I gently pushed the Scotch VHS video cassette into the VCR. The TV screen was black for a moment and then a grainy, low-quality video started playing.

It was a banjo concert from April 11, 1989 at the Stroh House in Detroit, Michigan. It featured 71-year-old Haig Derderian playing solo on the banjo along with two other banjo players.

It was a concert performed by the Banjos of Michigan, a musical group that Haig had been a member of for many years. He was their most experienced and loved banjo player.

It was taped 11 months before his death.

Haig was the father of my wife, Sue. He passed away in March 1990 after a battle with prostate cancer. Last week, we watched this video and another Banjos of Michigan Jamboree rehearsal on tape from October 1988. It’s the first time I ever heard Haig’s voice, watched him interacting with people, or saw him play the banjo because I didn’t meet Sue until 2006 — 16 years after he died.

I’m deep into writing a book about Haig’s life as a soldier in World War 2, so it was a refreshing look at a different side of the soldier whom I’ve been writing about. It was also a moving experience because I finally put a voice to the person whose life I’ve been documenting.

Haig loved playing the banjo. Sue said playing it meant everything to him. He played in concerts all year long for years. I went to the basement and grabbed his photo albums. No doubt I found many old photos of Haig playing either the banjo or guitar.

He had an ear for music and a true, self-taught talent. Music ran in the family because his sister Suzanne Derderian sang professionally in the New York Metropolitan Opera for several decades.

Haig was born in 1917 in Woonsocket, R.I. and he and his parents moved to Detroit a few years later. He began playing the banjo and guitar at an early age.

From 1935 to 1939, he was a member of the nationally famous Metropolitan YMCA Banjo Band of Detroit. The Banjo Band of Detroit would win first place at American Guild contests from 1935-1939 in the Junior Banjo Bands category.

Charles Heathcote Tatham, born in Dublin, Ireland in 1872, was the director of the Junior Banjos Band.

Haig continued playing banjo and guitar all through the 1940s – even during World War 2. While training at U.S. camps in 1943 and 1944, he wrote in letters to his parents how he would play guitar or banjo for the troops at U.S. Army barracks and events.

He wrote a letter to his parents in Detroit on January 7th, 1944 where he talked about joining an orchestra in the Army. It read:

Dear Folks, ….We haven’t been doing anything out of the ordinary since New Year’s day. There is quite a lot of work to be done on the tanks since the last problem (drill). We’ve had much more trouble with them than when we were in Tennessee. I guess it is because of the sand out here (in the Texas desert). Several of us went to the firing range today. Most of the men fired the carbine, while 5 of us fired the machine gun. I hit the target 34 out of 35 for a score of 102 out of a possible 105….A lieutenant Roberts wants to see me about playing in an orchestra they are starting in our 14th Tank Group. We are to have a weekly radio program starting Jan. 22. Get both of my banjos and guitar ready to send….That’s all for now. Write soon. Love, Haig.

He sent another letter dated May 8th, 1944, writing about playing guitar for the troops. That read:

Dear Folks….Thursday, noon, and we just got word that we are going back into camp this afternoon. That sounds swell….The last day of (a drill) we had a blackout drive. We pulled into an area and a man was guiding me into a place to park. I ran over a large stump and it bent my frame and tore a hole in the radiator. My assistant driver and I had to stay there while the whole rest of the company moved out and finished (the drill). We took off the radiator to maintenance to be soldered and then put it back on….We had a beer party for our company last Monday night out in the field. Tommy (Hand) was master of ceremonies for half the program and then someone else took over. Of course, your’s truly played a couple of solos (on guitar) and later on for singing. It was one of the best beer parties we ever had…That’s all for now. Write soon. Love, Haig.

When he returned from the war, Haig played gigs with bands around the Detroit area for a long time and even formed a group called the Dick Haig Band. He and his friend Dick Harvey formed the band. They played banjo and guitar together until Haig passed away in 1990.

“I remember Dick Harvey was very sad when my dad died. They were best friends and he loved my dad….Everyone loved my dad,” Sue recalled.

Haig joined the Banjos of Michigan at some point and he had a group of fellow musicians that shared the same musical passion he had — the banjo. The group would play concerts throughout Metro Detroit over the years. Separately, Haig would pick up gigs whether it was ice cream socials, fairs, bars and the iconic restaurant and bar Rogers Roost in Sterling Heights, which opened in 1968 and has hosted a variety of musical acts over its long history.

Haig’s daytime job was an elementary school teacher for 17 years at Avalon Elementary School in Saint Clair Shores, MI. But he earned a lot of money playing the banjo and guitar.

Sue said in 1971 her mother Shirley and Haig began building a house in Shelby Township. The 2,000-square-foot house on LuAnn Street was built with Haig’s two hands and with the help of some contractors. They paid cash for the house with Haig’s earnings from playing gigs.

Sue was 3 years old at the time, but she remembers a few years later that her mother had wanted Haig to play as many concerts and gigs around town so they could pay cash for the house. Each year, he would earn a big paycheck playing banjo and guitar at the annual Paul Bunyan Festival in Oscoda, MI.

“My dad loved playing his banjo and he loved his family. I was a daddy’s girl and I loved my dad,” Sue told me.

So when I found 2 VHS cassette tapes in our house of Haig playing the banjo, I knew what I had to do. I called for Sue to come into the room, I dusted off our VCR (probably one of the last remaining functioning ones on planet Earth) and played the tapes.

With the camera on my iPhone 13 Pro phone, I recorded several videos and uploaded them to my channel on Youtube. While the quality isn’t great, I’m posting them below for your listening pleasure. Remember these are from 1988 and 1989 on standard definition, low quality tape. Watching these videos with that technology, it’s amazing we ever put a man on the Moon.

While I was recording and watching these videos, Sue was smiling ear to ear. We sat together on the floor while I heard Haig’s voice for the first time ever. Our Puppy Noah was getting excited, tossing his favorite ball at us with his mouth to play fetch. We watched 2 separate tapes for about an hour.

Here are the tracks that I recorded:

Haig Derderian: Banjo Solo October 1988

Haig Derderian Banjo Solo: Banjos of Michigan (with Dick Harvey on electric guitar, 1988)

Michigan Banjos Jamboree rehearsal 1988: California Here I Come

Haig Derderian Banjo Solo: Banjos of Michigan April 1989. 11 months before Haig’s death. Performance at Stroh House in Detroit.

Haig — Rest in Peace and keep God and his Angels entertained with your banjo playing.