2021 Holiday Gift Guide

The Native Ground family is so excited to gather again for the holidays. This season is always a time for good music, tasty food food, and of course, gifts! The Native Ground catalog provides endless possibilities for thoughtful gift-giving and we’ve put together this short but sweet 2021 Holiday Gift Guide for you! Treat your friends and loved ones to any number of books on vintage baking or how to play their favorite instrument. Don’t forget that all of our books come in digital download form too!

For the Home Baker…

Vintage Baking Cookbook Set

Perfect for the holidays (or

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Diamond Joe

Gene Autry with an acoustic guitar

By Wayne Erbsen

I’ve always been a sucker for a good ole cowboy song. This isn’t because I was born and raised on a cattle ranch in Texas; I’m actually a native of southern California. Growing up in the late ’40s and early ’50s, I was raised on a diet of TV westerns like Hopalong Cassidy, The Lone Ranger, Maverick, Rawhide, The Rifleman, Bonanza, and Have Gun – Will Travel. Actually, I was listening to The Lone Ranger and Gunsmoke on the radio before they became popular TV shows. My favorite movies were Shane

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Bluegrass vs Clawhammer Banjo + ‘Things in Life’ Tab

Don Stover on StageApproximately 99.99%  of all banjo players fall squarely in one camp or the other: Clawhammer or bluegrass. It’s kind of like the Hatfields and the McCoys; you’re either with us, or you’re against us. This silly notion has lingered for too long. Let’s do our part in poking holes in this crazy idea by looking at the life of a renowned banjo player who played both styles extremely well: the late Don Stover.

Don grew up in the coalfields of West Virginia, and spent much of his teenage and young adult life working down in the mines. He originally learned

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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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Ground Hog

Clawhammer banjo for the complete ignoramus cover

Ground Hog

Shoulder up your gun and whistle up your dog
Shoulder up your gun and whistle up your dog
Off to the woods to catch a ground hog
Oh, ground hog.

In come Sal with a snigger and a grin
In come Sal with a snigger and a grin
With ground hog grease all over her chin
Oh, ground hog.

In come grandma hopping on a cane
In come grandma hopping on a cane
I’m gonna have that ground hog’s brains
Oh, ground hog.

Ground hog stewed and ground hog fried
Ground hog stewed and ground hog fried
It’s

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What Kind of Guitar Should I Get?

By Wayne Erbsen

Following is an excerpt from the book Easy Two-Chord Songs for Guitar.

As you set out on your guitar-playing adventure, you might be wondering what kind of guitar to get. There are four main kinds of guitars, so if you find yourself in a pickle and don’t yet have a guitar, this is for you.

Before you figure out what kind of guitar to buy, you’ll need to decide what kind of music you intend to play. This will make deciding what kind of guitar to get as easy as falling out of bed.

Hank Thompson

Electric guitars

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Eck Robertson and the story of Sally Gooden

Eck Robertson and the story of Sally Gooden

By Wayne Erbsen

In 1877, Thomas Edison invented the photograph. By the next year he established the Edison Speaking Phonograph Company to sell record players in furniture stores across America. Improvements by such inventors as Alexander Graham Bell and Emile Berliner helped to make “gramophones” coveted items for home entertainment. Sales of records went to 4 million units in 1900, up to 30 million in 1909, and over 100 million by 1920. By 1922 alone, consumers could purchase such hit records as “Way Down Yonder in New Orleans,” “Carolina in the Morning,”

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Rural Black String Band Music

By Charles Wolfe

Originally published in Black Music Research Newsletter 4, No. 2 (Fall 1980). Used by permission of Mary Dean Wolfe.

“The first time I think I ever seen Arnold Schultz … this square dance was at Rosine, Kentucky, and Arnold and two more colored fellows come up there and played for the dance. They had a guitar, banjo, and fiddle. Ar­nold played the guitar but he could play the fiddle-numbers like Sally Goodin. People loved Arnold so well all through Kentucky there; if he was playing a guitar they’d go gang up around him till he would

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Wayne Erbsen teaches C run for Bluegrass guitar

In Bluegrass, you will often be in the key of G which means you will frequently be changing chords to C.  In this lesson, Wayne teaches you different fingering options for the G chord to help you most efficiently change chords.

To learn more about playing bluegrass guitar, check out Wayne’s guitar instruction book, ‘Flatpicking Guitar for the Complete Ignoramus!

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How to Tune a Guitar

Easy 2-Chord Songs for Guitar, cover

1. The Fret Method is a time-honored way to tune your guitar to itself, without using slick and newfangled electronic gizmos. With your guitar resting comfortably on your lap, follow these steps:

a. Take your left index finger and push down the 6th or E string at the fifth fret. There should be a dot or marker at the fifth fret. Be sure to play in the space between the two metal bars. Push down hard enough with the tip of your finger so it produces a clear note. Then, compare the pitch of that note (A) with the 5th

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