Here are some of our banjo groups:

Schreyer Banjos

Debbie Schreyer Owens, Banjo; Tom Owens, Bass and vocals, and Lowell Schreyer, Banjo
Schreyer Banjos is a family group from Minnesota consisting of Lowell and Debbie Schreyer on banjos and Debbie’s husband, Tom Owens, on string bass and vocals. Debbie's brother, Ted, (pictured below) frequently joins the group on tuba while Tom switches to washboard.

They headlined banjo festivals in Eureka Springs, Ark, in 2003, Allenberry, Penn., in 2004, and the Sacramento Banjorama in 2006. The group also was featured at the Guthrie Jazz Banjo Festival. Lowell and Debbie performed with the “Riverboat Ragtime Revue” on the national community concert circuit. Debbie and Tom had their own trio at the Showboat Casino in Atlantic City for seven years. During that run they recorded the CD, ”Debbie Schreyer Trio: Banjo on the Boardwalk.” Together, Lowell and Debbie appeared in the 1988 International Banjo Festival Tour of Germany, the New Orleans World’s Fair, and the St. Louis Ragtime Festival.

Her career interest sparked as a 9-year old at the local Shakey’s, Debbie went on to tour nationwide for three years as a promotional banjoist for Sara Lee Corp.; headline banjo festivals in St. Louis in 1990, Seattle in 1994, and Detroit in 1997; and perform as a band banjoist at the San Diego Jazz Fest among others. Her recordings include 4 CDs with jazz bands on the GHB label of New Orleans and “Schreyer Banjos: Showboat to New Orleans” with Lowell and Debbie on banjos and brother Ted on tuba.

While playing banjo on a riverboat on the Upper Mississippi, Debbie met Captain Tom Owens who eventually became her husband. Having sung leading roles in Twin Cities musical theater, Tom took up the string bass and joined the musical family. Debbie and Tom can be heard with their Banjo Belle Jazz Band on Padelford Riverboats of St. Paul.

Lowell, the dad of the group, has had a lifetime of playing the banjo as well as writing about its history. On the performing side he has been a riverboat banjoist on the Delta Queen and Mississippi Queen steamboats and has toured nationally and internationally with the US Air dixieland band. As a banjo historian, he has been a writer for the Fretted Instrument Guild of America (FIGA) magazine for many years, published a book on the life of Eddie Peabody, and published a banjo history book entitled The Banjo Entertainers: Roots to Ragtime in 2007. Lowell was inducted into the National Four-String Banjo Hall of Fame in 2002.

The Schreyers and Tom participated in the 2004 reenactment of the Grand Excursion of 1854 with Tom as captain and Lowell and Debbie as banjoists on the 5-day voyage up the Mississippi River with a flotilla of 7 riverboats.