He Played Broadway And The Opry But Still Felt Like a Fraud
Performance Neurology with Josh Turknett, MDShow Notes
Bennett Sullivan has played banjo on Broadway, at the Grand Ole Opry, and on the Poker Face soundtrack. By any measure, he belongs on any stage. And for years, he couldn't convince himself of it.
In this episode, Bennett is honest about the gap between what he's accomplished and how it's felt from the inside: the comparison that made him great and got in his way at the same time, the night on Broadway he was sure he'd ruined the show, and the shift that finally let him get out of his own way, which turned out to have almost nothing to do with the banjo.
If you've ever been good at something and still felt like you were about to be found out, this one's for you. Links: Bennett's teaching site: https://banjolicks.com Order The Genius and the Impostor: GeniusAndImpostor.com Bennett on Instagram: @thebennettsullivan Josh on Instagram: @brainjojosh
More from Performance Neurology with Josh Turknett, MD
For more than sixty years, Ron Ruiz stuttered. It shaped his school years and kept him from flying for the airlines. Through decades of therapy, the advice he kept hearing was to accept it. Then, after he retired, Ron started learning the banjo, and that showed him firsthand that his brain could change.
Banjo player Bennett Sullivan was sure he'd ruined a Broadway show with one flubbed intro, and the research on how audiences actually hear our mistakes explains why almost nobody noticed.
More from Josh: The Genius and the Impostor is out now: https://geniusandimpostor.com Brains, Banjos and Beyond (newsletter): https://joshturknett.substack.com Keynotes and workshops: https://joshturknett.com/speaking Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brainjojosh
Bryan Sutton is one of the best flatpickers alive, and like most great players, he'll tell you the guitar just came naturally to him. In this follow-up to my conversation with Bryan, I dig into what's really behind the making of a "natural," and what it means for you. Links: The Genius and the Impostor is out now: https://GeniusAndImpostor.com The full interview with Bryan Sutton: https://youtu.be/mF0MSRkrriM?si=oNmQxHoMon-UaRKT Instagram: @brainjojosh More at performanceneurology.institute
Bryan Sutton is a three-time Grammy winner and one of the most-recorded session guitarists in Nashville, with credits from Garth Brooks and Taylor Swift to Dolly Parton and Doc Watson. Yet, he's driven home from sessions convinced he'd never work in the town again.