The strumming of a banjo twanged throughout The Depot on March 13th during a Punk N’ Drag night. 

Big Tractor, otherwise known as Liv, performed two original songs, Down to Farm and Arizona, with their banjo for a crowded dance floor. Cheers of support from their friends came in waves during their first solo performance of their folk and punk-inspired songs. 

The drag performer’s original songs are influenced by the comedic music genre, which shines through in the witty flair of their lyrics. While their verses pull listeners in, the hum of their customized banjo has audiences sticking around. Down to Farm is from “the perspective of a lonely farmer looking for love on farmersonly.com,” Liv said, and it offers the opportunity for the audience to participate by making animal noises. 

Liv was first introduced to the instrument when fiddling with a banjo used to decorate a teacher’s  wall. Now Liv fully constructs their own from scratch.

“The project I’m working on now is making one [a banjo] out of a tin can, like an old cookie tin, and then you just take a plank of wood and then put strings on it,” Liv said. “And that’s a banjo.”

Big Tractor’s writing process transpires through consistently writing down all of their thoughts and forming melodies in their head. One of the original songs that Big Tractor performed, ‘Arizona,’ a song about a sex worker, was written last year in partnership with friends while they were in a band, Miss Behaved Mouse.

Liv expressed a desire to perform more solo shows and even come back to SF State for future musical events. Being a past SF State student, Liv was informed about the event through a friend.

“I really love it,” Liv said. “I feel like it [Big Tractor] makes people happy and that’s the goal.”