Clayton Bankston
Clayton began playing fiddle at the age of 5. He saw a cousin playing classical violin and told his parents he wanted to play that thing with the stick. He began lessons at Valerie's Music Studio with Mary Lamb; and eventually Clayton graduated to taking lessons from Valerie.
Clayton began playing Texas-style fiddling at fiddle contests around the state and always did well. While making "fiddle friends" at contests, he always learned something new.
Clayton started teaching at the studio at age 16. He enjoys teaching fiddle, mandolin, and guitar to children and adults of all ages. In his own words, "I just want to pass on traditional style Texas-fiddling to anyone I can."
Clayton specializes in Texas-style fiddling, Texas-style mandolin, and Texas-style guitar. He also teaches band style improvising. Currently Clayton plays with the group 281 South all over the state. Much of his rhythm guitar was learned from guitar legends Royce and Ray Franklin, and Rich O'Brien. In addition to rhythm, Clayton teaches rock and blues style lead guitar.