Walter Davis – Fisk & Skull Banjo

Rural Roots of Bluegrass

One of the most fascinating of all the two finger pickers is a gentleman by the name of Walter Davis. Residing in Black Mountain, North Carolina, Walter, in his 75 years, has come to know most of the western Carolina banjo players such as Samantha Bumgarner, Mack Crow, Clarence Ashley and Dock Walsh. He was also acquainted with Jimmy Rodgers, who once lived in Old Fort, North Carolina, and Blind Lemon Jefferson, who played on the streets of nearby Johnson City, Tennessee. He also knew Jimmy Davis, who came to visit his mother in a hospital in Morganton, North Carolina,

… Read the rest
Posted on by — 7 Comments

Tommy Millard – Blackfaced Musician & Bluegrass Boy by Wayne Erbsen

Rural Roots of Bluegrass

When the full story of country music is told, the name Tommy Millard will not be forgotten. Dubbed “Snowball” by Bill Monroe, Tommy was a legendary performer who made important contributions to country music. Working with numerous medicine shows up and down the East Coast, Tommy was one of a small number of blackfaced comics who helped make the transition from the racially sensitive blackface act to the more acceptable role of the rube comic. Tommy, in fact, helped to further define the rube comic character with a freckled face, tattered baggy pants, oversized shoes, and slouch hat. His constant

… Read the rest
Posted on by

Curly & Jack, The Shelton Brothers

Among the favorite pastimes in the mountains was music. They say fiddlers and banjo players were so numerous they practically fell out of the trees when it rained. Although banjos and fiddles were common, it is said that guitars were a rare and precious commodity in the early days. Anyone who could play one was awarded the respect due only to a preacher or a moonshiner.

Accordingly, it was a special day in the Shelton household when Charlie Pack came to visit. Charlie always brought with him a black Stella guitar. In the evenings, Charlie would chord the Stella and

… Read the rest
Posted on by — 10 Comments

Making His Own Way – Raymond Fairchild

By Wayne Erbsen

Published in Bluegrass Unlimited in March 1982

They call him “The Old Man of the Mountains.” At the spry age of 42, that makes Raymond Fairchild a rather youthful “old man.” No matter. The mountains can age you before your time, and Raymond has lived far enough back in the Smoky Mountains to be several generations old by now. This man, who many consider to be the fastest and the best banjo player alive, lays a genuine claim to playing mountain music. He’s lived it.

Born near Cherokee, North Carolina, to a Cherokee Indian mother and a

… Read the rest
Posted on by — 3 Comments

Wiley & Zeke Morris, The Morris Brothers

Rural Roots of Bluegrass

It all started with mama. It seemed like she could make music on about anything with strings on it and some things that didn’t, like the french harp. There never was enough time for mama to play, what with raising six rambunctious sons. But often on Saturday night she would put her work aside and get together with her two brothers, Rome and Joe, to make music. Joe played banjo in the old clawhammer style, and Rome played the fiddle. In addition to the hoedown square dance tunes, Rome was known to have played some beautiful waltz music on the

… Read the rest
Posted on by — 1 Comment

Lester Woodie, Coming Up The Hard Road

Rural Roots of Bluegrass

In the Summer of 1949 a shy boy of eighteen rode up to Bristol, Virginia for his first professional job as a fiddle player. Behind the steering wheel was a man in his early twenties who had encouraged the boy’s music from the start. The older man’s name was George Shuffler.

“This is a good break for you,” George said to the younger man riding beside him. “The Stanley’s are tough, and what with making a guaranteed $50 a week, why you could send some home to the folks and still have more money than you would have ever made

… Read the rest
Posted on by

Jim Shumate, Bluegrass Fiddler Supreme

Rural Roots of Bluegrass

It’s a long drive from Raleigh, North Carolina to Nashville, Tennessee. Before Interstate 40 was cut through North Carolina, driving west from Raleigh meant winding through such towns as Siler City, Mocksville, Statesville, Hickory, and Old Fort. Bill Monroe is no stranger to that road. In the forty odd years he has been performing, he has worn out many a set of tires driving that road. Being a bluegrass musician has meant accepting show dates spread out all over the country; it never seems to matter how many miles lie between.

To pass the time, Monroe has often tuned in

… Read the rest
Posted on by

Cleo Davis, The Original Bluegrass Boy

Rural Roots of Bluegrass

By Wayne Erbsen

On March 9, 1919, a doctor rode his horse-drawn buggy through the hills of northwest Georgia to the home of Ben and Effie Davis. He was summoned because Effie was about to have a baby. By the time the Doc had left, Effie and John were the proud parents of a healthy baby boy. As yet, they had no name for him. By and by, they gave him the name Cleo.

As young Cleo was growing up, he was surrounded by music. Mama played the pump organ and sang the old hymns along with her brothers and

… Read the rest
Posted on by — 3 Comments

Thicker’n Fiddlers in Hell

Old-Time Fiddle for the Complete Ignoramus! instruction book by Wayne Erbsen

By Wayne Erbsen

Throughout its long and spicy history, the fiddle has been both loved and loathed. In early frontier days fiddlers were held in the highest esteem, even above doctors, lawyers, and politicians. It was a lone fiddler who held sway at community dances, which were the most popular form of entertainment in early America. Without the fiddler, there simply was no dance. A pioneer community that could boast having a fiddler was the envy of all, and a skilled fiddler was always in demand to play for community gatherings, such as barn dances, log rollings, corn-shuckings and bean-stringings.

… Read the rest
Posted on by

Clawhammer Banjo — What Is It?

By Wayne Erbsen

I get asked this question now and then, so I thought a little discussion of this vital topic wouldn’t hurt. Used to be, when trying to explain clawhammer banjo, I’d refer to Grandpa Jones, once a star of the TV show Hee Haw. Now that Grandpa Jones has passed on to the barn dance in the sky and Hee Haw is long off the air, it’s hard to think of a national star who plays in this style. But although clawhammer banjo pickers are not found on the front cover of Time or Rolling Stone (not

… Read the rest
Posted on by — 6 Comments