Common Ground Downtown

Victor Furtado is a clawhammer banjo player, teacher and performer from Virginia. As the youngest of 9 homeschooled musician siblings who studied classical music as well as bluegrass, Victor grew up in a musically rich environment. Victor taught himself clawhammer banjo at age 9. With a wide array of musical influences and being mainly self-taught, he created the unique style of banjo playing which earned him attention in the banjo community. By age 12, Victor had appeared on the Grand Ole Opry, Woodsongs Oldtime Radio Hour, won many banjo competitions, and self-recorded his first solo banjo album. Around age 14, Victor was invited by producer Tom Mindte to record a studio album with the likes of Nate Leath, Danny Knicely, and Mark Schatz. At age 17, following a move to Boone, North Carolina, Victor frequently visited his friends the Wildmans, and after many visits with them he moved into their home and joined the band, with whom he continues to play. Victor has been a part of a variety of musical recordings, including incredible musicians such as Eli and Aila Widman, Andrew Vogts, Sophie Wellington, Danny Knicely, Nate Leath, Mark Schatz, Stella Beams, Gina Furtado, Claude Martin, Nick Falk and Dori Freeman, and more.

In 2018, Victor and Eli Wildman went to Boston, MA to study at Berklee College of music, and a year later were joined by Eli’s sister Aila Wildman. In 2019, Victor received the Steve Martin prize for excellence in banjo and bluegrass. Victor currently lives in Boston where he studies, teaches, and spends his time refining and exploring his craft, but his home base is in Floyd, Virginia. In Bluegrass Today‘s words “a young man with an absurdly precious talent, and a depth of understanding of old time music that is at odds with his age.”