GRAVETTE — Jeff Davis created his first instrument when he was just five years old, living in Mendocino County, California. “I built a guitar from an old pie tin and strung it with some rubber bands,” Davis said.

The musician, who came to Western Benton County in 1974, sat at his regular place at Gravette’s Saturday farmers’ market. Around him some of his more sophisticated recent creations were for sale,including ukuleles made from rosewood cigar boxes and banjos with ornately inlaid necks.

Davis became interested in music long before he started seriously playing or building instruments. “I always tried to play guitar,” he said. “But it never took.”

Davis had a different experience with the banjo. He began playing banjo about 30 years ago, but only started playing with others a little over a decade ago when he would use his Friday lunch hours at Walmart’s printing department to play music with his coworkers.

But he wanted to do more than just play music.

“When I started playing a banjo, I knew I had to build one.”

He has been striving to build the perfect instrument ever since.

Combining salvaged parts purchased from the Internet with delicate pieces of inlay and custom pieces he creates to get just the right sound, Davis has now built dozens of instruments.

“I recently bought some stuff off the computer, sight unseen,” he said. “And I found a Vega banjo rim. That was Pete Seeger’s preferred brand.”

He explained the excitement of reviving the sound of the instrument the famous musician loved. “I put a neck on, and it just came alive.”

Davis said that in addition to the creative satisfaction of making unique instruments, a large part of his interest in music is rooted in the sense of community that comes from playing music with others.

“It’s a sharing of ideas,” he said. “A lot of people have a love for the same thing. When they come together, making music is a very social activity.”

When he plays with others, Davis draws from a variety of genres. However, his favorite style of tune is called “old time music,” which predates bluegrass.

“Old time music isn’t about putting on a show,” Davis said after demonstrating the style on a banjo. “Old time music is about making a tune that people can dance to. In old time music, you play and you play, over and over again until people get tired of dancing.”

Even when people aren’t dancing, the musician enjoys the camaraderie of playing at the farmers’ market in Gravette and in retirement communities around the area.

“People think that the group playing at the farmers market is an organized band. It’s not. It’s actually an open jam. I’d love more people to join us playing at the market.”

Davis also dreams of a time when musicians in Western Benton County have a regular music gathering like Rogers’ “Pickin’ in Frisco Park” or Bentonville’s regular Friday evening collection of musicians at its city square. He also craves a place to play in the winter, when the farmers’ market is closed.

“We just about go through withdrawal in the winter without a place to play on Saturday mornings.”

Jeff Davis and his handcrafted instruments can be found every Saturday from 9 a.m. to early afternoon at the Gravette Farmers Market, in Old Town Park. Musicians of all levels are invited to bring their instruments to play with him and others at the market’s open jam session.

News, Pages 1 on 05/18/2011