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No sound is more synonymous with sittin' by the bayou than the semi-muted, vaguely metallic twang of a banjo string. Using a banjo in a work can function as an aural shorthand for "country" and "rural" where that vibe is intended.
This may stem from banjos being heavily associated with Country and Bluegrass music, a genre popular with folks who live on farms. Joined with fiddles and the Quirky Ukulele, banjos are also associated with Dixieland Jazz, a genre associated with combining folksy with the lackadaisical cosmopolitan aura of The Roaring '20s.
Often appears alongside representations of the Deep South, as well as scarily crossed with Hillbilly Horrors.
Sub-Trope of Regional Riff. Compare Jungle Jazz, Snowy Sleigh Bells, and Waltz on Water for other uses of musical motifs to invoke the right vibe.
Examples:
- In the Kim Possible fanfic Chores Day
, Kim was forced to dress like a hillbilly and sing while playing a banjo after losing a bet. When Ron sees her in that getup, he dresses like a hillbilly and starts dancing and playing a banjo while singing "Cotton-Eye Joe" (which ends with his overalls falling off), much to Kim's embarrassment.
- An Australian variant is depicted in a dream sequence in the Dot and the Kangaroo sequel, Dot and the Bunny with Dot dreaming about the titular rabbit, Funny-Bunny, playing a banjo and singing The Kangaroo That Never Grew, while strutting around the outback, and playing in a country-esque style that also fits in with his surroundings.
- Deliverance: The duelling banjos scene is the first indication that the guys aren't in Atlanta anymore.
- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005): Adopted the theme song of its radio-based predecessor, the entry for which is further down.
- The Muppet Movie: The opening scene shows Kermit the Frog in the swamp, relaxing and playing the banjo to "Rainbow Connection". This establishes Kermit's simple backwater beginnings before an agent approaches him and suggests he share his talents with the world, kicking off the plot.
- Discworld:
- The rustic backwater kingdom of Lancre is a place where its local Witch, Gytha "Nanny" Ogg, is musically inclined and sure enough, she may be seen sitting on her porch playing the banjo.
- Slice, an area of Lancre considered a backwater by Lancrastian standards, is described in the Companion as "the kind of place where you may have to learn to play the banjo to survive".
- Mrs Bradshaw's Handbook to the Ankh-Morpork and Sto Plains Hygenic Railway states that Gravelhang, a town as close to the middle of nowhere as makes no difference and which only has a railway station because it happens to be directly between places people might actually want to go, has one shop which sells tinned food, tobacco, and banjo strings.
- Rascal Flatts: Invoked in "Banjo," a Big Town Boredom song about needing to get away from the hustle and bustle and going so deep into the country that you pass all the usual stereotypes of rural America, run out of road, and only stop when you hear a banjo.
- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1978): One of the factors that led to "Journey of the Sorcerer" being made the theme song for the show is the banjo part. What better instrument for a hitchhiker?
- Pirates of the Caribbean: As the boat rides through a sleepy bayou at the beginning, it passes by an old man strumming tunes on his banjo.
- Banjo-Kazooie: Played with. Banjo the Bear is a gullible, lazy bear who is part of the titular Adventure Duo, the Nice Moron to Kazooie's Smart Jerk. He lives a simple life on Spiral Mountain when not adventuring, and is seen playing his namesake instrument in the first game's opening.
- Five Nights at Freddy's:
- Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria Simulator: Pigpatch is a banjo-playing pig and member of the silly, low-quality group known as the Mediocre Melodies. His Jump Scare dialogue in Ultimate Custom Night gives him a deep southern drawl as he gives out sayings like "Even monkeys fall from trees" and "If you sit by the river long enough, you will see the body of your enemy float by", with each line accented by a banjo riff.
- Five Nights at Freddy's: Security Breach: Invoked by Fazbear Entertainment. In the Ruin DLC, Cassie goes through the gondola ride that shows Montgomery Gator's in-universe backstory as a simple, swamp-dwelling, banjo-playing gator, before Glamrock Bonnie retired from the Pizzaplex band and gave his guitar and position to Monty. This is implied to be a cover-up for what really happened to Bonnie, which suggests a more hostile takeover on Monty's part.
- Hardspace: Shipbreaker: The entire soundtrack's use of banjos captures the blue-collar working class themes of the game; special mention goes to Labour of Love, the game's de facto main theme, where the banjo is a lead instrument.
- League of Legends: Tahm Kench, the River King, features a leitmotif in the form of a humble, folkish tune with banjo and melodious humming, fitting with his strange but affable "Louisianian fish-themed gentleman" demeanor. However, Tahm Kench is actually a devious trickster demon who leads innocent people into ruination with false hope before feasting on their despair, and this tune he plays is his "siren song" used to lure people in. The full version of the song
abruptly stops halfway through and becomes a creepy ambience reminiscent of being submerged underwater, with the faint sounds of banjo strings painting the visual of Tahm Kench continuing to play his tune as he drags you to your watery grave.
- Liberal Crime Squad: New Age adds banjos as a mechanically identical alternate to guitars. You can't buy them, but some country folk will wield banjos and use them against you.
- Luigi's Mansion 3: The boss of the Boilerworks is Clem, a ghostly hillbilly mechanic who's in charge of operations there. Accordingly, the music that plays across the entire floor
is a mournful banjo and harmonica melody.
- Outer Wilds: Despite being a space-faring civilisation, the Hearthians are still very low-tech and primitive, with most of their equipment being cobbled together from a mix of random junk and scavenged Nomai artifacts. The background music
for the Hearthian homeworld of Timber Hearth heavily features a supporting banjo through-line.
- Shadows Over Loathing: A banjo is prominently featured in the soundtrack of The Big Moist, a dark, nasty swamp where gatormen and hillbilly vampires roam around. A gatorman-made banjo can be found and used as a weapon for Jazz Agents.
- South of Midnight: Set in the Deep South against the Cajun backdrop of Louisiana, banjos are heard as background music for some locations of the storyline.
- Wizard with a Gun: The background music for the Fell includes banjo instrumentation to enhance the rural, overgrown nature of the area and its Magi inhabitants.
- Lackadaisy: The sophisticated Mitzi May, prior to her marriage to the late Atlas May, used to be a traveling showgirl
◊ who played the banjo and the ukulele.
- The Angry Video Game Nerd: In the segment about Bad Video Game Cover Art, the Nerd reviews the one for Phalanx. The cover
for the game features an elderly looking man in a plaid T-shirt, overalls, and playing a banjo. The Nerd hypothesizes the old man is "Mall Santa Claus", who drinks moonshine, and pretends to be the redneck man, as he sings a song on his banjo with his accent.
- Family Guy:
- In the episode "To Love and Die in Dixie", the Griffin family is forced to relocate to the Deep South for witness protection after Chris witnessed a store robbery and correctly identified the robber in a lineup, followed by his father Peter stupidly giving away his son's contact information and photograph to the same robber. One of the first signs of the Griffin family's arrival to Bumblescum is the musical background motif of a banjo playing.
- In "Stewie Loves Lois", a cutaway gag has a black man rowing in a swamp ask a banjo-playing Kermit for directions. Kermit informs him that "it's back the way you came", then pulls out and cocks a shotgun.
- The Fairly OddParents!: Subverted with Chester in "Fairy Idol". Despite being a stereotypical hillbilly who lives in a trailer park, he despises the banjo and believes that nobody else likes them either.
- In the Futurama episode where the Planet Express crew visits the lost city of Atlanta, Bender hums a few notes from Dueling Banjos when they first meet the locals.
- Gravity Falls:
- Zigzagged with Fiddleford McGucket; Fiddleford is only established as being a banjo player in Ford's flashback to when they first started working together in "A Tale of Two Stans". This establishes that even before he became a crazy old hillbilly, McGucket was always a little rustic and folksy in spite of his intelligence, backed up by him spitting tobacco and using phrases like "I reckon".
- In "Society of the Blind Eye", after Blind Ivan's entire memory gets wiped, Mabel tells him he's a traveling banjo minstrel, sending him off on his merry way with a new folksy identity, in contrast to his intellectual villainy from before.
- In "Soos and the Real Girl", Hoo-Ha Owl's Pizzamatronic Jamboree restaurant has Beverly the Beaver Cheerleader on the banjo, implying Hoo-Ha's band is meant to be folksy and rustic. When .GIFfany takes over the Beverly animatronic, she drops the banjo in order to go after Melody, showing she is the opposite of this trope.
- My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic:
- Applejack has banjo as her leitmotif to match her Cowgirl persona.
- In "Simple Ways", when Rarity announces to the rest of the Mane Six that she's changing the theme of the Ponyville Days festival to "simple ways", Spike walks out wearing a straw hat and playing a banjo.
- The Powerpuff Girls (1998): The pink, sasquatch-like monster, Fuzzy Lumpkins, has the personality of a Half-Witted Hillbilly, wears overalls, and enjoys playing the banjo.
- SpongeBob SquarePants:
- In "Plankton's Army", Plankton meets up with his country cousins. At least two of them are shown owning banjos, with one requesting more strings for it.
- In "Trenchbillies", SpongeBob and Patrick encounter a family of deep-sea-dwelling rural folk. At one point in the episode, Patrick plays SpongeBob like a banjo in a duel against another banjo player.
- TUGS: The soundtrack often includes banjo strings whenever an episode takes place Up River with Billy Shoepack the alligator tug, away from the hustle of Bigg City Port.
- Wander over Yonder: The titular hero is a folksy type of character with a rural-sounding voice (courtesy of Jack McBrayer) whose main instrument is a banjo.

