began at the workbench—about materials, place, and responsibility—now extend far beyond it.