Tony Thomas is one of the leading historians of banjo origins and the history of African American banjo playing.  He was one of the organizers of the 2005 Black Banjo Gathering at Appalachian State University which launched the contemporary Black Banjo revival.  His writings include publications by Duke University Press, University of Illinois Press and the Oxford African American Studies Center.  Tony has presented at the Banjo Collectors Gathering,  Banjo Camp North, Suwanee Banjo Camp, Blue Ridge Old Time Music Week at Mars Hill College, Britain’s “Sweet Sunny South” Festival, and at universities and teacher education conferences.  He has performed solo and with New York’s Ebony Hillbillies, playing banjo and guitar. Tony holds a Master of Fine Art in Creative Writing from Florida International University and has published literary fiction and poetry and pieces on African American and African studies and socialist politics since the 1960s.