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The Ballad of Frankie Silver

Her real name was Frances Steward Silver, but they all called her Frankie. The words chiseled into her tombstone give us a chilling reminder of what this story is about: “Frankie Silver, Only Woman Ever Hanged in Burke County, Morganton, July 2, 1833.”

I first heard about this strange chapter of North Carolina folklore from a mountain man named Bobby McMillan, whom I met when I lived in Hickory, North Carolina in the mid-1970’s. Because he was the third cousin to Charlie Silver, the man Frankie was accused of killing, Bobby had been collecting stories, songs and lore about Frankie

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Is It Hard to Play the Mandolin?

By Wayne Erbsen

Heck no! It’s easy as eating pie if you approach learning the mandolin in the right way. Of course, there is no shortage of free information, tab, and musical notation of mandolin music on the web. The challenge is finding information that’s geared to your style of learning.

A lot of the music for mandolin is written out in a system called “tab.” Numbers on lines represent the fret that you play on a string. This might be OK at first, but it’s actually a ridiculous way to learn. Why? Because learning from tab will insure that

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Ukulele Clubs

(This is a guest post by Ted Parrish, co-author with Wayne Erbsen of our newest book, Ukulele for the Complete Ignoramus. It was be available on August 17, 2015)

One of the many wonders of the modern world has been the proliferation of ukulele clubs in almost every metropolitan area of the country. A Google search and a few inquiries at your local music store will usually direct you towards a group of ukulele enthusiasts. Let’s talk about what these groups do and why you should seek them out.

girls with ukesMost ukulele clubs meet weekly, often at a café or restaurant.

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Log Cabin Diaries, Part 1: The Search

By Wayne Erbsen
 cabin In 1999, my wife Barbara looked me straight in the eyes and said that we needed to find a cabin or farmhouse way back in the mountains.  She wanted to find a old-timey place so far back in the sticks that we could hear only the sounds of birds chirping. No electricity, no plumbing, no cars, no computers, no cell phones, no nuthin’. You know, that didn’t sound half bad, so I bought into the idea.

After looking at a slew of so-called cabins right next to busy roads, Barb came into my office with a crazed

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The West Virginia Coon Hunters

Coon Hunters 2

The West Virginia Coon Hunters-On the Trail of a Lost String Band by John Lilly

Not long ago, two men from West Virginia — both fine guitarists — were enjoying a visit to Nashville. During part of their stay, they browsed some of the big record stores in Music City, marveling at the wealth of country music LP’s, CD’s, and cassettes offered for sale — recordings that they could never find in the stores back home.

Robert Shafer, a national champion flatpicker from Elkview, casually picked up a release of vintage old-time music. On the back of the jacket,

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Should I Use a Pick with the Ukulele?

(This is a guest post by Ted Parrish, co-author of ‘Ukulele for the Complete Ignoramus‘)

To pick or not to pick, that is the question.

Folks ask me all the time what pick do they need to play the ukulele. And while the easy answer is “none”, there really is no easy answer.

nopick2Historically speaking there is no call for a pick or plectrum. The Hawaiians who invented the ukulele (by modifying Portuguese instruments that came to the islands with sailors) did not use a pick. In Hawaii you generally strum with the first finger or the thumb,

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‘I Am a Pilgrim’ and the Magic Numbers

By Wayne Erbsen

Merle-TravisOne of my favorite gospel songs of all time is I Am a Pilgrim. I first heard it back in the early 60s when I was listening closely to Doc Watson, who sang it and picked it on the guitar. Doc freely admitted that he learned it from the great Merle Travis, so I always assumed Travis composed it. Digging a little deeper, I found that it was recorded by 14 African-American singers before it was even a gleam in Travis’ eye.

I’m not surprised that I Am a Pilgrim has roots in African-American music. The

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A Word About These Free Clawhammer Banjo Tabs

Howdy!

These free clawhammer banjo tabs are written out in the simplest possible way. Like “normal” tab, the five horizontal lines represent the five strings of your banjo. The numbers on the lines represent the fret that you play on that string.

What’s not so “normal,” is that I have not included the rhythmic clawhammer stroke as part of the tab. What you have here is only the naked melody.

If you already have the basic clawhammer banjo rhythm nailed down, you know that it sounds like “bum dit-ty,” or “claw-ham-mer.” The “bum” or “claw” is the melody, the “dit”

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New Release: Easy 2-Chord Songs for Mandolin

Many folks are on the lookout for easy and foolproof ways to learn to play their favorite musical instrument. Who can blame them? Everyone wants a free ride down music alley. These kind of folks get lured to websites that make grand promises of quick success if you try their method. Not being afraid to jump on this bandwagon, I’m working on a new book entitled Easy 2-Chord Songs for Mandolin. 

***This book will be available in late February 2018. Email us at info@nativeground.com if you want us to let you know when it comes out. ***

It doesn’t

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The Great American Tear Jerker by Wayne Erbsen

Rural Roots of Bluegrass by Wayne Erbsen

Fans of traditional country and bluegrass music have always had a soft spot in their hearts for a good ole tear jerker. If you write a song about getting run over by a train while holding a baby on the way to your mother’s funeral, you’re bound to have a hit. Let’s take a little trip back in time and see where the idea of the tear jerker came from.

Mid 19th century America had a lot to cry about. If the high infant mortality rate didn’t kill you, any number of other hazards would. Anyone who lived to be

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