We're in a similar situation, although my experience has been all bluegrass. I'm Gumbograss on BHO. Looking forward to learning some new stuff!

Hi Rick, welcome to this forum. I've left this same coment for some of our other members. We are here to help. If you want to learn early banjo, then you need to start thinking more along clawhammer lines. Getting a tutor or two are great places to start. The Tom Briggs tutor of 1855 is a good place to begin. Do you read tab, or standard music notation? The complexity is that things were written in D/G or E/A, rather than in G/C like they are typically today. Another great resource for getting started are Bob Flesher's (Dr. Horsehair) books. That is where a number of us started. Feel free to ask questions here, we tend to be a very friendly group. The videos are also useful.