Native Ground Music

Bluegrass Music in Western North Carolina by Wayne Erbsen

admin — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 19:14:27 -0500

For many people, the appeal of bluegrass music is that it is a relatively new form of music that sounds old. Most scholars agree that bluegrass first gained national attention when Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys appeared on the Grand Ole Opry in 1945. In addition to Bill Monroe himself, this legendary band consisted of Lester Flatt (guitar), Earl Scruggs (banjo), Chubby Wise (fiddle) and Cedric Rainwater (bass). The reason that bluegrass music sounds old is that it is a syntheses of many older styles of music.

The earliest settlers in western North Carolina were the Scotts-Irish. These early pioneers brought with them a wealth of both vocal and instrumental music traditions.

It was mainly the pioneer women who carried on the strong vocal traditions. Often barred by local custom from playing the more raucous instruments like the banjo or the fiddle, most women preferred to sing. More often than not, they sang the old ballads that had been passed down from mother to daughter for generations. Most of these ballads originated in the British Isles. They were carefully preserved by a culture that was bent on keeping in tact the cultural traditions of their ancestors. They preserved these ancient ballads so well, in fact, that during the years 1916-1918 English folksong collector Cecil Sharp came to western North Carolina for the sole purpose of collecting English ballads in their purest form, because in England these ballads had long been forgotten.

Ballad singing in western North Carolina had a strong impact on what later became known as bluegrass music. The subject matter of most of the ballads was either murder or death. This leant a somber tone to the music. Today, this is referred to as Bluegrass music�s "high lonesome sound." The manner in which the old ballads were sung also affected the singing styles of later bluegrass singers. The women who sang the old Scotts-Irish and English ballads normally sang with a tight voice that produced a high, shrill tone. In contrast, singers from African traditions sang with a looser voice that produced lower and more relaxed tones. Bill Monroe, who later became known as "The father of Bluegrass Music," is the perfect example of someone who sang with the tight vocal style of his Scotts-Irish ancestors. In his case, he was able to emulate the vocal styles of female ballad singers because he naturally had a high vocal range similar to many female singers.

While the women�s musical role in early pioneer life in western North Carolina was in singing the old ballads and songs, the men favored playing instruments. In particular, the fiddle was among the few treasured possessions that Scotts-Irish immigrants brought with them when they first came to America. Even more important than the instrument itself, these fiddlers brought a deep well of ancient melodies from Scotland and Ireland. Many of these fiddlers could fiddle for days without repeating a tune. This was handy because fiddlers often provided the only music for the many all-night dances that took place in backwoods communities. Because of their ability to provide much needed entertainment in rural communities, fiddlers were often held in higher esteem than doctors, lawyers or politicians. The dance tunes as played by Scotts-Irish fiddlers certainly had a strong impact on the music of this area.

Not lagging far behind the fiddle in providing music for rural communities was the banjo. The origins of the banjo can be traced back nearly 4500 years to ancient Egypt. From there it spread to the Middle East and to Africa. Slaves from West Africa eventually brought the instrument to the American south where it took hold and spread. It was in North Carolina where the banjo became a deeply-ingrained part of everyday life. Both blacks and whites frequently played the banjo along with the fiddle and later the guitar for rural dances and frolics.

In the mountains of western North Carolina, the banjo actually changed to adapt to local conditions. Mountain craftsmen built smaller and softer-sounding banjos using a groundhog hide for the "head" or "skin" of the banjo. These banjos were normally fretless and had wooden tuning pegs. In contrast to these homemade wooden instruments, factory-made banjos began to be produced as early as the 1870s in northeast cities. These banjos often featured mechanical tuning pegs, metal tone rings and brackets. Often produced in relatively large quantities, they were sold in Sears and Montgomery Ward mail order catalogs and soon found their way into the parlors and front porches of musicians in western North Carolina.

Besides the mail order catalogs, there were other modern influences that were bringing change to the mountains of western North Carolina. The first radio station in the area was WWNC, which began broadcasting in 1927. Its first location was in the Flat Iron Building in downtown Asheville. Up the marble steps trooped local musicians carrying banjos, fiddles, mandolins and guitars. Among the popular shows was "The Farm Hour." The radio made it possible for some dedicated musicians to "go professional" because it allowed them to advertise and promote show-dates in rural school houses. The school house shows became popular at the same time that rural roads were improved to accommodate the increasing number of cars and trucks hitting the roads. The bands that played these one-room school houses often mixed old-time fiddle tunes, banjo picking and harmony singing along with humor and skits from the minstrel and vaudeville show traditions.

In North Carolina, it seemed that practically everyone played string music. Thus it is not surprising that many bands that performed in western North Carolina consisted of many brother duets. Local musicians like Wiley and Zeke Morris, Wade and J.E. Mainer, Jack and Curly Shelton, Homer and Callahan and Bill and Earl Bolick are but few of the best-known brother acts from western North Carolina. These men established a strong tradition of instrumental virtuosity mixed with closely blended harmony singing.

In the mid 1930s, two brothers from Kentucky came to North Carolina to actively participate in the vibrant musical scene here. Calling themselves The Monroe Brothers, Bill and Charlie Monroe maintained a hectic schedule of performing nearly every night in venues that ranged from the proverbial one-room school houses to county fairs. To promote their shows, they performed on numerous radio stations including Asheville�s WWNC, Charlotte�s WBT and Raleigh�s WPTF. They were so busy performing and burning up the rubber on their Hudson Terraplane to get to their show-dates that they dismissed the idea of recording for RCA Victor records because they didn�t have time for it. They also didn�t realize the impact that being on a major record label could have on their performing career. At last, RCA Victor�s Eli Oberstein convinced them to record, which they did in a make-shift studio in 1936 in Charlotte, North Carolina. In a crowded warehouse rented by RCA records, the Monroe Brothers waxed ten sides, which included "Long Journey Home." On these first recordings, they established the style that would mark their entire recorded efforts on Victor�s Blue Bird records: tight vocal harmonies often played at lightening speeds with spell-binding instrumental virtuosity.

The professional musical partnership of the Monroe Brothers was not to last. The brothers� notorious fiery tempers doomed them to go their separate ways in 1938. Both went on to form their own bands. Charlie moved to the Winston-Salem area and formed The Kentucky Partners. Bill Monroe first formed a band in Arkansas and then moved to Atlanta, Georgia. There he placed an ad in the local newspaper, looking for someone to sing old folk songs. Answering the ad was a young Cleo Davis, who played guitar and sang. Monroe hired Davis on the spot and spent several months teaching him his brother Charlie�s guitar runs and vocal stylings. By the time Monroe had finished training Davis, their sound was practically identical to that of the Monroe Brothers.

After unsuccessfully auditioning at several radio stations, Bill Monroe and Cleo Davis landed a radio program on Asheville�s WWNC radio. While Monroe and his wife lived out of a small travel trailer, Davis stayed nearby at a boarding house. Not satisfied with their current sound, Monroe began searching for other musicians to give his band a fuller sound. He eventually hired Art Wooten from Piney Creek, North Carolina to play fiddle, Amos Garren to play bass and Tommy "Snowball" Millard to do black-faced comedy and play jug. Seeking greener pastures, before long, the band moved to Greenville, South Carolina. Monroe tirelessly rehearsed the band in a converted gas station until Monroe thought them ready. In 1939, with the departure of Millard, the band successfully auditioned for the Grand Ole Opry. The rest, as they say, is "history." Monroe�s band was now known as "the Bluegrass Boys." Members came and went, but the sound was evolving to become what we now called Bluegrass Music.

For more information about bluegrass music, check out Wayne Erbsen's popular book, Rural Roots of Bluegrass, This book is richly illustrated with 107 vintage photos and includes history, lyrics to 94 songs, musical notation, chords, playing tips, and historical sources for each song. Includes profiles on the Bill Clifton, Bill Monroe, the Blue Sky Boys, Bradley Kincaid, the Callahan Brothers, Carolina Tar Heels, the Carter Family, Charlie Poole and the North Carolina Ramblers, the Coon Creek Girls, Earl Scruggs, Eck Robertson, Ernest V. "Pop" Stoneman, Fiddlin� Arthur Smith, Fiddlin� John Carson, G. B. Grayson & Henry Whitter, Jimmie Rodgers, Karl and Harty, the Lilly Brothers, Monroe Brothers, the Morris Brothers, Riley Puckett, Samantha Bumgarner, Vernon Dalhart, Snuffy Jenkins and Wade & J. E. Mainer. 6" x 9", 180 pages.

The Way It Was: 19th Century Fiddle & Banjo

admin — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 19:22:42 -0500

"This is a wonderful collection of old-time fiddle and banjo duets (18 of them) played by fiddler Fox and banjoist Winegar, The players have made it a point to feature tunes (and a style) of the 19th century, and the sources they cite--Emmett Lundy, William Stepp, John Salyer, and Marcus Martin are impressive indeed. The choice of tunes alone would make for an interesting record, but Fox & Winegar play these with feeling and skill, in a lovely collection that we heartily recommend!" David Freeman, County Records

The Rocky Road To Dublin, Old Horse & Buggy-O, The Old Hen, She Cackled, Wild Hog In The Woods, Morgan On The Railroad, The Wounded Hoosier, The Highlanders Farewell, Moonlight, The Lost Girl, Last Gold Dollar, Green Mountain, Evening Star Waltz, The Belles Of Lexington, Shove That Pigs Foot A Little Further In The Fire, Old Time Blackberry Blossom, Bonaparte�s Retreat , Cincinnati Hornpipe, The Last Of Callahan.

Rural Roots of Bluegrass: Songs, Stories & History (book)

admin — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 19:36:38 -0500

Includes words, music and history of: A Beautiful Life, All the Good Times Are Passed And Gone, Amazing Grace, Angel Band, Are You Tired of Me My Darling?, Banjo Pickin� Girl, Banks of the Ohio, Blue Ridge Mountain Blues, Bury Me Beneath the Willow, Careless Love, Columbus Stockade, Cotton-Eyed Joe, Cripple Creek, Cumberland Gap, Darling Cory, Dig a Hole in the Meadow, Don�t Go Out Tonight, My Darling, Don�t Let Your Deal Go Down, Don�t This Road Look Rough and Rocky, Down in the Willow Garden , Dream of the Miner�s Child, Drifting Too Far From the Shore, East Virginia, Footmarks in the Snow, Girl I Left in Sunny Tennessee, Give Me the Roses, Going to Georgia, Handsome Molly, He Will Set Your Fields On Fire, I Wonder How the Old Folks Are At Home, I�ll be All Smiles Tonight, In the Pines, Jealous Lover, Jesse James, Jimmie Brown the Paper Boy, John Hardy, Johnson Boys , Just Over in the Glory Land, Katy Cline, Katy Dear, Knoxville Girl, , Leaning on the Everlasting Arms, Leather Britches, Life�s Railway to Heaven, Little Bessie, Little Log Cabin in the Lane, Little Maggie, Little Rosewood Casket, Little White Washed Chimney, Lonesome Road Blues, Long Journey Home, Lord, I�m Coming Home, Man of Constant Sorrow, Maple on the Hill, Mary of the Wild Moor, Midnight on the Storm Deep , My Homes Across the Blue Ridge Mountains, My Old Cottage Home, New River Train, Nine Pound Hammer, Oh Those Tombs, Old Joe Clark, Poor Ellen Smith, Precious Memories, Pretty Polly, Put My Little Shoes Away, Rabbit in the Log, Red Rocking Chair, Red Wing, Reuben�s Train, Roll in My Sweet Baby�s Arms, Roll On Buddy, Roving Gambler, Sally Goodin, Seeing Nelly Home, Shady Grove, Shake Hands With Mother Again, Short Life of Trouble, Sweet Sunny South, They�re at Rest Together, Unclouded Day, The, Wabash Cannonball, Wait Till The Clouds Roll By, Walk in Jerusalem Just Like John, What Would You Give In Exchange?, When the Bees Are in the Hive, When You And I Were Young, Maggie, Where the Soul Never Dies, White House Blues, Whoa Mule, Wild Bill Jones, Wildwood Flower.

Customer Reviews:

"Wayne did a good job! He certainly knows how to tell a story." Wade Mainer, 97 year old music legend

Rural Roots of Bluegrass is one of the best bluegrass books I've read in my life." Robert Duncan

"Wayne Erbsen has done a lot for bluegrass music." Jim Shumate, fiddler with Bill Monroe & Flatt & Scruggs

"Wayne Erbsen is a widely recognized authority on the history of old-time and bluegrass music." Bluegrass Unlimited

"I've got to say, I LOVE this book! The loving detail, the photos, the song selection, I could go on and on, but I spend a lot of time with this book, trying to absorb it all. What a treasure! What a huge amount of work it must have taken, yet it's so down home and friendly and un-laborious sounding. I recommend the book heartily." Pete Wernick, Dr. Banjo.

"Rural Roots of Bluegrass is simply magnificent, one of the most interesting and surprisingly thorough works ever written about the genre." Dave Higgs, Nashville Public Radio

Wayne Erbsen's Rural Roots of Bluegrass is a great book. It's the first to really translate this history to the fan level." Fritz Schuler, Golden Ring Music

"...such a wonderful account of the development of rural music." Michael B. Toney, Utah State University

"I just want to let you know that Rural Roots is one of the best bluegrass songbooks out there." Luke Abbott

"Your detailed and historical approach to early country music is very much appreciated by those of us who still treasure that period of time. You evidently have a great love and respect for those entertainers who paved the way to bluegrass music of today. My hat is off to you." Al Hawkes, Event Records

"Just a quick email to let you know how much I enjoy your Rural Roots of Bluegrass book. I love early music and history and you do a great job putting so many great songs and the historical information about them in this book. Your music theory and instruction is terrific. Thank you for sharing your research, knowledge and sense of humor. Your contributions to old time and bluegrass music are much appreciated." Sincerely, J. Jorge

Rural Roots of Bluegrass (CD)

admin — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 19:41:46 -0500

*Order Rural Roots of Bluegrass CD with the Rural Roots of Bluegrass book and get the CD for ONLY $10. NOTE: The CD itself will be inserted in a sleeve on the inside cover of the book without the plastic jewel case, cover, or traycard.

Includes Dream of the Miner's Child, Don't This Road Look Rough and Rocky, I'll be All Smiles Tonight, Katie Dear, When You and I Were Young, Maggie, Little Rosewood Casket, Handsome Molly, Blue Ridge Mountain Blues, Banjo Pickin' Girl, Rabbit in the Log, Short Life of Trouble, Darling Cory, Sandy Bottom, Man of Constant Sorrow, Old Mother Flanagan, Bury Me Beneath the Willow.

"Laura Boosinger's voice is lilting and lovely...her songs are honest and true." Banjo Newsletter

"I have thoroughly enjoyed 'Rural Roots of Bluegrass.' It's fantastic!" Tom Parker

The Outhouse Papers ~ Country Humor and Trivia (book)

admin — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 19:46:19 -0500

Click HERE for a sample page of The Outhouse Papers as a pdf file.

"Wayne! Your Outhouse Papers has been well read by all the family." --Pete Seeger

"I gotta have this book!!" --Betsy Hyer, Vintage Cowboy, Hill City, S.D.

"Sheer light-hearted fun. Every throne room should have a copy - even those in our libraries!" --Rebecca Brown

"The Outhouse Papers is the funniest thing! It's so cool." --Pam Buckland

"Your book made me belly laugh and remember days gone by." --Mac McDonald

"After I read a few pages of The Outhouse Papers, I was rolling on the floor." --N. Nantangoli

An Old-Fashioned WingDing: 14 Turn-of-the Century Melodies (CD & Tape)

admin — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 20:02:35 -0500

Backpocket Bluegrass Songbook

admin — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 20:07:58 -0500

Includes words, music and history of: A Beautiful Life, All the Good Times Are Past and Gone, Banks of the Ohio, Bury Me Beneath the Willow, Cumberland Gap, Darling Cory, Don't This Road Look Rough and Rocky, Down in the Willow Garden, East Virginia, Give Me the Roses Now, Handsome Molly, I'll Be All Smiles Tonight, John Hardy, Just Over in the Gloryland, Knoxville Girl, Leaning on the Everlasting Arms, Life's Railway to Heaven, Little Maggie, Little Log Cabin in the Lane, Lonesome Road Blues, Long Journey Home, Lord, I'm Coming Home, Maple on the Hill, Midnight on the Stormy Deep, My Home's Across the Smokey Mountains, Old Joe Clark, Poor Ellen Smith, Pretty Polly, Put My Little Shoes Away, Rabbit in the Log, Roll in My Sweet Baby's Arms, Roving Gambler, Sally Goodin, Seeing Nelly Home, Short Life of Trouble, Sweet Sunny South, The Girl I left in Sunny Tennessee, When the Bees Are in the Hive, Where the Soul of Man Never Dies, Wildwood Flower.

"You done a good job on that!" --Legendary banjo player Wade Mainer, at age 96.

"I have seen many versions of 'Wildwood Flower' but yours is the only one that makes a lick of sense." --Jesse Stark.

"I learned guitar on the porch of my restored log cabin from your Backpocket books. I can't tell you how much enjoyment they've brought me." --Mike Antoniak

"I love this book. I took it to our bluegrass jam last night and it came in handy for some of the songs that we normally stumble through. Thanks!" --Myrna

Backpocket Old-Time Songbook

admin — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 20:11:41 -0500

"The Backpocket Old-Time Songbook is the BEST! I've looked for some of these songs for 20 years!"--David Mattson, Egegik, Alaska

Includes words, music and history of: Angelina Baker, Bald-Headed End of the Broom, Bravest Cowboy, Bully of the Town, Cindy, Cluck Old Hen, Come Take a Trip in My Airship, Cotton-Eyed Joe, Cumberland Gap, Darling Nelly Gray, Diamond Joe, Dixie, Don�t You Hear Jerusalem Moan? Ground Hog, Hard Times Come Again No More, I�m Gwine Back to Dixie, I�m the Man Who Rose the Mule Around the World, Jordan is a Hard Road to Travel, Keep My Skillet Good and Greasy, Kingdom Coming, Little Rosewood Casket, Little Log Cabin in the Lane, Little Stream of Whiskey, Milwaukee Blues, Mole in the Ground, Oh, Them Golden Slippers, Oh My Little Darling, Old Maid�s Last Hope, Pap�s Billy Goat, Pretty Saro, Rambling Boy, Shady Grove, Shall We Gather at the River? Sourwood Mountain, Sugar Babe, Watermelon on the Vine, Wild Bill Jones, Wildwood Flower, Wind and Rain, Yellow Rose of Texas.

"I recently purchased your 'Backpocket Old-Time Songbook.' Now all of my relatives are asking for a copy." Hilda F. Smith

"I really like your Backpocket Songbooks. I teach mountain dulcimer and have had fun using many of the tunes to turn into dulcimer tablature." Dallas Cline

"I have seen many versions of 'Wildwood Flower' but yours is the only one that makes a lick of sense." Jessie Stark.

Front Porch Favorites - 19th Century American Classics (CD & Tape)

admin — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 20:14:56 -0500

Front Porch Songs, Jokes & Stories: 48 Great Sing-Along Favorites (Book)

admin — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 20:18:33 -0500

Includes words, music and history of: Amazing Grace, Arkansas Traveler, Bile Em Cabbage Down, Blue-Tailed Fly, Buffalo Gals, Cindy, Cluck Old Hen, The Crawdad Song, Cripple Creek, Down in the Valley, Goober Peas, Grandfather's Clock, Ground Hog, Hambone, Home Sweet Home, I Was Born 4,000 Years Ago, Jack of Diamonds, Jesse James, John Henry, Listen to the Mockingbird, Moonshiner, My Homes Across the Smoky Mountains, My Old Kentucky Home, New River Train, Oh! Susanna, Oh Them Golden Slippers, Old Dan Tucker, Old Joe Clark, On Top of Old Smoky, Polly Wolly Doodle, Poor Ellen Smith, Poor Wayfaring Stranger, Pretty Polly, Railroad Bill, The Riddle Song, Roving Gambler, Soldier's Joy, The Sunny South, Turkey in the Straw, Uncle Joe, Unclouded Day, Wabash Cannonball, When Johnny Comes Marching Home, When You And I Were Young Maggie, whoa Mule, Wild Bill Jones, Wildwood Flower, Yellow Rose of Texas.

"This book is FAB-U-LOUS!"--Philip A. Mackey, Newark, DE

"I'm having a ball with this book!" --Carl Turlington, Gainesville, FL

Log Cabin Pioneers:Stories, Songs & Sayings (Book)

admin — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 20:21:02 -0500

"We were absolutely thrilled with the Log Cabin Pioneers book."--Mary and Dick Elder

"I just had to write you on the wonderful book and CD on log cabins...It's the best! the songs and informative book is a treasured keepsake forever. I will definitely buy more products from you in the future. Thanks for putting together such a quality product." --C. Bradley

"I love the Log Cabin Pioneers book!" --Tom and Jean Hughes

"Entertaining, diverse, and informative; it is easy and pleasant reading." North Carolina Historical Review

"I loved your Log Cabin book!" Bill Clifton

"I am enjoying your Log Cabin book and CD. What a great resource! Diana Burritt, Shelbourne Community School.

"Reading Log Cabin Pioneers was like coming home. Your stories are a hoot!" Lalla Marsh

"I purchased your Log Cabin Pioneers and was totally taken by it. I wanted to write and thank you for the enjoyment I was getting out of it. The quality of both the book's content and construction is unbelievable for the price - talk about getting your money's worth in this day and age." Mel Seitz

Log Cabin Songs (CD & Tape)

admin — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 20:23:41 -0500

Little Log Cabin in the Lane, Darling Cory, Little Whitewashed Chimney, The Hound Dog Song, Cabin Creek, Puncheon Floor, Sugar in the Gourd, Cricket on the Hearth, My Old Cottage Home, The Blackest Crow, Goodbye To My Stepstone, Mary of the Wild Moor, East Virginia, Red Rocking Chair, Fracas on York Ridge, and Lost Jug in the Cornpile.

"Your music adds authenticity and richness to our educational programming on the Kentucky TV network." --Liz Hobson, Director of Education

"Log Cabin Songs and Southern Mountain Classics are my favorite CDs I've got! Thanks! --Nancy Alumbaug

"I fell in love with this tape!" Allan Wood, age 79.

"Thank you for this wonderful CD - it will enhance my teaching, and will give the kids a chance to hear music they probably do not normally hear. It sure surpasses the musical skills of any current pop artist on the radio today." C. Brown, Music Teacher.

Southern Mountain Classics: 16 Great Old-Timey Instrumentals (CD & Tape)

admin — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 20:26:13 -0500

Arkansas Traveler, Soldier's Joy, Cluck Old Hen, Little Rosewood Casket, Mississippi Sawyer, Fisher's Hornpipe, Leather Britches, Chicken Reel, Shady Grove, John Henry, Uncle Joe, State of Arkansas, Red Rocking Chair, When You And I Were Young Maggie, The Old Spinning Wheel, Hogeye.

Click Here and scroll down for the banjo, mandolin, fiddle and dulcimer instruction books that match this recording!

"Southern Mountain Classics blew my mind! That�s the sound I love. Count me among your fans and followers!" Andre St. Romain, age 17.

"This is a killer recording!"--Banjo Newsletter"

"Awesome fiddling. Best version of 'Arkansas Traveler' I ever did hear." Robert Thomas

"A superb recording of many classics. If you are a beginner looking to learn old-time music, START HERE!"--Fiona Dudley

"I wanted to let you know how much my wife and I have enjoyed your 'Southern Mountain Classic' recording. We played the cassette until it wore out and now have the CD. Great music!!" --Tom Stuckert

Pierre Cruzatte: A Musical Journey Along the Lewis & Clark Trail (CD & Tape)

admin — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 20:40:27 -0500

Includes La bastringue, V�la bon vent, Fisher�s Hornpipe, Shenandoah, Soldier�s Joy, Jigs: Irish Washerwoman/St. Patrick�s Day in the Morning/Top of Cork Road, Over the Hills & Far Away, Haste to the Wedding, J�entends le Moulin, Amazing Grace, Breakin� Up Christmas, O Come All Ye Faithful, Red River Jig, Yankee Doodle, Reels: Cuckoo�s Nest/Flowers of Edinburgh.

45 minutes, 5 vocals, 10 instrumentals. Instruments include fiddle, bones, spoons, Jew's harp, frame drum, fiddlesticks, tambourine, deer-hoof rattles, feet, bodhran, bastringue, sounden horn.

"The music is very lively and entertaining; when listening I can imagine how Cruzatte's music must have lifted the spirits of the men on the journey." --Wendy Spencer, North Dakota Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center

"I just bought your Pierre Cruzatte CD, and it's great! Thanks for producing something so timely and musical :-)" --Connie Herbon, Music Teacher

"Pierre Cruzatte is excellent!" --Spencer Johnson, Hastings Middle School

"The rich mix of music provided the perfect audio setting for our documentary." --Charles Michael Ray, Producer, South Dakota Public Broadcasting

Authentic Outlaw Ballads

admin — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 20:43:47 -0500

Sam Bass, Jesse James, Boston Burglar, Wild Bill Jones, Tom Dula, Rambling Boy, Cole Younger, Bad Lee Brown, Billy the Kid, John Hardy, Messin' With the Law, Hangman's Reel, Tom Sherman's Barroom, Poor Rounder.

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"...ingenious collection. True stories and great picking. A great combination."--Sing Out!

Chadwell's Station: Fiddling on the Frontier (CD)

admin — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 20:46:35 -0500

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Indian Eat the Woodchuck, Cousin Sally Brown, Three Forks of Cumberland , Lady Hamilton , Pride of America , Cumberland Gap , Speckled Apron , Big Tennessee , Peter Francisco, Cotton Eyed Joe , Flowers of Edinburgh, Down to the Wildwood to Shoot the Buffalo, Chadwell's Station, White Cockade, Drummer Boy of Waterloo, Polly Put the Kettle, On, Young Edward , Pompey Ran Away,� Jolly Blacksmith.

Customer Reviews:

"If anyone has ever captured the true sound of the frontier, you have." --Susan Lawlor, 18th century living history musician

"A nicely done, informative and very listenable collection." --David Freeman, President of County and Rebel Records

"Chadwell's Station stands highly recommended to anyone who loves old-time music. Christian's fiddling is calm, tasteful, and precise, as is his banjo work, and Whitt's banjo follows Christian's lead perfectly. I have thoroughly enjoyed the CD and have added several of its tunes to my "must learn" list. Most importantly, it has broadened my understanding and appreciation of truly old old-time music." --Phillip Sparks, "Nashville Old-Time Stringband Association News"

"You have harvested a great crop of tunes from the rich bottom soil, and play them with heart, soul, and understanding. It's a treat to listen to you." --Lisa Ornstein

Outlaw Ballads, Legends and Lore (book)

admin — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 22:29:26 -0500

Songs include: Bad Lee Brown, Billy the Kid, The Boston Burglar, Bully of the Town, Cole Younger, Darling Corey, Don't Let Your Deal Go Down, Frankie and Johnny, The Gambler, The Hangman, The Highwayman, Jesse James, John Hardy, Lilly of the West, Messin' With the Law, Old Maid and the Burglar, Otto Wood the Bandit, Poor Rambler, Quantrill, The Rambling Boy, Rose Connally, Roy Bean, Sam Bass, Stagolee, Tom Dula, Tom Sherman's Barroom, Wild Bill Jones.

Cowboy Songs of the Wild Frontier (CD & Tape)

admin — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 22:31:55 -0500

Customer Reviews:

"His banjo and fiddle playing are first rate. The band that backs him has a fine, old-timey flavor."--Dirty Linen

Trail to Mexico, Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie, Goodbye Old Paint, Texas Rangers, The Old Chisholm Trail, Doney Gal, When the Work's All Done This Fall, Sally Goodin, Colorado Trail, Texas Quickstep, Roving Cowboy, Cowboy Valentine.

Cowboy Songs, Jokes, Lingo & Lore (book)

admin — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 22:35:38 -0500

Songs include: The Big Corral, Bravest Cowboy, Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie, The Colorado Trail, Cowboy Jack, The Cowboy's Dream, Cowboy Jack, Cowboy Valentine, Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, Dony Gal, The Girl I Left Behind Me, Git Along Little Doggies, The Gol-Darned Wheel, Goodbye Old Paint, The Hills of Mexico, Home on the Range, I Ride an Old Paint, I'm Going to Leave Old Texas, Night Herding Songs, The Old Chisholm Trail, The Railroad Corral, Red River Valley, Roving Cowboy, Rye Whiskey, The Strawberry Roan, Streets of Laredo, The Texas Rangers, The Trail to Mexico, Tying a Knot in the Devil's Tail, When the Work's All Done This Fall, Zebra Dun

Customer Reviews ~

"This book contains the lyrics, melodies and guitar chords for 31 cowboy songs. The "Cowboy Lore" side of the book is a lot of fun, especially the insults and slang. What are 'whistle berries'? A plate of beans, of course."--Dirty Linen, March 1996

"I bought your 'Cowboy Songs, Jokes, Lingo 'Lore' and it had my husband in stitches." Kathleen C. Vandermortel

"The book is fun to use, interspersed as it is with old photos, lore and "25 Autnentic Cowboy Instults." My kids may not have learned all the songs yet, but I've been called some interesting things since this book appeared around the house!"

Songs of the Santa Fe Trail & the Far West (CD & Tape)

admin — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 22:40:15 -0500

"A trip to the frontier past."--Cowboys and Indians Magazine

Uncle Sam and Mexico, Uncle Sam's Song to Miss Texas, California Bloomer, Joe Bowers, Calabra Waltz, The Battle Call, Fort Dodge, Fandango, Home! Sweet Home!, Jim Along Josie, Marcha de Los Novios, Doniphan's Expedition.

Fiddle Tunes of the Lewis Clark Era (CD)

admin — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 22:43:31 -0500

Yankee Doodle, Believe Me if All Those Endearing Young Charms, En Passant par la Lorraine/Aupres de ma Blonde/Malbrough s'en va-t-en guerre, Miss McCleod's Reel, The Country Courtship/Jefferson and Liberty, Durang's Hornpipe, Road to Boston, Rye Whiskey, New Rigged Ship, My Love is but a Lassie, College Hornpipe, Rakes of Mallow, Haste to the Wedding, Devils Dream, Old Molly Hare, Life Let Us Cherish, MacDonald's Reel/Leather Britches, Sir Roger de Coverley, Ricketts Hornpipe, Columbus Cotillion, Molly Put the Kettle On, Pop Goes the Weasel, Soldiers Joy, The White Cockade.

Dance Music of the Oregon Trail (CD)

admin — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 22:47:22 -0500

Old Joe Clark, Arkansas Traveler, Buffalo Gals/Oh Susanna, Fishers Hornpipe, Sweet Betsy from Pike, Garryowen/Irish Washerwoman/Pop Goes the Weasel, Richmond Polka, Girl I Left Behind Me, Sourwood Mountain, Buy a Broom, Mississippi Sawyer, Skip to my Lou/Old Dan Tucker, Money Musk, My Love is but a Lassie, Home Sweet Home, Detroit Schottische, Turkey in the Straw.

Pioneer Dance Tunes of the Far West (CD & Tape)

admin — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 22:49:36 -0500

Nelly Bly, Mazourka from Mr. Howard of Vancouver Washington Territory, Rye Straw, Annie Laurie, Tassels on My Boots, Golden Slippers, The Old Settler, Jenny Lind Polka, Captain Jinks of the Horse Marines, Gal on a Log, Such a Gettin' Upstairs, Rory O'More, Lauterbach Waltz, Weevilly Wheat, Rochester Schottische, Varsoviana, Opera Reel, Home on the Range, Little Brown Jug.

Flatpicking Guitar for the Complete Ignoramus! (Book & CD Set)

admin — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 23:01:29 -0500

Customer Reviews:

"I am very excited about this book. It truely brings history and reality together and made me proud to pick a guitar in bluegrass style-I am from the mountain region and everything in this book is true to the core-you really did your research! Thanks you!" M Fulton

Black-Eyed Susie

banjo — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 16:44:12 -0500

Bluegrass Mandolin for the Complete Ignoramus! (Book & CD Set)

admin — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 23:07:30 -0500

You WILL learn to play and improvise on: Amazing Grace, Angel Band, Banks of the Ohio, Bury Me Beneath the Willow, Cripple Creek, Cryin Holy Unto the Lord, Dig a Hole in the Meadow, Don't This Road Look Rough and Rocky?, Down the Road, East Virginia, Handsome Molly, In the Pines, I�ve Been All Around This World, I�ve Just Seen the Rock of Ages, John Hardy, Keep on the Sunny Side of Life, Knoxville Girl, Little Maggie, Midnight on the Stormy Deep, My Home�s Across the Blue Ridge Mountains, Nine Pound Hammer, Paul and Silas, Shady Grove, Soldier�s Joy, Roll in My Sweet Baby�s Arms, Wildwood Flower, Will the Circle Be Unbroken?

You�ll Also Learn... How to Tune, How to Hold the Mandolin, The Best Way to Hold the Pick, How to Read Tablature, Harmony Chord Positions, Simple Mandolin Chords, How to Play Harmony, Playing in the Dreaded Key of F, How to Jam, Playing Different Rhythms, How to Play Simply but RIGHT, Vintage Photos, Friendly Advice.

Customer Reviews:

"Thank you for all you do to help people like me learn to play." G. Carroll

"You opened up a whole new world for me." R. Branton

"I love the method you use in this book. I think my dog could even learn to play!" Dawn

"This book is an excellent addition to the beginning mandolin books that are currently available. If you are thinking about learning mandolin, this is the book to buy." --Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine

"Your book is the Bible to getting started. If a happy customer is the best salesmen, I hope my endorsement will sell a few more books.� Again thank you very much." Sincerely, --Chris and Sandy B.

"I just wanted to let you know how much I am enjoying your beginner's bluegrass mandolin book. Your method already has me finding notes instead of just deciphering tab and for that I am very thankful! I've only been playing for a couple of months and already I'm able to pick 4 or 5 tunes. I'm amazed. Thanks again." Kevin J. Montgomery

"You�re right there! Terrific stuff." --Ron Bacon

"If you've never picked up a mandolin before, this book will give you all the instruction you need to go from 'complete ignoramus' to 'not too shabby.'" --Marie Gantz, recent ignoramus

"Finally! A mandolin instructional book & CD that's easy to understand and gets you started playing many bluegrass songs." --Ralph Julian

WAYNE ERBSEN CAN EVEN TEACH A FROG TO PLAY THE MANDOLIN!

Books, Recordings and Instruments

admin — Thu, 13 May 2010 17:00:00 -0400

Old-Time Fiddle for the Complete Ignoramus! (Book & CD Set)

admin — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 23:12:14 -0500

You WILL learn to play: Amazing Grace, Blackest Crow, Buffalo Gals, Charley He's a Good Old Man, Cluck Old Hen, Cotton-Eyed Joe, Cripple Creek, Cumberland Mountain Deer Chase, Darling Corey, Don't Let Your Deal Go Down, East Virginia, Groundhog, House of the Rising Sun, Ida Red, In the Pines, It Ain't Gonna Grain no Mo', Joy to the World, Little Birdie, Liza Poor Gal, Lynchburg Town, Muley's Daughter, Old Joe Clark, Old Molly Hare, Polly Put the Kettle On, Rain and Snow, Red River Valley, Run Johnny Run, Rye Whiskey, Sail Away Ladies, Say Darling Say, Shortening Bread, Sugar Hill, Wagoner's Lad, Wildwood Flower, Willie Moore.

Customer Reviews:

"When you claimed you could even teach an ignoramus like me to play the fiddle, I was suspicious. But danged if you didn't!" Mike Evans

"I'm finally learning to fiddle! GREAT BOOK!!! M. Graham

"Wayne Erbsen�s years of teaching experience shows on every page. He makes it fun for the beginner to get started with a dose of folklore and humor thrown in for good measure. A wonderful guide for the notice fiddler." --Meredith Coldren, beginning fiddler

"I'm so glad I chose your old time fiddle book as my intro to the fiddle.� I'm having great fun with it!" --A. Hopkins

"Thanks to your book, I've taken to the fiddle like a duck on water." V. McGuire, Lousiana State Penitentary, Angola, LA

"At ages 60 and 70, my sister and I both have found your Fiddle for the Complete Ignoramous invaluable! We had bought several other books before finding this one and it is the very best!� Your book renewed our faith in our ability to learn, and we are both having so much fun with it.� And, YES, I believe you can teach an old frog the fiddle!" --Alma H.

"I bought your book and I can not believe that in 3 days I was able to play genuine tunes, by heart no less. I can not tell you how happy this experience has made me. Even the dogs seem to be smiling." J. Woginrich

"I can't tell you how much fun your book has made fiddling for me. I have improved more with this book than any I've run into." Elaine M.

"Your Fiddling book (For the Complete Ignoramus) is outstanding. �I go to your book first because of the enjoyment I get out of it. Thank you for the great source, not only in music but history, tradition, etc." R. Bennett

"This is the best book I ever owned. You make it so plain. I'm really proud of it." Marvin Nelson

"You did a fantastic job. This book is 5 stars. Keep up the great work." Mike Lucuski

What's the difference between a violin and a fiddle? A violin has a brown neck and a fiddle has a RED neck!

One Finger Easy Chords for Banjo � 2013 by Wayne Erbsen

banjo — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 15:16:09 -0400

Clawhammer Banjo For the Complete Ignoramus! 40th Anniversary Edition (Book & CD Set)

admin — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 23:15:23 -0500

"Two days with the Ignoramus book, and I can play three songs with few mistakes and others can actually tell what song I'm playing! Thanks a million!" M. Honeycutt

"Your book was such help! I got farther with the banjo in a week then one year with the guitar. Thank you!" W. Klein

"I learned the beginnings of clawhammer from your book, which changed my life for the better, so THANKS!"� Andrew Lentini

"Thanks to your book I'm no longer an Ignoramus of the clawhammer banjo. You change lives, and I am honored to say that I learned how to play from you." Rob Kaiser

"Thanks to your book I'm no longer a Ignoramus of the clawhammer banjo. Thanks for getting me started in clawhammer." Jerry Whitt

"I have been wanting to learn clawhammer banjo for years now and this is the books that unlocked the secret for me. I can't recommend it enough!" Matt

"Your Clawhammer Banjo book is the BEST Clawhammer instruction book that I have ever seen. I've learned to play your songs quicker and faster than from any other banjo book. What a Blast!! Thanks!!" Hank S

"Wayne Erbsen's book is a great way to start off on the banjo. His plain speakin' will have you rappin' and frailin' the banjo in no time flat. The greatest asset of this book is that it teaches you how to play while teachin' you to go ahead and think for yerself some. Also, there are plenty of great ol' mountain tunes included and it teaches you how to play in every tuning with the scales included. Builds a good foundation for you to go ahead and explore the world of clawhammer banjo. Nice!"

"Your approach has done wonders. I really am picking it up quickly. Thanks so much for helping me rediscover my love for the banjo. I would totally recommend your books to anyone. It really works." B. Hall

Bluegrass Banjo for the Complete Ignoramus! (Book & CD Set)

admin — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 23:20:06 -0500

"Thanks for the great book. The history, humor and ease of learning makes it the best one I have ever bought." --Brian McCallum

"I am the proud owner of 'Bluegrass Banjo for the Complete Ignoramus.' What a great learning tool." --Greg Strickland

"I�ve had a chance to use the Bluegrass Banjo for Complete Ignoramus book. I�m amazed how I�m progressing and finally having fun learning the banjo. Thanks! D. Hagler

"I am the "ignoramus"�you wrote the book for. Thanks! It has been�a lot of help." Darrell H.

"This is a great book for a beginner learning bluegrass on their own. It makes SENSE of how the rolls work around a melody. Wayne Erbsen has a real talent for simplifying and explaining how to play the banjo." Linda Sisson

"The book came, and I was playing literally in 20 minutes. Amazing, but yet understandable. My wife was even amazed. Very very well done!!! Easy to understand, and giving immediate results. You have a real winner here. Great book." P. Coplin

"Your method of teaching in the Ignoramus book is nothing short of amazing. My friend told me it took him years to brake himself from the chains of tab and do what I'm doing after a few short months. I can't thank you enough." D. Braught

"Great banjo instruction book! There may be hope yet!" T. Varnell

"I really like your book. It is as clear and concise a book for the beginner as I have found, and I have a number of them. It's a work you should be proud of." A. Huffman

"Thank you again so much for showing me the way to bluegrass bliss." Ryan N., Blacksburg, Virginia

"I just love Wayne's easy paced and relaxing instructions...his books are the bees knees in making you want to learn." C. Vann, Australia

"Just received your instructional book yesterday and�I am playing Bile Them Cabbage Down already. Wish�I would have known of a book like this in the 70's when�I had my first banjo. Breaking the music down into sections was all I needed to grasp how to play. I cannot wait to learn slides and other methods." Thank-you! Gloria K.

"Your book is the first to help me see how the melody and the rolls work together, and how I can put my own little arrangements together early on. Thank you! You�re right � I do believe you could teach a frog to play the banjo � because you�re teaching me!" John English

"I just started playing the banjo and got your "Bluegrass Banjo for the Complete Ignoramus" book, and I'm totally lovin' it! I'm one of those people who seem to have zero musical talent, but somehow I'm here pickin' to your book, and it actually sounds like what the cd says it should sound like. I'm playing everyday now and never thought it'd be that much fun... Thanks for writing that book!" Denis Senter, Nurenburg, Germany

"I have been a heavy metal guitar player for some years and by chance bought your Ignoramus banjo book. I can't believe how clearly you have explained the way forward, and now I can play the tunes in your book as much as I play the guitar. I really appreciate your book. Kind regards," Adrian Clayton, Wollongong, Australia

"If it were not for your Bluegrass Banjo for Ignoramus book, I likely would have given up on learning to play the banjo. I have purchased and used many banjo training books but have found your method of teaching far superior to anything else." S. Blake

"This is a wonderful book. I love the concept and the layout. You've made this a great beginner and advanced beginner book." Mary Cowart, beginning banjoist.

"The best book I've ever seen for learning bluegrass banjo." Barbara Osment, banjo teacher

"This book helped me flip a switch in my head. For me, learning a simple skeleton version of the tune helped me to really improvise." Ryan

"I love Wayne's method of teaching!" Sally Wingate, banjo teacher

"Thanks for the simple things you've produced. The banjo would still be settin' in the closet if it wasn't for you." William Figley

"I really like this book. I was able to pick out a few songs within minutes of picking up the banjo for the first time." Lois Loucks"

"Thanks for creating 'Bluegrass Banjo for the Complete Ignoramus.' It is the only book that I have been able to complete." Steve Blake

"Great book for beginner players. This book is just plain excellent. I have learned so much from this book. Well done Wayne!" Janice Hamilton

"I feel so fortunate to have found your wonderful instruction book." Fred Rich

"It seemed that I could not get it together.� I had other instruction books and could do slides, rolls, pull offs, and hammers but it seemed I was in a rut.� Nothing was together. When I bought your book 'Blue Grass Banjo for the Complete Ignoramus', I started to get out of the rut. I believe I am beginning to play the banjo now." Frank Miller

"Hey Wayne! Your bluegrass banjo for the complete ignoramus got me started 2 1/2 years ago - I haven't stopped pickin' since. i liked it and feel it has helped me progress because of the way it was written- the melody tabbed out and you writing about how to dress it up- good idea-it seems like so many other books focus more on licks than the melody. Anyways, great book!" - James

"The instruction book I bought at the store was bone dry and confusing, so I checked around found your book "Bluegrass Banjo for the Complete Ignoramus"� BOY AM I GLAD I DID! I love your funny and reassuring writing.� Although I've only been playing for a couple of months, I know a good handful of songs!� Not only that, but I now know that if I have the melody notes, I can play a pretty decent song!" D. Williams

"I am a 17 year old boy who lives in Sevier County, TN who has always wanted to learn to pick a banjo. I recently bought your book "Bluegrass Banjo for the Complete Ignoramus," and loved it. Over about three weeks, I had mastered all the rolls and I'm now just working on getting more of the songs memorized. Your book really helped me and I really appreciate it. Thanks." Andy Whisler

"I am a 75 yr old beginning banjo student who just purchased Bluegrass Banjo for the Complete Ignoramus. It is a very interesting book. Please add my name to your mailing list." B. Savage

"I've learned more than I ever thought I would from your 'Banjo for Ignoramus' book" S. Holley

"I just started playing couple months ago and have a few dvds and another book but they dont even compare to this book. I am very excited about this book and the wonderful layout." E. Sandlin

"I just bought your Ignoramus book and have learned more in one hour about actually playing than in all the books and lessons I strapped myself down with. Your book is great and I can actually see myself as a "player" in the near future rather than a robot." Thanks! Buddy T.

"Dear Wayne, I am a 41 year old mother of 2.� We keep up a small homestead in VT.� A couple of months ago I bought your book.� I read it through as much as a person can who does not have a banjo yet. Then I could not wait another minute and I bit the bullet and bought a pretty good banjo.� This was my first musical instrument, ever!�� I was skeptical that I could learn to play, but you seemed to look like an honest guy who stood behind his conviction to teach even the complete ignoramous.� Well, I can play Bile 'Em Cabbage Down with rolls!� No chords yet, but I know what a chord is, which is more than I knew a short time ago!� My husband said, "Hun, you are a good banjo player" and my 7 year old mistook my playing for your CD.� Pretty cool, huh? Thank you so much!� I can't believe I have waited so long to take up the banjo.� I fell in love with it when I was about 6.� I'm glad your book was the first I tried to learn by, I think it made a big difference.� You really do make it seem possible. Thank you once again." Sandra C. Guilford, VT

Painless Mandolin Melodies (Book & CD Set)

admin — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 23:23:59 -0500

You WILL learn to play:� Shortening Bread, Frere Jacques, Go Tell Aunt Rhody, Oh Susanna, Columbus Stockade, Hush Little Baby, Jimmy Crack Corn, Old Time Religion, Yankee Doodle, She�ll Be Comin� Round the Mountain, Buffalo Gals, I�m a Little Tea Pot, The Old Grey Mare, Cripple Creek, Leaning on the Everlasting Arms, Turkey in the Straw, Golden Slippers, Old Joe Clark, Wildwood Flower, When the Saints Go Marching In.

"This book is exactly what the basic beginner needs." --Jerry Brittain

"Painless Mandolin Melodies was very helpful in getting me started. Thank you!" --Tim Evans

"Thanks for sending Painless Mandolin Melodies to my father. He is 85 years old and is in the hospital right now. Thanks so much for giving a great person one more reason to fight for life." --Cathy Burt

"Your Painless Mandolin Melodies book is very helpful. Thanks to your easy-to-follow instructions I can now pick out a few tunes that are not in your book. I've never played an instrument before but your book makes it easy." --Kenneth Klein

My newest book, Bluegrass Jamming on Mandolin, will be available late spring, early summer 2011. This book will cover how to play with others, how to improvise, how to add licks and fills, and pretty much everything you'll need to march confidently into your next jam or picking session. If you would like us to contact you when this book becomes available, email me at this banjonospam@nativeground.comThis e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Be sure to omit the "nospam" when writing, unless you're a spammer!

If you have suggestions as to what you'd like to see in this book, by all means, let me know!!!

Thanks, Wayne Erbsen

Southern Mountain Instruction Books: For Banjo, Mandolin, Fiddle, Dulcimer & Guitar

admin — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 23:27:03 -0500

Starting Bluegrass Banjo From Scratch (Book & CD Set)

admin — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 23:31:19 -0500

Bluegrass Banjo Simplified!

admin — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 23:34:47 -0500

NOTE: What you will receive will be a photocopy of this 26 page book along with a CD or Cassette. The contents will be the same as the original book, but without the color cover or the heavy paper stock. The pages will be held together with one large paper clip and will be three-hold punched so you can pop it into your own binder. This package is UGLY but it WORKS!" Wayne Erbsen

You WILL learn to play: Arkansas Traveler, Chicken Reel, Cluck Old Hen, Fishers� Hornpipe, Hogeye, John Henry, Leather Britches, Little Rosewood Casket, Mississippi Sawyer, Old Spinning Wheel, Red Rocking Chair, Shady Grove, Soldier�s Joy, State of Arkansas, Uncle Joe, When You and I Were Young, Maggie.

Battlefield Ballads of the Civil War (CD & Tape)

admin — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 23:37:51 -0500

Brother Green, Battle of Shiloh�s Hill, Waiting For the Federals, Battle of Pea Ridge, Battle of Bull Run, Battle of Antietam Creek, Sherman�s March, Battle of Shiloh, John Brown�s March, The Sunny South, On the Plains of Manassas, Battle of Prairie Grove, Hell Broke Loose in Georgia.

Customer Reviews:

"Wayne Erbsen sings these Civil War ballads as they would have been sung a century or more ago. The great strength of this album is its historical and musical authenticity."� --James M. McPherson, Pulitzer Prize winning historian

Ballads & Songs of the Civil War (CD)

admin — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 23:39:57 -0500

Lorena, Bonnie Blue Flag, Just Before the Battle Mother, Battle Cry of Freedom, The Southern Wagon, Here's Your Mule, Tramp, Tramp, Tramp, Dixie's Land, Cumberland Gap, Southern Soldier , There was an Old Soldier, John Brown's Dream, I Can Whip the Scoundrel, The Cumberland and the Merrimac.

Customer Reviews:

"...one of the best recordings of Civil War music I have heard" --David Scarborough, British Branch American Civil War Round Table

"...an exciting and wonderful collection." --Ivan Horbun, New Zealand

"I'll bet I've listened to "John Brown's Dream" 100 times and I've only had the CD for two days! This music gets me right in my soul." --Tom May

"You can't get any better." --Harmon

"You made this music come alive. We loved the way Wayne sang 'Lorena' so much, we named our daughter Lorena." --Galwyn Powell. Hampshire, UK

Ballads and Songs of the Civil War Songbook

admin — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 23:42:54 -0500

INCLUDES Words, Music & History to: The Army of the Free, The Battle Cry of Freedom (Rallying Song), The Battle Cry of Freedom (Battle Song), The Battle Hymn of the Republic, For the Dear Old Flag I Die, Give Us a Flag, John Brown's Body, The John Brown Song, Marching Along, Marching Song of the First Arkansas Regiment, Marching Through Georgia, Nine Miles to the Junction, Southern Battle Cry of Freedom, Tramp! Tramp! Tramp!, Tramp! Tramp! Tramp! (Southern Version), The Why and the Wherefore, The Bonnie Blue Flag, Dixie's Land, Maryland, My Maryland, Riding a Raid, Southron�s Chaunt of Defiance, Stonewall Jackson's Way, We Conquer or Die, The Yellow Roses of Texas, The Young Volunteer, Abraham's Daughter, Abraham's Daughter ( II), Booth Killed Lincoln, The Liberty Ball, Lincoln and Liberty, Old Abe Lincoln Came Out of the Wilderness, We Are Coming, Father Abr'am, We'll Fight for Uncle Abe, All Quiet Along the Potomac, Do They Miss Me at Home?, The Drummer Boy of Shiloh, The Faded Coat of Blue, Home, Sweet Home, Just After the Battle, Just Before the Battle, Mother, Lorena, Somebody's Darling, The Southern Soldier Boy, The Vacant Chair, Weeping Sad and Lonely, Who Will Care for Mother Now?, he Brass Mounted Army, Cumberland Gap, Drink It Down, Farewell to Grog, Goober Peas, Here's Your Mule, I Can Whip the Scoundrel, I'll Be a Sergeant, Johnny Is My Darling, The New York Volunteer, The Old Union Wagon, Pat Murphy of the Irish Brigade, The Rebel Soldier, The Southern Soldier, The Southern Wagon, Tenting on the Old Camp Ground, There Was an Old Soldier, The Valiant Conscript, We've Drunk from the Same Canteen, When Johnny Comes Marching Home, The Battle of Shiloh, The Battle of Shiloh, Hill, Brother Green, Cairo, The Cumberland Crew, The Cumberland and the Merrimac, The Fall of the Charleston, Flight of the Doodles, A Life on the Vicksburg Bluff, Roll, Alabama, Roll, Virginia's Bloody Soil, When Sherman Marched Down to the Sea, Clear the Track, Follow the Drinking Gourd, Free at Last, Go Down, Moses, The Gold Band, Many Thousand Gone, My Father, How Long?, Oh Freedom, Slavery Chain Done Broke at Last, Steal Away, We Wait Beneath the Furnace Blast, Babylon is Fallen, Billy Barlow, De Day ob Liberty's Comin', Grafted into the Army, The Grant Pill, Hard Times in Dixie, High-Toned Southern Gentleman, I Goes to Fight Mit Sigel, Jeff in Petticoats, Kingdom Coming, Overtures from Richmond, Richmond is a Hard Road to Travel, Sambo's Right to Be Kilt, Sixty-Three is Jubilee, The Blue and the Gray, Oh, I'm a Good Old Rebel.

Love Songs of the Civil War (CD & Tape)

admin — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 23:45:28 -0500

Lilly Dale, My Southern Soldier Boy, Miss Lucy Long, Sweet Evelina, Johnny is Gone for a Soldier, Annie Laurie, Bonny Eloise, Darling Nelly Grey, The Bright Sunny South, Jenny Lind Polka, Two Soldiers, Listen to the Mockingbird, The Faded Coat of Blue, When I Saw Sweet Nelly Home.

Customer Reviews:

"These songs give the listener a window into what lonely soldiers must have been humming to while away long hours in camp" --Dirty Linen

"Love Songs of the Civil War is one of your best recordings yet!" --David Holt

Rousing Songs & True Tales of the Civil War (book)

admin — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 23:48:37 -0500

INCLUDES Words, Music & History of: All Quiet Along the Potomac Tonight, Battle Cry of Freedom, Battle Hymn of the Republic, The Bonnie Blue Flag, Dixie's Land, The Faded Coat of Blue, Goober Peas, Hard Crackers Come Again No More, Home! Sweet Home!, Here's Your Mule, Just Before the Battle Mother, Lorena, Maryland, My Maryland, Marching Through Georgia, O I'm a Good Old Rebel, Tenting on the Old Camp Ground, Tramp! Tramp! Tramp!, The Vacant Chair, Weeping, Sad and Lonely, When Johnny Comes Marching Home.

Customer Reviews:

"Perfectly captures the spirit of a troubled and transforming era with vintage songs, anecdotes and just plain eye-popping tales from the American Civil War." --Midwest Book Review

"Wayne Erbsen has produced a rare piece of work-something new and fresh relating to the Civil War. Fun and fresh facts can be found on nearly every page." --Webb Garrison, Civil War Authority"

Southern Soldier Boy - 16 Authentic Tunes of the Civil War (CD & Tape)

admin — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 23:50:54 -0500

Goober Peas, Home Sweet Home, Soldier's Joy, Battle of Shiloh's Hill, Battle Cry of Freedom, Listen to the Mockingbird, Dixie's Land, Turkey in the Straw, Girl I Left Behind, Oh I'm a Good Old Rebel, Johnson Boys, Pattyroller, Rabbel Soldier, Richmond is a Hard Road to Travel, Southern Soldier Boy, Boatman.

Customer Reviews:

"Southern Soldier Boy" was chosen to be on the soundtrack of the movie "Gods & Generals," but ended up on the cutting room floor along with over half the music selected for the film.

"Southern Soldier Boy" would have made my great, great granddaddy, Capt. Knox, CSA, proud!" Sincerely, --Michael Knox

"A delightfully educational collection...Wayne Erbsen is to be congratulated for giving the listening public and the student of American music such a rich musical experience." --Bluegrass Unlimited

"The best recordings of traditional music I've found. The arrangements and sound quality are very good. The fiddle, banjo and harmonica give a very authentic Civil War era sound." --Alan Whisman

�

The Home Front - 17 Authentic Tunes of the Civil War (CD & Tape)

admin — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 23:54:30 -0500

Kingdom Coming, Yellow Rose of Texas, Cumberland Gap, Camptown Races, When Johnny Comes Marching Home My Old Kentucky Home, Cotton-Eyed Joe, Buffalo/Alabama Gals, Wild Horses at Stony Point, When I saw Nelly Home, Run Johnny Run, Johnny Has Gone for a Soldier, The Minstrel Boy, Rebel Soldier, Old Dan Tucker, Leather Britches, Darling Nelly Grey.

Customer Reviews:

"Well Done! Highly Recommended!" --Bluegrass Unlimited

"The Home Front" is just fabulous!� I LOVE the selections AND the arrangements.....it is a GREAT cassette and I never tire of listening to it. Beautifully done, Wayne!"� --Mike Landau

"I wore this tape out, so send me the CD! I'm 82 years old and with your music, I'll live to be over 90, I'm sure." --E. Goldbeck

A Garden Supper Tonight

admin — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 23:59:05 -0500

Manners & Morals of Victorian America

admin — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 00:01:21 -0500

�

"I think your new book is absolutely great!! - really entertaining stuff about where we came from. I love the etchings and photographs." --Z. Ruben

"Thank you for your marvelous book. I read it with great hilarity. Thanks for publishing this great entertaining book." --C. Crowder

The 1st American Cookie Lady

admin — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 00:03:42 -0500

The Lost Art of Pie Making ~ Made Easy

admin — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 00:08:09 -0500

RECIPES INCLUDE: Pie Crust: Aunt Jenny's Crust, Barb's Butter Crust, Mom Brooks' Crust, Oil Crust, Fruit Pies: Apple Raspberry, Concord Grape, Dutch Oven Apple Cherry, Fresh Blueberry, Fresh Raspberry, Fresh Rhubarb, Green Apple July Berry Pie, Raspberries in Ambush, Simple Summer Fruit, Sour Cherry Amaretto, Strawberry Rhubarb, Lemon Pie:� Lemon Custard, Lemon Meringue, Lemon Sponge, Two Crust Lemon,� Cream Pie: Banana Cream, Chocolate Cream, Coconut Cream, Orange Cream, Holiday Pie: Apple/Pear Mince, Farmer's Mince, Mock Cherry, Pumpkin, Pumpkin Chiffon, Custard: Chess, Chocolate Chess, Lemon Chess, Coconut, Key Lime, Os-Good, Pinto Bean, Rum Bittersweet, Sliced Sweet Potato, Sweet Potato, Nut Pie: Bourbon Pecan, Karo Pecan, Louisiana Peanut, Mock Pecan (Oatmeal), Quick Pie: Apricot Skillet, Cranberry Surprise, Fruit Crisp, Honey Apple Dumplings, Miracle Cobbler

"I LOVE THIS BOOK!" A. Basham

"This gem is full of pie history and folklore, and delves into the psychology of why men love pie--and oh, yeah, it's got great pie recipes, too." -- Sasha

"A friend gave me The Lost Art of Pie Making, and it's incredible!" --Joseph Oliver.

"I made the pecan and pumpkin pies from your book and they both turned out great. I took your pie class a while back and have lost most of my pie fears. Thanks for giving me pie courage!" --L. Frankl

"I have really enjoyed reading The Lost Art of Pie Making. Thanks for writing this sweet old-fashioned book on my favorite dessert - PIE!" --Wally Pendleton, Richmond, Virginia

"A gem of a cookbook. The Lost Art of Pie Making will prove to be an immediately popular addition to any cookbook collection." --Wisconsin Bookwatch

"I enjoyed this book so such I immediately took steps to obtain Barbara Swells other cookbooks." --Faith Cormier, Greenman Review

"My family is so impressed with the pies I've made since reading your book!" --Scot Giles

"The old photos and down-home advice make this book as sweet as pie." --Aunt Ruthie

"Barbara Swell's books are little gazettes - packed full of recipes, photos, drawings and lore." --Malaprops Bookstore

"I've learned how to bake pies by reading The Lost Art of Pie Baking! My husband is very appreciative of this. :-). S. Guz

Old-Time Farmhouse Cooking ~ Rural American Recipes & Farm Lore

admin — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 00:10:20 -0500

RECIPES INCLUDE: Soups: Georgia Gumbo, Fresh Tomato Soup, Irish Beef Stew, Meat & Vegetable, Breads: Apple Bread, Boston Brown Bread, Butter Buns, Buttermilk Biscuits, Cornmeal Crisps, Ginger Cornbread, Graham Nut Bread, Hot Cross Buns, Oatmeal Bread, Orange Rye Bread, Meats: Baked Hams & Yams, Barbeque Pork Balls, Chicken Pie , Chicken Pot Pie, Cranberry Pot Roast, Little Meat Pies, Meat Loaf, Pilgrim Pie, Pork Stuffed Apples, Turkey Roly-Poly, Tomatoes: Deviled Tomatoes, Poinsettia Salad, Tomato Cookies, Tomato Corn Casserole, Tomato Surprise, Vegetables: Carrots with Beets, Green Corn Puffs, Polenta, Stuffed Sweet Potato, Stuffed Celery, Vegetable Pie, Welsh Rarebit, Desserts: Apple Cake, Apple Dowdy, Apple Orange Pie, Coconut Chews, Cream Cake, Cream Raspberry Pie, Currant Cards, Fig & Pecan Cookies, Fruit Cake, Ginger Snaps, Huckleberry Pie, Lemon Snaps, Maple Apples, Pie Crust, Raspberry Cake, Seed Cake, Pickles & Jam: Dill Pickles, Pickled Okra, Carrot Jam, Plum Conserve.

"Barbara Swell has the neatest cookbooks. They make such great gifts." --Jeanette Haley, Museum of Pioneer History

"Lovingly compiled by historic cooking expert Barbara Swell, Old-Time Farmhouse Cooking is a superbly presented collection of authentic recipes with generational appeal and old-time flavor." --Wisconsin Bookwatch

"If you like reading cookbooks, this one takes the cake!" --Aunt Ruthie

"I recently bought Old-Time Farmhouse Cooking and The Lost Art of Pie-Making. What fun your books are! And the recipes are delicious. Thank you." --E Montgomery

Mama's In The Kitchen ~ Weird & Wonderful Home Cookin' 1900-1950

admin — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 00:12:45 -0500

RECIPES INCLUDE: Beverages: Russian Tea ,Spiked Cider Cup, Appetizers: Cheese Sticks, Skewered Coconut Shrimp, SALADS: Asparagus Shrimp Salad: Breads: Parker House Rolls, Popovers, Riz Biscuits, MEATS: Apple and Ham Casserole, Beef Stroganoff, Chicken Croquettes, Chicken Pie with Sweet Potato Crust, Oysters for Goodness Sake, Roast Pork with Gingersnap Sauce, Vegetables: Corn & Sweet Potato Scallop, Harvard Beets, Squash Relish, Vegetable Pie with Cheese Biscuit Topping, Volcano Potatoes, Fruita: Brandied Bananas, Raisin Nut Stuffed Apples, Smiling Cantaloupe, Strawberry Chantilly, Desserts: Apricot Coconut Bars, Butterscotch Icebox Cookies, Cherry Chiffon Pie, Cherry Pudding Short-Cake, Chocolate Apricot Cookies, Chocolate Chiffon Cream Pie, Chocolate Orange Crunchies, Chocolate Pudding, Chocolate Risin' Cake, Eggless, Milkless Butterless Cake, Flaky Pie Crust, Fruit Confection, Gingerbread with Cream Cheese Filling, Lemon Meringue Pie, Mock Cherry Pie, Molasses Ginger Cakes, Spicy Apple Pie, Sunny Peach Pie, Raisin Filled Cookies, Toll House Cookies.

"A little masterpiece of nostalgic cookery. Mama's in the Kitchen is a 'must' for anyone who enjoys strolling down a 'yesteryear' collection of culinary pleasantries." --James A. Cox, Wisconsin Bookwatch

"Barbara Swell's books are like little gazettes-packed full of recipes, photos, drawings, and mountain lore. We've always been proud to stock her books and look forward to her upcoming publication." --Anne Wray, Malaprop's Bookstore Winner of Publishers Weekly's Best Bookstore Award

"I absolutely loved 'Mama's in the Kitchen!'" --Louella Rykowski

Take Two & Butter 'Em While They're Hot! Heirloom Recipes & Kitchen Wisdom

admin — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 00:14:57 -0500

RECIPES INCLUDE: Appetizers: Cheese Straws, Pesto Cheese Ball, Pimento Cheese Spread, Soups: Brunswick Stew, English Pea Soup, Soup Beans, Turkey Corn Chowder, Breads: Fried Cornbread, Biscuits, Delicious Rolls, Pounded Biscuits, Cornbread, Challah, Rustic Bread, Torta, Sweet Bread, Saffron Bread, Stollen, Italian Spaghetti, Meat: Ground Meat Whirls, Ham Croquettes, Chili Corn Pone Pie, Chicken Pie, Mock Chicken Salad, Orange Chicken, Tipsy Pork Chops, Marinated Chicken, Salmon Loaf, Crab Cakes, Vegetables: Scalloped Potatoes, Parmesan Potatoes, Rosti, Sweet Potato Casserole, Cucumber Salad, Summer String Beans, Home-made Hominy, Pesto, Pesto Squash, Summer Squash, Fried Green Tomatoes, Fresh Tomato Salad, Condiments: Pepper Relish, Chili Sauce, Picalilli, Spiced Peach Pickles, Desserts: Oatmeal Cookies, Lebkuchen, Raisin Cookies, Pumpkin Cookies, Sugar Cookies, Chocolate Cookies, Lemon Pie Cake, Pudding Cake, Pound Cake, Blueberry Cake, Apricot Strudle, Cinnamon Rugelah, Cake Good 1896, Wedding Cookies.

"I'm CRAZY about this book." R. Taylor

"AWESOME!" --High Desert Museum, Bend, OR

"I regret I didn't buy copies of this book for my sister and daughter when I found it in a store. This is a GOOD book." --Nancy Webb

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Children at the Hearth: 19th Century Cooking, Manners & Games

admin — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 00:16:46 -0500

RECIPES INCLUDE: Beverages: Strawberry Water, Pineapple-ade, Lemonade, Milk Punch,Make-Do Hot Cocoa, Hot Mulled Cider, Soups & Stews: Hobo Mulligan Stew, Tomato Bisque, Peanut Soup, Creamy Corn Soup, Chicken Noodle Soup, Bread: Hard Tack, Corn Egg Bread, Cat Head Biscuits, Cheese Crescents, Corn Dodgers, Ash Cake, Hoe Cake, Soft Pretzels, Peasant, Bread: Sausage and Apples, Kabobs, Meat Hash, Parmesan Chicken, Chicken & Dumplings, Weird Foods: Pickled Glazed Tongue, Eels with Anchovies, Chocolate Sandwiches, New Sandwiches, Vegetables: Squash with Apples, Sweet Potato Cobbler, Ash Potatoes, Succotash, Corn Oysters, Hopping John, Potato Snow, Fruit: Berry Fruit Leather, Talking Fruit Basket, Fruit Salad, Pineapple Ice, Dessert: Nutty Snowball Cookies, Tea Cakes, Sugar Cookies, Face Cookies, Thumbprint Cookies, Apple Upside Down Cake, Gingerbread Apple Cake, Persimmon Pudding, Berry Pie, Pie Pastry, Moist & Chewy Mudpies, Apple Turnover, Fudge Snow Taffy, Sugar Plums, Popcorn Balls.

Customer Reviews:

"Delightful and charming." --"Sparky" Anderson, Sutter's Fort Trade Store

"Children at the Hearth" is a funny, informative, and highly readable volume that includes not only old-time recipes but also priceless nuggets of wisdom, lore, superstitions, and tips from our pioneer ancestors." --Sarah Johnson, The Land On Line.com, Minnesota�s Online Rural Life Magazine

"'Children at the Hearth' was quite entertaining. Lots of interesting information and some recipes I'm anxious to try." Mrs. Cable

Log Cabin Cooking: Pioneer Recipes & Food Lore

admin — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 00:18:59 -0500

RECIPES INCLUDE: Wheat: Attire for Bread Baking, Biscuits, Buttermilk Biscuits, Odorless Salt Rising Bread, Sally Lunn, Salt Risin Bread, Scones, Sour Dough Bread, Corn: Ash Cake, Cornbread, Cornmeal Mush, Cornpone, Cornstick, Hoe Cake, Hunter's Cake, Johnny Cake, Johnny Cake Rhyme, Polenta, Roasted Corn, Spoonbread, Soups: Corn Chowder, Oyster Soup, Portable Soup, Potato Soup, Sweet Potato Soup, Meat/Wild Game: Apples and Buttons, Brunswick Stew, Baked Prairie Chicken, Chicken and Dumplings, Chicken Pie, Chicken Shortcake, Cornish Pasties, Dried Sweet Apple Schnitz, Meat Hash, Pigs in a Puddle, Shepherd's Pie, Schnitz un Knepp, Vegetables: Apple/Carrot Salad, Baked Beans, Cheese Biscuits in Tomato Sauce, Dandelion Salad, Leather Britches, Pickled Beets, Red Pickled Eggs, Root Vegetable Pasties, Sauerkraut, Vegetable Cutlets, Zucchini Clarinet, Fruit: Apple Butter, Apple Dumplings, Apple Pie, Apple Stack Cake, Blackberry Pie, Fruit Cobbler, Fruit Crisp, Fruit Roly Poly, Miracle Cobbler, Snails House Cobbler, Desserts: Doughnuts in Rhyme, Fairy Cookies, Gingerbread Cookies, Gingerbread, Lemon Sauce, Pastry Crust, Poor Man's Pudding, Pumpkin Pie, Sand Tarts/Jelly Tarts, Togus Bread, Faux Foods: Mock Angelfood, Cake, Mock Clam Chowder, Mock Mince Pie, Mock Olives, Mock Oysters, Mock Pecan Pie, Mock Whipped Cream, Home-Made.Butter, Beverages: Blackberry Wine, Cherry Bounce, Coffee, Ginger Beer, Honey and Molasses Dipped Candles, Molasses Taffey.

"A fascinating compilation of recipes, history, lore and humor. The author recreates the pioneer kitchen, its equipment, ingredients, and outlook."--Cook's Books Select

"I love Log Cabin Cooking!" --Lauren Zechin

"A little gem of a cookbook."--Wisconsin Bookwatch

"One of my all-time favorite cookbooks." --B. Barnardsville, NC

Secrets of the Great Old-Timey Cooks

admin — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 00:21:01 -0500

RECIPES INCLUDE: Beverages: Blackberry Cordial, Grape Juice Lemonade, Dandelion Wine, Mulled Cider, Russian Tea, Sadie's Punch, Soups: Celery Soup, Dried Com Chowder, Fresh Pea Soup, Tomato Bisque: Breads: Biscuits, Fannie's Graham Bread, Graham Puffs, Gritted Cornbread, Huckleberry Scones, Jam Windmills, Raisin Graham Bread, So. Mt. Cornbread, Sweet Potato Buns, Sweet Potato Dumplings, Meats: Apple Maple Duck, Blackbird Pie, Chicken & Dumplings, Curried Chicken & Rice, Hot Pot, Oyster Loaves, Pork Snow Birds, Roast Beef Pie, Vegetables: Apple Stuffed Pumpkin, Baked Corn in Peppers, Carrot Puffs, Eggs & Baked Tomatoes, Fried Corn, Green Beans, Onions Stuffed, Potato Rissoles, Scalloped Tomatoes, Shuck Beans, Winter Saccatash, Apples & Berries: Applesauce Dumplings, Apple Dumpling Pie, Cider Fruit Cake, Jewel Berry Fool, Mom's Apple Cobbler, Strawberry Dumplings, Desserts: Apple Stack Cake, Chocolate Popcorn, Coconut Stack Cake, Ginger Nuts, Gingerbread, Jam Pie, Salty Peanut Cookies, Spiced Jini Cakes, Pickles and Butters: Apple Butter, Pickled Beans, Refrigerator Pickles, Mock: Cherry Pie, Coconut Macaroons, Honey, Macaroni, Turtle Soup.

"The first page of this book brought back so many menories, it almost made me cry. I love it." A. Stills

"Your book stirs up memories of my grandmother's kitchen and all the goodness of home."--Anne Marie Williams, Southern Highland Craft Guild

"I really, really liked Secrets of the Great Old-Time Cooks." Joyce Buchanan

"I bought Secrets of the Great Old-Timey Cooks and Mama's in the Kitchen and just loved reading them and trying the recipes. Very interesting and different from the other books I buy and read! Darla Kerns

"An ideal and inexpensive gift for kitchen cookbook collectors. Secrets of the Great Old-Timey Cooks is a wonderful compendium of historic American recipes, folklore and country wisdom. Profusely illustrated. If you like to cook and have a fondness for 'the good old days,' then secure a copy of Secrets of the Great Old-Timey Cooks." The Midwest Book Review

Early American Cookery

admin — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 00:22:47 -0500

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"This expert ..reproduction will make an enduringly popular addition to personal, family, and community library cookbook collections, as well as being of immense interest for students of 18th and 19th century American popular culture." --Midwest Book Review.

Sing It Yourself! - 12 Old-Time Sing Alongs

admin — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 00:24:21 -0500

"This lady banjo player and singer is my number one. She knows the best songs and raises the hair on my neck when she sings them."--John Hartford, composer of "Gentle on my Mind"

About Native Ground Music

admin — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 00:32:38 -0500

The West Virginia Coon Hunters

banjo — Wed, 19 May 2010 12:55:52 -0400

Dealers

admin — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 00:39:02 -0500

Fundraising

admin — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 00:40:30 -0500

Native Ground's Favorite Old-Time and Bluegrass Music Links

admin — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 00:45:23 -0500

Vintage Fiddles for Sale

admin — Mon, 24 May 2010 02:11:35 -0400

Vintage Guitars for Sale

admin — Mon, 24 May 2010 02:23:45 -0400

Ordering, Shipping, Privacy and Security

admin — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 00:46:26 -0500

Bluegrass Music & Old-Time Music: What's the difference? by Wayne Erbsen

admin — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 00:49:56 -0500

Bluegrass music evolved from an earlier type of country music we now call old-time music. As it�s commonly played, old-time music is a mostly instrumental stringband style with a beat that�s designed for square dancing. As such, the music is spirited and upbeat. The main lead instrument in old-time music is the fiddle. The fiddler normally chooses the tunes, sets the rhythm, begins the tune, and signals to the other musicians when the tune will end. Another key ingredient in old-time music is the banjo, which is played in what is called "clawhammer style." This is a rhythmic style with the right hand striking or brushing down on the strings. An old-time band would also feature a guitar player who keeps the rhythm and plays a few runs, but does not play the melody. Additional instruments in an old-time band often include a string bass, which keeps the rhythm and occasionally a mandolin player, who plays chords and also helps keep the rhythm. In old-time style, the instruments generally all play together all the time, with no breaks or solos. The melodies used in old-time music tend toward the traditional tunes brought over from the British Isles by Scots Irish immigrants in the mid to late 19th century. Newly composed tunes are rare in old-time music.

Although bluegrass evolved from old-time music, it is now quite different. In contrast to the happy, danceable sounds of an old-time stringband, bluegrass music is often sad music based on themes of hard times. One tongue-in-cheek writer called it "A celebration of pain." Bluegrass music is mainly a vocal style, where the instruments support the voices. The typical bluegrass singer sings at the top of his or her vocal range, and often there are two, three, or four part harmonies. The songs themselves often dwell on themes of loneliness, heartbreak and nostalgia. In contrast to old-time music which is strongly fiddle-influenced, in bluegrass no single instrument dominates. Instead, the banjo, fiddle, mandolin or guitar take turns playing breaks or solos, while the other instruments play back-up. In bluegrass style, the banjo is played with finger picks in a three-finger style as developed by Earl Scruggs, from Boiling Springs, North Carolina. In some ways, bluegrass is akin to jazz or dixieland, because the instruments taking solos or breaks freely improvise off the main melody, while the rest of the band lays down a solid rhythmic foundation. In addition to influences from jazz and dixieland, bluegrass also draws heavily on the blues. This is expressed most often in notes played by the fiddle and sometimes the mandolin and the guitar. Some bluegrass singers also sing an occasional "blue note."

So to put this in a nutshell, old-time music is mainly an upbeat instrumental dance music while bluegrass is a vocal style where the instruments freely improvise. In old-time, the fiddle is boss, and in bluegrass, most often the singer takes the lead.

For more information about bluegrass music, check out Wayne Erbsen's popular book, Rural Roots of Bluegrass. This book is richly illustrated with 107 vintage photos and includes history, lyrics to 94 songs, musical notation, chords, playing tips, and historical sources for each song. Includes profiles on the Bill Clifton, Bill Monroe, the Blue Sky Boys, Bradley Kincaid, the Callahan Brothers, Carolina Tar Heels, the Carter Family, Charlie Poole and the North Carolina Ramblers, the Coon Creek Girls, Earl Scruggs, Eck Robertson, Ernest V. "Pop" Stoneman, Fiddlin� Arthur Smith, Fiddlin� John Carson, G. B. Grayson & Henry Whitter, Jimmie Rodgers, Karl and Harty, the Lilly Brothers, Monroe Brothers, the Morris Brothers, Riley Puckett, Samantha Bumgarner, Vernon Dalhart, Snuffy Jenkins and Wade & J. E. Mainer. 6" x 9", 180 pages.

Click to watch a YouTube video clip of Wayne picking "Little Maggie" on the banjo

Click to watch Wayne picking "Sharecropper's Son" on the banjo

Category Table

admin — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 00:57:52 -0500

Native Ground Music

admin — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 23:17:23 -0500

Wayne Erbsen demonstrating a minstrel Banjo

admin — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 03:03:05 -0500

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWmucZ9Bvjw

Wayne Erbsen teaches C run for Bluegrass guitar

admin — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 03:10:33 -0500

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8O28tBAwCNM

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Wayne Erbsen teaches the G scale on the Guitar

admin — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 03:17:53 -0500

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHhY2uMHGf0

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Wayne Erbsen Teaches the D Scale on the Mandolin

admin — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 03:19:14 -0500

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wz3EKE7D8z0

Wayne Erbsen Teaches a C Scale on the Mandolin

admin — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 03:20:14 -0500

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPtysKuVEwE

How to Play a G Scale on the Mandolin

admin — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 03:21:30 -0500

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPycvoAj0xQ

Wayne Erbsen teaches Double C Tuning on the banjo

admin — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 03:22:33 -0500

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgQ67lMuQGc

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Little Sadie played by Wayne Erbsen on Banjo

admin — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 03:25:02 -0500

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wqmxClvupU

Wayne Erbsen teaches the Clawhammer Banjo Lick

admin — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 03:26:13 -0500

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hscc-EKQ9S8

Wayne Erbsen teaches Sawmill Tuning on the banjo

admin — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 03:27:29 -0500

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PXfmT_ld5I

Sharecropper's Son played by Wayne Erbsen

admin — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 03:30:16 -0500

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33Fcg1gc7WA

Watch this video in a new window Wayne Erbsen Teaches a D Scale on the Fiddle

admin — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 03:31:11 -0500

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RS6B9pCOZdg

Wayne Erbsen shows a C scale on the guitar.

admin — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 03:33:58 -0500

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nu0tMaG5dco

Wayne Erbsen teaches a D scale on the guitar.

admin — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 03:35:24 -0500

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPTJsxZZ0ZY

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What's the difference between a violin and a fiddle?

admin — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 03:37:06 -0500

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ao9GaAyvcgc

Log Cabin Band - July 18, 2009

admin — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 03:41:00 -0500

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBNGyXOhNp4

Little Maggie played by Wayne Erbsen

admin — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 04:22:08 -0500

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXFEmfbDXk0

Bill Clifton

banjo — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 17:59:01 -0500

Clawhammer Banjo - What is it? by Wayne Erbsen

banjo — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 18:44:03 -0500

�West Virginia, My Home� A Visit With Hazel Dickens Interview by John Lilly

banjo — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 13:36:29 -0400

Katie Dear

banjo — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 16:45:05 -0500

Thicker'n Fiddler's in Hell by Wayne Erbsen

banjo — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 18:48:38 -0500

Cleo Davis, The Original Bluegrass Boy by Wayne Erbsen

banjo — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 22:37:24 -0500

Jim Shumate, Bluegrass Fiddler Supreme by Wayne Erbsen

banjo — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 22:46:12 -0500

Lester Woodie, Coming Up The Hard Road by Wayne Erbsen

banjo — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 22:48:54 -0500

"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 working in that bakery. And besides that, it's time you got out of Valdese, (North Carolina) and saw a bit of the world," he kidded. "Yeah boy, those Stanley Brothers are tough."

They arrived in front of radio station WCYB in the early evening where the young fiddler was to meet the Stanley Brothers. George helped him get his heavy suitcase out of the trunk and patted him on the back to say goodbye. "This is a good chance for you," George said as he climbed behind the wheel for the trip back to Valdese. "And don't forget the hometown boys," he shouted out of the window as his car accelerated past the fiddler standing there on the sidewalk. "Here it is," he thought to himself, "Radio WCYB."

With his fiddle under his arm and tugging at his suitcase with the other, he made his way down the stairs to the basement where radio WCYB made its office. By the time he got to the bottom of the stairs, Ralph and Carter were waiting for him. He shook hands with Ralph and while greeting Carter, Carter reintroduced him to the Stanley's mandolin player and high tenor singer, Pee Wee Lambert. "Pee Wee," Carter said, "You remember this fella, don't you-Lester Woodie."

Though it's only about seventy five miles of crooked roads between Valdese, North Carolina and Bristol, Virginia, young Lester Woodie had come up the hard road to get there. Leaning over a cup of coffee, an older Les Woodie remembered some of the bumps in that road.

When I was about eight years old, we moved out in the country, near Valdese, North Carolina. Not more than a few steps away lived the Shuffler family. They raised more kids that I can remember the names of. There was the oldest girl, Lena, then came George, then Betty, John, Dude, Sue, then the one we called Gus, and the one we called Joe. They were a big, very closely knit family, and all the kids could play some instrument or another. Only mom and dad didn't play, though they did sing in church. John, George and I became like brothers, and I was always over at their house eating supper, or they over at mine. John is just my age, but George was about three years older. George, being the oldest boy, was the most advanced musicially, and even when he was ten years old, knew what a guitar was for."

With the Christmas of 1939 approaching, both Lester and his older brother Lloyd hoped for bicycles. Their father was on the conservative side, and decided that he had raised two boys, and he intended to keep them. He didn't want to lose either of his boys to the cars that hotrodded past their house. Instead of bicycles, he bought his sons musical instruments. To Lloyd, he gave a brand new Harmony F hole, arch top guitar. And to Lester, he gave a brand new Harmony mandolin. The boys were disappointed at first, but soon hid their sorrow with sounds of their new duet.

"Lloyd and myself were so different. He always loved to display his talent. Whenever anybody mentioned music, he was ready to perform. I was on the shy side, and very reluctant to perform in front of people, though I loved to play by myself. Of course, mom and dad had to show off the family talent, so when company came, we always had to play for them. I hated to play for people so much that several times, in order to avoid performing, I would wind up one of the strings of my mandolin so tight til it broke. Then I'd have an excuse for not playing. Lloyd, he didn't care. He went on with the show anyway. He was a one man band, just him and his guitar.

"There was an old man in Valdese by the name of Zenie Page who worked on fiddles. He was an old-time fiddler and I guess my first exposure to the fiddle. He was kind of a handyman, and when something would break around the house, we'd call Zenie, and he'd come and fix it. He generally brought his fiddle with him, and if we coaxed him enough, he'd drag out that old fiddle and play for hours. The old man had asthma so bad that he'd built himself a little one room workshop, just behind the house, so he wouldn't bother his wife with his asthma attacks. He had a bed rigged up in there. He was out there to himself, and I used to go by there and get him to play the fiddle for me. He played the old hoedown fiddle. He'd play "Bill Cheatham," "Ida Red," "Turkey in the Straw," the old standards. He only played the fiddle with two fingers, and by then I guess his playing was a little scratchy, but to me, it was beautiful. "Old man Page used to tinker with fiddles, and always had several that he'd promised people he would work on stuffed under his bed. By today's standards, I guess he wouldn't be much of a repairman, but he did the best he could. I remember he used to take combs and make bridges out of them. He'd inlay the combs with stars and dots carved out of old toothbrushes. They'd look beautiful, and sound terrible. He taught me how I could use a comb, with some of the teeth removed, for a mute. Old Zenie taught me to cut corners and improvise any way I could, because I didn't have any money.

"It was my brother Lloyd who bought me my first fiddle from Zenie. He did a few odd jobs to collect a dollar here and there. He paid Zenie around twenty dollars for that fiddle. He went to all that trouble to get me that fiddle just so he'd have someone to play with. He didn't wait for Christmas or a birthday, but gave it to me as soon as he had arrived at the figure of twenty dollars.

"Since George, John, and I were spending so much time together, it was natural that we should start playing music together. Somehow or another, my brother Lloyd got left out of it, but he apparently didn't care, because he liked to play by himself. Before long, me and the Shufflers started working on our singing. We had heard records of the Sons of the Pioneers, and we copied their singing style. I used to sing lead, George the baritone, and John, he had a great tenor. We did stuff like "Tumbling Tumbleweeds," and "Cool Water." Occasionally, we'd try a Monroe Brothers song, me and John. I had been listening to Bill and Charlie Monroe over the radio since I was in the first grade of school. They were on a noontime show on WPTF in Raleigh, North Carolina. I used to listen to them while I came home from school to eat lunch. There was a lot of good music on that station. Johnnie and Jack used to play there.

"Most of the music we heard was on record, though we did catch some stuff on the radio. John had dropped out of school and took a job in a cotton mill, so he had plenty of money, compared to us. So we used to gang around John's record player and listen to the records he bought every Saturday when he went to the record store in Hickory.

"Occasionally a good group would come by and play at the ball park in Valdese. Promoters would sometimes book entertainment as a draw to the ball games. Now and then, a group would be booked at the ball park even when there was no game. Groups like the Louvin Brothers would play. We learned a lot about harmony singing by listening to the Louvins. They really sang it right and had the feeling in it. Ira was a real genius with music. I got to know them pretty well, and I never missed one of their shows around Valdese.

"It seemed sometimes like we learned as much by listening to those 78 records as we did by watching the local musicians around Valdese. You know there weren't all that many musicians that played around Valdese then. Of course, there were old fiddlers here and there, and there were some homes that had a banjo hanging on the wall that was played for sheer enjoyment once in a while. But good musicians were really rare. There must have been more music played when my daddy was growing up than when I was. As time goes on, there seems to be more things to do for entertainment, and it wasn't as necessary to entertain yourself. When I was growing up, the old music was kind of on its way out.

"After I got that fiddle, George, John, and myself organized ourselves into a band. We called ourselves The Melody Mountain Boys. Soon we picked up a guy from Drexel named Curly Williams, who played steel guitar. It was like an electric Dobro. We did country stuff with the western harmonies. George played guitar, John the bass, me on the fiddle, and Curly on the lap steel. While we were playing together I remember that things got so tight once that when all the hair of my bow fell out, I was reduced to playing the fiddle with a wire coat hanger. You can imagine what it sounded like.

"Just about the time we started getting our sound the way we wanted it, George got a call from the Bailey Brothers, who wanted George to come play with them in Nashville. It was a chance to play on the Opry, so George left. The last thing George said when he left, though, was for me to keep practicing on that fiddle, because when he came back, we'd do something with the band. George worked for about a year with the Baileys and also did a short stint' with the York Brothers. When George came back, we really got serious, and started playing radio shows. Up until that time, we had contented ourselves with playing neighborhood functions, like corn shuckings. I had a favorite uncle who lived on a farm. He raised a lot of corn, and at harvest time, he'd bring in his corn by the wagon load, and pile it real high. Then he'd have a big party, and invite the neighbors, and anyone who could play.

"It was the radio shows that really made us tighten up our show. I remember wedid a live program in North Wilkesboro, did one in Lenoir, and played over radio WHKY and WIRC in Hickory. George had been to Nashville, so he did the MC work. He could really be funny. I think what makes George so funny is that he reduces things to its lowest terms, and brings it right down home. If he is out slopping the pigs, he won't tell you he's a nutritional engineer for the pork market.

"Besides the country stuff and the western harmonies, we also did a lot of songs we learned off of records of the Blue Sky Boys, Bill and Earl Bolick. I worshiped their music. The first time I met them was when I was working with Carter and Ralph on the Farm and Fun Time in Bristol. They came there and worked a stint for a number of months. Both the Stanleys and Blue Sky Boys were about equal in popularity in those days." George, John, and I used to love to do the Blue Sky Boys' songs. We used to do "Why Not Confess," and "The Sweetest Gift, A Mother's Smile," among others. John and I featured a duet, and if the song was adaptable, George would come in on the baritone part. In the Melody Mountain Boys, we used different kinds of harmonies, depending on the song. Often, we'd use a harmony with the lead in the middle, with the baritone below, and the tenor above. On other songs, we'd use a tenor and a high tenor or high baritone, both above the lead. You had to work the harmonies according to the song.

It was during this period when the Melody Mountain Boys were working on radio that they got Perry Duncan, who went by the name of "Carolina Slim" to play second fiddle to Lester Woodie. "Slim was my greatest influence on the fiddle. His touch on the fiddle was simply fantastic. He was from Cagers Mountain, which is across the Catawba River at Rutherford College, near Valdese. He lived up there in a log cabin with his mother and dad. In fact, before joining us, he had a group called the Log Cabin Boys. Slim and I played twin fiddles. I usually played lead, and Slim would second me. I learned more through playing with him than anything else. Oh, we had heard groups that had two fiddles, like the Skillet Lickers, but that wasn't the sound we were looking for. We were trying for a little more modern sound than they had. Slim and I used to get note for note harmonies. We'd slow down a tune to make sure we were getting it right. After we had played together for a while, it was like I could read his mind; I knew exactly what he was going to do even before he did it. I guess we played together off and on for four or five years.

"During those years we played about all the time. We played just about every day and all Sunday afternoon, after church. That's the secret of being a musician, playing every day. You about have to learn something when you spend eight hours a day doing something. We lived with the music, and we understood what it was supposed to sound like. Brothers always have an advantage when they're entertaining together, because they understand each other so well. That was kind of our situation. George, John, and I were just like three brothers. If you could say we ever had a leader, I guess it was George, because he was older, and he was the only one who knew how to get out of Valdese. When it came to a decision, we all would have to agree, or disagree. But you didn't need too much of a leader, because there was no money being passed.

"In June of 1949 I graduated from high school, and went to work in a bakery. I was working the night shift there one night when about 10 oclock they called me up front. Somebody was there to see me. I came out and introduced myself to the two strangers standing there in the front of the bakery. It was Ralph Stanley and Pee Wee Lambert. They had been to see Jim Shumate in Hickory about him playing fiddle with the Stanley Brothers. He wasn't able to join them, but he recommended me. So there they were, asking me to join them. I didn't debate about it too long, because I wanted to get out of that bakery. I was to meet Carter Stanley the next day. They had reserved a room in the Hickory Hotel for me to get together with them to try me out. I had heard the name "The Stanley Brothers," but that's about all. I hadn't heard any of their records. The Stanleys had been playing in Bristol since '46. They did a few shows back then, and bought themselves a brand new Cadillac. That was really the big time for them. They had just signed a recording contract with Columbia records before I joined them. When I found the hotel, and walked up the stairs to their room, we got out the instruments and played two or three tunes. I believe I played "Fire on the Mountain" and "Sally Goodin." I think they sang one song to see what I could do as far as backup. It was "Little Glass of Wine." Back in those days, they played and sang most everything high and fast. If Pee Wee couldn't get up high enough, Carter would get on him. "Oh, you can do it," Carter would say. "Get on up there!" The only thing that really bothered me about playing with the Stanley Brothers at first was their speed. They played everything so fast. But when you're eighteen years old, it's not too hard to get your speed up. It wasn't long before I fell in with them. It did take me a while, though, to learn their songs. When I played with the Melody Mountain Boys, I often sang bass on the quartet numbers. As it turned out, the Stanleys needed a bass singer for their quartet, but I didn't know their songs. I remember one night we were playing out at a ball park when I first joined them. They were going to do "Over in the Gloryland." I told Carter I didn't know the words, so Carter told me to just fake it. So I jumped in there and sang, even though I didn't know the words. If I was lucky, I'd hit a word right here and there. But since they were going so fast, it really didn't make much difference.

"In those days, Pee Wee did more singing on the show than Ralph. Ralph was on the shy side and was content to sit back and play the banjo and let Pee Wee do all the singing, if he wanted to. It was really only after Carter died that Ralph's music really came out. With Carter gone, it had to come out. We. used to ride all night in an automobile to get to a show. There it was, 2 O'clock in the morning, and everyone trying to sleep with Ralph at the wheel keeping himself awake by singing the old primitive Baptist hymns. He really used to sing some weird songs. To me, the lonesome sound of those Baptist hymns is what gave the Stanleys their identity. Of course, there were other influences in the Stanley's music as well. They all worshiped Monroe and his music. Pee Wee, especially, just idolized Monroe. In fact, to me, Pee Wee even looked a little like Monroe. When he put his hat on, it was uncanny. He even did a lot of Monroe's stuff on the shows; songs like "The Prisoner's Song" and "Molly and Tenbrooks." Monroe didn't take kindly to other groups using his material and copying his style. Since the Stanleys were Bill's biggest challange, there grew up quite an animosity between them. Later on, both Carter and Ralph worked with Monroe, and Bill got over his jealous feeling. At the time, however, it was quite intense. About that time, the Stanleys signed a recording contract with Columbia records, Bill's label. Columbia also signed Wilma Lee and Stoney Cooper and their group, the Clinch Mountain Boys. Columbia made them change it to the Clinch Mountain Clan. Monroe was incensed that Columbia would sign another group with his sound, so he left and went to Decca.

"At the time the Stanleys were in Bristol, we had a new record out. There arose a pretty stiff competition between several ratio stations there. Station WFHG was jealous of WCYB because of the success of their live shows. This disk jockey was doing a show on WFHG and he played the Stanley Brothers' new record. He followed it with Bill Monroe, saying "Now this is what it is supposed to sound like." Carter got so mad that he went down there and got that disk jockey by the collar and pulled him out of that studio and had his words. And that just fueled the flame between the two stations. They never came to actual blows, but there were some pretty strong words. Of course, all of this was just coming up the hard road. Today, everyone's just friends. But back then, it's understandable that if you are doing a thing, anybody that similar threatens you.

"About that time, we also had Leslie Keith working with us. Leslie had worked with them before. He and I had an act together on stage. About half way during the show Ralph and Carter would do some duets, and I would go back and get on a Raggedy Ann outfit, with old clothes and wide tie. I played the comedian. Leslie was a real hand with a black snake or bull snake whip. I would come out in my comedy outfit, and would hold papers for Leslie between my legs, and light it on fire. I'd even put cigarettes in my mouth, and Leslie would cut the fire out of it. We had a real circus act. Leslie was really good with that whip. Otherwise, I wouldn't have done it. I must admit, I was pretty scared the first few times. But Leslie talked to me and told me that he could touch me and never hurt me, or he could cut my nose off if he wanted to. That was supposed to make me feel better.

"While Leslie was working with us, we used to promote fiddle contests as a means to promote our show. It was always a contest between Leslie and myself; it wasn't just open to anybody. We'd get on the air about a month before a certain show date. We'd talk to each other and boast about how we were going to beat the other. I'd ask him what he was going to play, and he'd tell me that he wouldn't say, but that I'd better watch out, because he was going to get his revenge for the last time I beat him. Leslie was better known than I was, because he had been around a lot longer than I had, so he had quite a following. In those days, people would really follow a fiddler. These contests were a great draw for the Stanleys. It was sort of like advertising for a wrestling match. By the time of the show, everyone was in a real fighting mood to see who was going to win the match. There was a real contrast in styles between Leslie and myself. Leslie played the old-time, single string style. I played using more double stops, double notes, then he did. In the contests, he used to play "Black Mountain Blues," "Cacklin' Hen," and "Listen to the Mockingbird." I played "Cotton Eyed Joe," "Orange Blossom Special" and "Lee Highway Blues."

"I guess I learned "Lee Highway Blues" from Jim Shumate over in Hickory. I'd listened to the Opry and heard Curly Fox play it too. Fox was one of my big favorites then. I also loved to listen to Fiddlin' Arthur Smith play his long bow notes. I learned what I could from Shumate, Fox, and Arthur Smith, but when I really got to playing the fiddle, I was really trying, for Benny Martin. The best fiddling that I ever heard Benny do was when he first came to Nashville with Big Jeff. It was on WLAC in Nashville, before Benny went with Flatt and Scruggs. Big Jeff was married to Tootsie, who had Tootsies Lounge, the infamous bar and grill next to the Opry where all the performers hung out. Big Jeff had a 6 o'clock program then. Benny really was relaxed and laid back then. He could play anything he wanted to play, and really got some fantastic stuff. I guess the thing I learned most from Benny was about tone. He got better tone out of a fiddle than anybody I ever heard. Benny did a lot of double string harmonies, while people like Chubby Wise were known more for their sweet single notes. Benny would take a chance on hitting anything, and he'd usually hit it. He'd do pretty up-the-staff harmony parts, and he always did it with a beautiful tone. He did a lot of stuff on the bottom two strings. The hardest thing I ever tried to learn on a fiddle was Benny's way of playing that real slow vibrato. That's what really set him apart in my book. It took me years to get that.

"Of course, I believe you can learn licks from just about any fiddler, no matter how much he knows. There's usually something good he does that you can pick up, or something wrong he does that you may be doing too and make an effort to correct it. Some of the better known fiddlers that I've learned from include Dale Potter, Chubby Wise, Kenny Baker, and even Sonny Loden, now Sonny James. "I've always hated to hear a scratch on a fiddle. I hate a sound that sounds like it's coming off of a washboard. I like a full, resonant tone. I used to call Benny Martin, the bravest fiddler, because he would always try some difficult position. I think that's what makes a musician great. When you're playing every day, you more or less work out a break, or a certain lick, and you play it pretty much that way every time. Especially when you're in a studio recording a record, you tend to rely on your memory and play it the way you worked it out. You play it safe. But when you really feel the music, and really feel like you're creating, that's when you feel inspired to play something you never dreamed of playing. And that's something you just can't do every day. You can't just walk out and say let's play and really fall into it. If you've memorized a break, you can do it anytime, but if you're really feeling the music, and feel like you're creating, you'll probably play it different every time you play it.

"I recorded most of the Columbia stuff with the Stanleys. We did "Drunkard's Hell," "Fields Have Turned Brown," "I Love No One But You," "Hey Hey Hey," "The Old Home," "Man of Constant Sorrow," and another half dozen or so. I can't remember exactly. I've gotten more comments on the breaks I took on "Man of Constant Sorrow" than anything I recorded with them. I never really felt satisfied with what I did, and for years afterwards I thought it was just another break. I remember how we recored "Hey, Hey, Hey." I was doing a crazy thing on the fiddle. I was d-oing a shake on the bow like they do to the the train sound on "Orange Blossom Special." Carter just loved it and he made me put it on that record. Carter wrote that song. I didn't think that much of it at the time. Carter wrote a lot of his songs while we were riding along in the car. I remember we were staying at a Hotel in Huntington, West Virginia while we were doing a TV show up there. That was one of the first live TV shows that there were. He was working on that song "Let Me Love You One More Time." I think I helped him with a word or two on that one. Carter seemed to write on impulse. A lot of times riding along in the car he'd get a line or two and maybe by the next morning he'd have the rest of it. He may be riding along and just start singing. He'd sing two or three lines, or maybe a whole verse. Then that night when we were warming up for the show, he'd get his guitar and run over it again. Maybe by the next day, he'd have the rest of it.

"We left Huntington and went to the Louisiana Hayride. It wasn't too long after we got to the Hayride that Ralph got homesick, so we came back to Bristol. Ralph thought the world of his mother andcouldn't be that far away from her, so we came back to the Farm and Fun Time. From there I was drafted into the Korean War. The whole time I was in the service, I was lucky enough to keep playing. Every where they sent me, I ran up on a band.

"When I got out of the service, I headed back to Valdese, North Carolina. John Shuffler had been fighting in Korea, and he had just gotten out too. There we were, back in Valdese, the end of the line. I told John I was thinking of re-upping and going back into the service. He was sure that he had had enough of the service. John talked me into going up north to Ohio to look for a job, but we never did find one, and came back home. Just as I was ready tore-enlist, George had just come back from Charlottsville, Virginia, where he had just recorded with Bill Clifton. On the way through Lynchburg, he met up with Curly Lambert who was playing with Bill and Mary Reid. George found out they needed a fiddle player and encouraged me to join them. I went up to Lynchburg and decided to take a job with them. Not long after I joined them, we cut two sessions for Columbia records. We had three TV shows a week, radio every day, and our personal appearances. I was getting a little dissatisfied, and felt like I wasn't accomplishing anything, so I enrolled in a business college. It happened that the college was right across the street from the radio station. I got up every morning and went to school and at lunch time I'd go across the street and play on the radio. It was a hectic schedule, but I stayed with it for a year or so. About this time I got married just at the time the group was getting ready for a move to Nashville. Troy Martin, a promoter, was getting us all lined up in Nashville. Before we made the move, my wife and I were expecting our first child, so instead of going to Nashville, I decided to get off the road, and we moved back to Hickory. I went to work for a dime store in Hickory, and stayed there about four years. Then I got transferred to Roanoke and I got in with Bill Jefferson's band up there. We did TV, dances, and I started helping him with the MC work on the TV shows. Bill kept encouraging me to get into radio, and told me he could use me. I was about to be transferred again, so I quit the dime store business and went into radio, where I've been ever since. I'm now the manager of station WKDE in Altavista, Virginia.

"I guess you could say I'm still quite active in music. After a few years of semi-retirement from pickin', I became interested in bluegrass all over again. I started playing at bluegrass festivals, and in the last two years with Stan Dudley and Bluegrass I and also an album with Roby Huffman, a fine bluegrass singer from North Carolina. Recently I went into the studio with my friend Charlie Moore. That album hasn't been released yet, but I thoroughly enjoyed pickin' with Charlie. He's one of the finest bluegrass song writers today. Just a couple of weeks ago Stan and I did another album to be released soon.

"But my biggest accomplishment is an album of my own, "More Pickin'-Les Singing! Les Woodie and Friends." It's been out about a month. It's a vocal and instrumental album. It's not quite solo, because I had a gang of my friends playing on there too. James Bailey on banjo and mandolin, Stan Dudley and Carl Clark on guitars, Spider Gilliam on bass, Steve Wilson on Dobro, and Greg Woodie on a couple of drum licks. Carl Clark and Ken Bentley of the Tunstall Trio helped on the vocals. The Trio is a bluegrass gospel group from the Danville area. They are a very talented and dedicated group who sing some of the finest harmony you'll hear today. I work with them mostly these days. Most of the songs and tunes on the album are my own. They're a little different from most bluegrass material. I don't really consider myself a writer. I write only when I feel like it. Sometimes it hits me when I'm driving alone, say from Danville to Lynchburg. It usually happens as fast as I can write it down. I don't understand it, but it's almost as if someone else is doing the writing, not me. I sure wish I could find out who it is!"

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Wiley & Zeke Morris, The Morris Brothers by Wayne Erbsen

banjo — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 22:50:08 -0500

It seemed like all the music came from mama's side of the family. Her husband, Russell Morris, could do little more than keep time with his foot. So it was mama who passed on her music to her sons. It wasn't too long before their fingers started to make chords on the guitar. It was brother George who first got his hands around the neck of the guitar. He spotted an ad in a farm catalog advertising a free guitar to any boy who could sell enough seeds, so George worked hard and sold seeds, and before long the postman hauled a large box out of his trunk. The guitar was a Stella and not long after the guitar was unwrapped George was able to tune it like a Hawaiian guitar. By barring his finger across all the strings, he was able to play chords. The first tune he played was "Go Feather, Go Feather Your Nest."

Even though mama passed away before she could teach George the rudiments of the guitar, there were always plenty of people around to get George well on his way toward playing the guitar. On Saturday evenings a group of local musicians always gathered at Lackey's Hardware store in nearby Old Fort, North Carolina. Sitting on the front porch of the store could be found Walter Davis on guitar and french harp, and Clarance Greene on fiddle. These musicians would play the old hoedowns and waltz tunes. As people would pass by, some would gather around to listen and there was always a hat where a penny might be pitched.

It was Walter Davis, more than any of the other musicians, who really took a liking to young George Morris. The two could often be found playing together at church suppers and, of course, out front of Lackey's Hardware store. Davis had been earning his living as a street musician for several years, playing with Clarence Greene, Gwen Foster, and occasionally Clarence Ashley. He recorded with Foster as the "Carolina Twins," and with Foster and fiddler Greene as the "Carolina Tar Heels" and "The Blue Ridge Mountain Entertainers." Their recordings for the American Recording Company included "Corrina," and "Bring Me a Leaf From the Sea." Davis played in a two finger style on the guitar, and it was this style that George also played. Davis had picked up this style of playing by standing spellbound in front of an old black street singer who often played in Johnson City, Tennessee. The guitarist was none other than Blind Lemon Jefferson, a now legendary figure in blues guitar history.

For quite some time George thought he was the only one in the family who cared anything about string music after mama died. But soon he discovered that his younger brother Zeke had been sneaking his guitar out from under the bed while George was at school or out working with his father in the fields. Worse yet, Zeke was getting good at it. George didn't take too kindly to his younger brother messing with his guitar while he was away, and forbid Zeke to touch it. This, of course, only instilled in Zeke an even greater desire to learn the guitar. After Zeke had learned the guitar, the youngest brother, Wiley, learned in the same fashion, by sneaking Zeke's guitar out of the case while Zeke was gone.

It wasn't too many years before the two older brothers, George and Zeke, began performing together with their guitars. They had heard that there was prize money to be won at a fiddlers convention in nearby Marion, so they threw their guitars on their backs and caught a freight train down there. "That was the only way we had to travel back then," Zeke remembers. "We didn't have cars. And if we did, we had no money to buy gas. We'd hobo down there and win every time. We never did lose. We both played guitar. One of us would play lead and the other would chord it. We entered in the duet singing competition and won on the spirituals every time. We didn't have a special song we played for all the contests. We'd just sing the first one that came to us. We'd make 'em up as we went along. As long as I've got the tune in my head, I can make up the words. I've been before a microphone many a time, forgot the words, and made it up and went right on. I've seen some people forget the words and their britches would almost shake off. But I've never had stage fright. The bigger the crowd, the better I can do."

In 1933, two brothers from nearby Weaverville, North Carolina, J.E. and Wade Mainer, were putting together a string band to go on the road. Wade played banjo in x two finger style and his brother J.E. played the fiddle. They needed a guitarist to round out their band, and had heard of a young guitar played in Old Fort by the name of George Morris. One day they came looking for George. They first located George's younger brother, Wiley, who was only a small boy at the time. He directed the Mainers to his father's house where George lived. Arriving to find George gone, Wiley suggested that his brother Zeke could play just as good as George, so they auditioned Zeke on the front porch of the house. Liking what they heard, they hired Zeke on the spot, and together they moved to Charlotte, North Carolina where they played as J.E. Mainer and his Crazy Mountaineers. The band was sponsored by the Crazy Water Crystal Company, but soon found itself heading back to Asheville, and then once again back to Charlotte. Once settled in Charlotte, the band consisted of J.E., Wade, Zeke, and Daddy John Love. Love was a blues singer and yodeler in the style of Jimmy Rodgers. Soon after the group started working in Charlotte, they were contacted by RCA Victor to make records. In early 1934 they traveled to Atlanta where they cut "Maple on the Hill," and "Take Me in a Lifeboat." Zeke recalls that RCA told him that "Maple on the Hill" outsold anything up to that time, even above Jimmy Rodgers. "Of course you had to sell a million records before you made any money at all. They paid a half cent on every record sold, and it takes a lot of records to mount some money, but I did draw some pretty big checks off of that thing."

While traveling with the Mainers, Zeke recalled that his weekly salary for a seven day week was twenty six dollars. "I told J.E. and Wade that I can't work for those wages. They couldn't understand why I couldn't, because I was single and all. I told them yes, I was single, but I was doing a lot of courtin' and I had to have money. I said 'Let's hit old man Fincher up for a percentage basis.' He was our boss. We were on a straight salary and they were collecting all the money at our show dates. Mr. Fincher's boy, Hubert, was our MC. He went out with us on our shows and sold tickets. I said, 'Let's tell him to forget the salary and we'll advertise for him for free and we'll collect the money at the show dates.' So we got together and put it to him and that's what we done. We told him it was either that or we was going to quit. So that's what we done and then we really started making the money, plenty of it for those days, and that was at 15 and 25 cents a head. We'd have to put on two or three shows a night just to get 'em all in. '

After working with J.E. and Wade Mainer for about three years, Zeke decided that his brother Wiley was good enough to join him. In 1937, Zeke and Wade left J.E. and came to Old Fort, where they picked up Wiley. In the meantime, J.E. had joined up with brother George Morris and formed a group with Leonard Stokes calling themselves "Handsome and Sambo." Zeke, Wiley and Wade then started a radio program on WWNC in Asheville, North Carolina. They broadcast a fifteen minute show every day from 3:15 until 3:30. The band consisted of Wiley and Zeke on guitars and Wade on banjo.

It wasn't long before Zeke started playing the mandolin on the program. He had begun playing the mandolin some years before and now decided it would give more variety to have another instrument. Zeke remembers that his first mandolin was a little flatback instrument, similar to a Martin. He later got an old 1906 Gibson A-1 mandolin that he still plays today. In learning the mandolin, Zeke had to develop his own style of playing, because mandolin players back in the mountains were very few indeed. The early mandolins were often referred to as "tator bugs," and had round backs. These instruments were extremely awkward to hold and doubtless the shape of the instrument had a lot to do with its lack of popularity. Zeke remembers that he started out playing breakdowns on the mandolin, like you would on the fiddle. "I played "Sally Goodin," "Red Wing," the old tunes. I probably did more with intros to my singing than anything else. Of course, I'd take a break now and then to give us a chance to swallow a time or two and maybe get some fresh air in our lungs. When I'm singing, I more or less stay in the background with it, and maybe hit a note or two at the end of each chorus."

As was the custom in those days, musicians did not usually stay long on any one radio station. The programs were used to advertise local dates in school houses and theaters in the winter, and county fairs in the summer. After "playing out" one area, it was necessary to switch stations and find new audiences to play for. In the later part of 1937 the Morris Brothers and Wade Mainer moved to 5,000 watt station WPTF in Raleigh, North Carolina. Sponsored by the Zebulon Supply Company, they played every morning from 7:15 to 7:30. Following them on the air was another brother act that was starting to raise quite a stir in the Carolinas-Bill and Charlie, the Monroe Brothers. Working closely together every morning, the Morris and the Monroe Brothers became good friends. Zeke fondly remembers that back in those days "I had a '37 Ford V8 and Charlie had a '37 Hudson Terraplane. We'd always take off and see who could outrun the other. The cops weren't bad back then. We always respected each other as musicians, you know. We got along perfect because they done their thing and we done ours. We never would try to copy another musician's music."

As it is with most bands, the Morris Brothers and Wade Mainer didn't stay together very long, and Wade left. Around this time Homer Sherill joined on fiddle. Homer had been playing with Bill and Earl Bolick, the Blue Sky Boys, over radio WGST in Atlanta. With the addition of the new member, the band changed their name to the Smiling Rangers. April, 1938, they were ready to move on, and their next stop was radio WBTM in Danville, Virginia. Joining the Smiling Rangers was Joel Martin, who played banjo in a three-finger style. Together they played a program called the Farm Bulletin Program. With the addition of Joel Martin, the band had the basic instrumentation that would later go by the name of bluegrass-banjo, guitar, mandolin and fiddle. According to Zeke, Martin was a fine banjo player and one of several who deserves credit for helping to develop three-finger style banjo playing. Zeke remembers that Mack Crow, who was billed as "The King of the 5-string Banjo" was the first banjo player he ever heard. Crow was originally from Hickory, North Carolina, but spent most of his life in nearby Marion. Zeke also praises both Hoke Jenkins and Snuffy Jenkins as unheralded pioneers of the banjo. Hoke later worked with the Morris Brothers and later went on to record with Jim and Jesse.

When the Smiling Rangers made their move to Danville, Virginia, Zeke recalls that they were practically broke. "I was the only one with a little money in my pocket. I did have a new car, which I owed for. When we went to Danville, we didn't have a place to stay, so we found a rooming house and the lady said she thought I had an honest face by looking at me and by talking to me. So she let us stay without paying a cent. You know that that lady and her daughter fixed meals for us and it didn't cost us to eat for several days. I went out and booked a school at Schoolfield, Virginia;-- a suburb of Danville. I managed to borrow another six dollars from that lady to get the advertising out. We put up posters and announced it on the station and when we went out there to play we had packed house crammed full and running over. That got us started and gave us a little bit of money, so I paid the lady back. I tried to give her some extra off the money we made, but she wouldn't take it. I told her she saved our lives, and she said she was only glad to do it. So that got us started and from there we swept that country."

By the end of 1938, Zeke became disenchanted with the music business. He quit the band and moved to Gastonia, North Carolina, where he worked in a cotton mill. Wiley kept the band together by hiring a musician named Wellon from Danville to sing tenor. It didn't take Zeke very long to decide that the music business, for all its faults, was still better than the long hours and short pay he was making in the cotton mill. So Zeke wanted to get back in the band, but met resistance from the band members who didn't want to divide the already meager earnings another way. Wiley and Zeke then decided to form their own band, with just the two of them. They came back to Asheville and started a program on WWNC radio sponsored by JFG Coffee. They called themselves Wiley and Zeke, the Morris Brothers.

While the Morris brothers were working at WWNC, an old friend dropped by to see them. It was Bill Monroe. Monroe explained that he and Charlie had just broken up and Bill was getting together his own band. Bill wanted help in getting a program started over WWNC so the Morris Brothers put him in touch with Israel McIntosh, the station manager. With this help from the Morris Brothers, Bill Monroe first formed the Blue Grass Boys in Asheville in 1938. Joining Monroe was Cleo Davis and Tommy Millard, who played black faced comedian. The stay in Asheville was short lived, however, when Bill became dissatisfied with his band. Wiley recalls the members couldn't sing high enough lead vocals for Monroe to harmonize to, so Monroe went to South Carolina, where he formed a new band and began working at station WFBC.

In the later part of 1939 the Morris Brothers received a post card from Bill Monroe saying he was going to do an audition at the Grand Ole Opry the following Saturday night and for them to tune in. He requested that they drop him a post card telling him how he sounded.

It wasn't long before the Morris Brothers themselves had the chance to join the Grand Ole Opry. Wiley had taken an audition record to Nashville when he heard that the Delmore Brothers were leaving and that WSM was looking for another brother act. Wiley made contact with Jack Stapp who played the record for Judge George D. Hay. Hay and Stapp were to take the record to the board of directors who decided which acts would play on the Opry. Within a week the Morris Brothers received a telegram asking them to appear backstage at the Grand Ole Opry the following Saturday night. Zeke, however, firmly stated that he wasn't going. He said that he didn't want to go to Nashville, that he was doing all right where he was. Wiley tried to convince him to go, but there was no changing Zeke's mind. Unable to get the Morris Brothers, the Opry hired the Wilburn brothers instead. Zeke later admitted his mistake, but the Wilburn Brothers were there to stay, and there wasn't room for another brother act.

Meanwhile, the Morris Brothers continued playing to standing room only crowds who paid their 15 and 25 cents to watch them perform in school houses and theaters throughout the Carolinas. Their group at times included brother George Morris and banjo player Hoke Jenkins. Zeke recalls that, "We really had an outfit back then. Wiley, George and myself could really do those spirituals. We often sang spirituals such as "Get on Board Little Children," and "Walking in Jerusalem Just Like John." We used to tear 'em all to pieces. Of course, we were brothers, and had an advantage over most other groups. We always knew exactly what the other one was going to do. Back then, there were no amplifiers, but our voices were so strong that they could hear us way in the back of the auditorium. We usually tuned our instruments high to make our voices come out better. We couldn't sing soft like a lot of people. Later on we found that we could tone it down. I believe that when you get older, you can't sing as loud as you could when you're younger, although you may actually be able to harmonize better."

In addition to their singing, the Morris Brothers featured a blackface act. Zeke recalls that, "George was a big heavy set guy, so he played the man's part. Because I was smaller, I always got stuck with the part of the black mama. Hoke Jenkins, our banjo player, played the little child. We'd often have it that George would pretend to aggravate the child and I would come out and chase George off the stage with a broom. Of course, we'd rehearse all the time, and kept adding new stuff to our program because many of the same people came to see us time after time. But we always had a good wholesome program and it was a good show too. It was for the entire family, something that any and everybody could enjoy. We never would allow anything dirty or vulgar in our program. We respected people. In fact, we learned a lot about spiritual singing from colored people themselves. I used to sing and play at the black people's church over at Old Fort, North Carolina. Back in those days, we didn't know what integration was, because we was raised up around black people. We worked together, played together, and often ate at each other's houses. That's the way it was back in those days. I've seen many a time when black people would come to the white church. So I went to the black church to learn their spiritual singing. They really could do that. Later on, people quit that and you couldn't mix like that, because there would be trouble. But back in those days, there was no trouble between the blacks and whites."

During the period that Zeke played with J.E. and Wade Mainer, they recorded over 60 sides for RCA Victor. Most of the songs were old love songs and ballads, and others were composed by members of the band. Zeke had been writing songs since he was a boy and it was his songs, in fact, that were to prove the most popular of any the band recorded. On January 26, 1938 the recording career of the Morris Brothers began. On that date Wiley and Zeke, along with fiddler Homer Sherrill traveled to Charlotte, North Carolina and recorded eight sides for RCA Victor under the supervision of Eli Oberstein. In September of 1938 Victor moved its portable equipment to the Andrew Jackson Hotel in Rock Hill, South Carolina. This time they recorded nine sides for Victor. Wiley vividly remembers how it happened. "They had two rooms rented for the recording. They used one of them as a studio and in the other they had the machinery to do the recording. They had one big machine in there which turned a bunch of stuff and there was a big cake of wax with a needle sticking in it. It cut the grooves right then. They let you hear the first song you recorded-and that was it. You didn't get to hear no more til it came out as a record. I guess the reason was is that when you recorded, you put the sound in that cake of wax, and when they played it back it took the sound back out. Later on they changed all that. So if you made a mistake, it was a mistake, cause they couldn't let you do it over. That cost them money. If you really messed up I guess they'd let you do it over, but they didn't like that. I remember they had one mike which was right between me and Zeke. It stood in the middle of the room. We stood side by side, and both sang into the same side of that mike. It was a big mike. They had a red light down at the bottom to tell you when to play. They also had speakers so you could talk back and forth. They told us not to play longer than three minutes. I never will forget that big cake of wax. When that needle was cutting the grooves, it sounded like grinding an axe on a grindstone.

During the recording session in Rock Hill, South Carolina, the Morris Brothers recorded the song that was their all time hit-"Let Me Be Your Salty Dog." The song was written by Zeke in 1935, but both brothers arranged it. Wiley explained that "I have a different definition of a salty dog than Zeke has. Back when we were kids down in Old Fort we would see a girl we liked and say "I'd like to be her salty dog." There also used to be a drink you could get up in Michigan. All you had to do was say "Let me have a Salty Dog," and they'd pour you one." Zeke remembers that "I got the idea when we went to a little old honky tonk just outside of Canton which is in North Carolina. We went to play at a school out beyond Waynesville somewhere and we stopped at this place. They sold beer and had slot machines. At that time they were legal in North Carolina. We got in there after the show and got to drinking that beer and playing the slot machines with nickels, dimes and quarters. I think we hit three or four jackpots. Boy, here it would come! You know you had a pile of money when you had two handfuls of change. The name of that place was the "Salty Dog," and that's where I got the idea for the song. There's actually more verses to it than me and Wiley sing, a lot more verses." There is little doubt that "Salty Dog" is the most popular number the Morris Brothers ever recorded. According to Wiley, "It's considered a standard. Everybody uses it in the bluegrass field, just about. We're making more money off it now on copyright royalties than we ever did on our record, with other people using it. I reckon that song is known all over the world. When I get my statement every six months, it's being played in every nation under the sun. That song is even popular in Japan! 'Salty Dog' aint one that's gone up to high heaven and then fell completely down. It's just one that's considered a standard. It's our biggest song 'cause it's a good five string banjo number played bluegrass style."

In early 1944 The Morris Brothers moved to Knoxville, Tennessee in search for new audiences to play for. Before long, however, Zeke got into a fight with one of the local musicians over a crap game, and decided to leave. He went to Asheville, North Carolina and picked up "Little" Red Rector, A.L. "Red" Smiley, and Fred Smith and took them to WJHL in Johnson City, Tennessee. In the meantime, Wiley stayed in Knoxville and did a radio program every Saturday morning on WIRL called the "Tennessee Valley Network." Wiley explained that "I done all the singing, and Chet Atkins, John Galihar and Harry Nitus furnished the music. Chet could play the guitar as good then as he can now. We also played together on the Midday Merry-Go-Round. He sat back there while we were at the Merry-Go-Round and played that guitar for days on end. Chet would tell you today that the most important part of music is staying with it and practicing to get it down to perfection."

Even though the Morris Brothers were no longer playing together, their record sales were substantial enough that in November of 1945 Victor records requested another session to record more sides. Wiley explained that, "When we made our last session of records for Victor, Zeke and I weren't even playing together. I was with a band in Knoxville playing for the Cas Walker family of stores and Zeke was in Johnson City. But Victor wanted me and Zeke, the Morris Brothers to record. So I came by Johnson City and picked up Zeke and together we went to Charlotte to record. We hadn't even played together for several years, but we know our stuff so well we didn't need to practice. So we went to Charlotte, to the Charlotte Hotel. Eli Oberstein was the recording manager. He said, 'Now boys, I want you to do this "Salty Dog" again. Now since you play the mandolin, Zeke, mandolin and guitar is all I want on it.' He said 'I also want the title shortened. I don't want it "Let Me Be Your Salty Dog".' And Zeke said, `Well, how about changing it to "Salty Dog Blues"? And Eli said that was fine, so that's what it was."

"In addition to the "Salty Dog Blues," they recorded three other songs that they had written: "Grave on the Green Hillside," "Tragic Romance," and "Somebody Loves You Darling." Wiley explained that it was Zeke that wrote "Somebody Loves You Darling." "I wrote, "Grave on a Green Hillside" and "Tragic Romance."

"The story of how I wrote "Tragic Romance is this. Somewhere along the line somebody wrote this poem and sent it to me. I don't know who it was, but naturally, anyone who would write a poem with good words would send it to me and I would use it if I could. So I got this poem, rearranged it, titled it, and had it copyrighted. But in the forties, there was a big uproar about it. Pee Wee King wanted to use it and Cowboy Copes had recorded it on King records but Louis Jones had put his name on it as the writer, although he had no proof that he owned the song. Well, Pee Wee King found out that I had an unpublished copyright there in my briefcase, from the Library of Congress in Washington. He paid my expenses up to Nashville. So there I was standing in the hall at WSM talking with Eddy Arnold and Pee Wee King when up comes the Baffles Brothers, and Grandpa Jones. Eddy called Grandpa over, because I didn't know Grandpa at the time. He called him over there and says, 'Grandpa, I want you to meet the boy who owns "Tragic Romance."' and that guy turned every color under God's heaven. Eddy said, 'He owns the song, him and his brother, and I know them both.' And I said 'Yes, and I've turned this thing over to a lawyer.' I asked him how much money he had made from King records off of the song, and he said, 'nothing to speak of.' And I said, 'How come you gave your name as the writer of that song?' Well he said, 'I wrote it.' I said, 'You couldn't have wrote it. When did you write it?' He gave me the date and I asked him why didn't he have it copyrighted, and he said, 'I couldn't, they wouldn't copyright it.' I said, 'You know why, don't you? There's already one copyright there and they won't copyright two.' Then Pee Wee butted in and said 'I'm not here to start an argument, I'm here to buy the rights from the Morris Brothers to use Copas's picture on one side and the words on the other.' That was my reason for my being there, but Zeke decided not to sign, so they couldn't use it." [Editor's note: For Grandpa Jones' version of the authorship of "Tragic Romance," see "The Devil's Box" Volume 14 - Number 1, March 1, 1980 -page 8.]

Wiley also remembered how he wrote "Grave Upon The Green Hillside." "I believe the Carter Family had one called "Grave on the Green Hillside," but mine was altogether different from theirs, but I did get the title from that record. Zeke admitted that he didn't know the song until he walked into the studio to record the song in November of 1945. "I never sang the song before and didn't even know the tune to it. I put that song on the music stand and sang along with Wiley one time. One time is all it took me in those days. So I sung it right off the paper right on the record there."

In their long association with country music, the Morris Brothers certainly deserve credit for helping to establish the sound that would later be called bluegrass. "Of course, we didn't call it bluegrass then," remembers Zeke. "We referred to it as country music, although others snarled their noses at it and called it hillbilly music. Back then, the college people looked down on it but today, they eat it up. There's something in it that everyone can be proud of. You don't have to be ashamed of country music. I tell you this country music is for real. When you listen to it played by the right ones, you know it's for real."

Zeke insists that, "When we were coming up, there was no such a thing as bluegrass music. But we helped to build it into what it is today. If we hadn't come along, I doubt very seriously if there would have been this particular type of music. A lot of people think bluegrass music's got to have a fiddle. Well, we had good fiddlers like Tiny Dodson and Benny Sims. Benny later played fiddle with Flatt and Scruggs and recorded "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" with them. They also say that bluegrass has to have a banjo, and that it ain't bluegrass without a banjo. Well, we had a banjo, several of them. Take Don Reno and Earl Scruggs. They both played with us. In fact, we gave them the first job they ever had. Don worked with us before Scruggs and then after. Don came to Asheville when he was but a boy and started playing with us. He was playing guitar then. We liked him so we hired him. That was in 'forty one. We hired him to play guitar and then found out he played the banjo too. Don could really play that banjo. He played with three fingers, but it was his own style. He could play in any key and not use a capo or anything."

Wiley remembers the night they met Earl Scruggs for the first time. "We were playing a high school in Chesney, South Carolina, and had a terrible big crowd that night. George and I were selling tickets and I left George to sell tickets while I went back to tune my guitar with Zeke's mandolin. Then I heard somebody knock on the back door to the auditorium, where the stage entrance was. I opened it and standing there was Grady Wilkie and Earl Scruggs. Of course, I didn't know either one of them at the time. They had both driven up to Chesney in an model A Ford coupe, and both were wearing blue shirts and overalls. Grady said 'I got a guy out here, I wish you boys would listen to on the 5-string banjo.' Well, we were needing one at the time because Hoke Jenkins had been called into the service, so I said, 'Bring him in here. Let's tune him up and hear how he sounds.' So he came in and tuned his banjo to my guitar and he could play as good that night as he can now, if not better. He was just shaky and nervous then. He's always been nervous and I'd have thought he'd have missed everything on the banjo, but he didn't miss a string. So we hired him that night and paid him twenty dollars a week. We took him back to Spartanburg, South Carolina with us and he stayed with us for about eight months until he got his draft notice to report for his induction or examination. He left us and went back and got a deferment 'cause his daddy was dead, and he had to keep his mother up. The next thing I knew he was with Bill Monroe at the Grand Ole Opry playing his five-string. When he went with Bill, Lester Flatt was also in the band. Bill had Lester singing high lead for him and playing guitar, so he hired Earl and they stayed with him for I don't know, two or three years. Then Lester and Earl pulled out and formed their own outfit, the Foggy Mountain Boys. They came to WCYB in Bristol, Virginia on the Farm and Fun Time. Sometime later, they picked up Benny Sims. I did a show at a horse arena in Lexington, Kentucky with Curley and Jack Shelton, Benny (Sims) and myself. We doubled-showed it with Flatt and Scruggs. It was that night that they asked Benny about working with them. He later got them to record "Salty Dog Blues." Earl should have known it, but he didn't, so Benny sang lead on the record that Flatt and Scruggs made. He played the fiddle too. That was for Mercury records. When it came out on Columbia it was Lester and Earl doing the singing with their group. It didn't do any good for us when Benny sang it, but when Lester and Earl put it on Columbia, it sky rocketed.

More than anything else, it was the war that made Wiley and Zeke turn away from music as a profession. Zeke explained that, "The war really ruined us as far as the music is concerned. You couldn't get tires, you couldn't get gas to travel, and the war took our best musicians. Hoke got called in the first draft, and then they got Wiley. I was lucky. I got to go to a defense job. When the war was over Wiley and I got into the auto repair business. We also quit 'cause of our families. We both raised big families and any time you go to raising a family, it takes money. Of course, we still play together some. Always have, and always will. I don't say that we're the best in the country to get along, but we do stick together. If one needs the other, he's always there. Although we do disagree on some things, we don't let that interfere. Not all brothers are like that. But me and Wiley's always lived pretty close together all our lives. Of course, if any of us needs any help from the other, he knows where he can find it."

Even though the Morris brothers hadn't recorded together in many years, a young record company bent on presenting and preserving the old music approached them to record again in 1973. Wiley remembers that, "This little record company out of Somersville, Massachusetts, Rounder Records, came down here and wanted to make an album of me and Zeke and Homer Sherrill. They wanted it just as it was in the beginning, or just as close as we could get it. So Homer came up from his selling cars in Columbia, South Carolina. He came up with his wife and spent two weekends with me and my wife. We rehearsed and then went down to the Owen High School band room to record. They had a sound-proof room there, you see. We put sixteen numbers on it. That is the last record we've made, and the only album we ever made."

In looking back over a career that has spanned over forty years, Wiley admits that, "We didn't go out for the big time. We didn't see it then because we had no manager. Most of these groups now have a front man that do all the publicity for them, and that counts. Elvis Presley would never have gotten where he did without Colonel Parker. He put him on the map. You have to have somebody to sell you. It's hard to sell yourself. Where you sell yourself is out on the stage to the audience. But now, selling you to a television show or booking, you need a front man for that, and you've got to pay him a percentage or a flat salary. The type of stuff that me and Zeke does will draw a bigger crowd in New York state than it will in North Carolina. But I never knowed that. I never had time to take advantage of it, because I thought if you got out of North Carolina or Virginia that you were out of the world. Being an old country hooger, I never got to know the modern generation. People down here like what we do, but it's nothing like it is up north. Down here we sign a few autographs, but not many. But up there, when we got off the stage after doing our thing, they'll want to crowd back on you and ask you all kinds of questions about it. They want to know and they're entitled to know, if they paid their money to see you. I never would shun nobody, never have. I guess if I would've made a million dollars at it I guess I would be the same as I am today, sitting here. I don't believe I would have changed. I can't tell that Earl Scruggs has changed and he's worth over a million dollars. But that's the way I look at it. I figure that life is life, people is people, and I've always liked people. So I've always worked for people in one capacity or the other. I've served people. They feed me. They pay me, and therefore I try to be in their good graces the best I can. Why shun them? Why big hat them? You're no better than they are, just because you're up there performing to them and they're paying to see you. Actually, if you want to turn it around, they're better than you are. They're paying to see you and hear you. You got something they want to hear. Zeke will probably tell you the same thing. It's the truth, I tell you, and if you tell the truth you ain't got no flyback."

BLUEGRASS UNLIMITED AUGUST 1980

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Making His Own Way - Raymond Fairchild by Wayne Erbsen

banjo — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 22:51:27 -0500

Born near Cherokee, North Carolina to a Cherokee Indian mother and father whose duties in the military kept him gone most of the time, Raymond Fairchild grew up in the hard times. Long back roads and winter snows kept Raymond from the one room school house for most of the year. He did manage to finish the fourth grade but has never completely mastered reading and writing. There were other teachers for Raymond. His mother's people taught him the ways of the woods. Completely at home deep in the forest, Raymond the mountain man, knows his way around. In the fall of the year he still goes hunting ginseng, which has a root that is highly valued for its legendary curing properties. Although some ginseng hunters in the mountains take their sack of "sang" to nearby Asheville, North Carolina or Knoxville, Tennessee to sell for over $200 a pound, Raymond keeps all that he digs. Drawing upon lore learned from his mother's people, he combines the ginseng along with eighteen other roots and herbs to produce a medicine which he takes daily as a tonic. Going far into the woods in search of ginseng and other roots, Raymond has been known to stay gone for nearly a month. After one such trip he told of killing more than one dozen deadly rattlesnakes. Besides bringing home a poke full of wild roots, he often returns from the mountains with a fat ground hog in his sack. Claiming that groundhog is the finest wild meat in the world, Raymond also renders the grease from the woodchuck to make a tonic for the croup. "Just a spoonful or two," he cautions.

Growing up near Cherokee, Raymond spent most of his early years working the family farm, doing odd jobs, and walking the trails in the woods alone. Occasionally on a Saturday night he would go over to his aunt's house to listen to a little old-time music. Being left-handed, Aunt Ballew played the 5-string banjo upside-down in a three-finger style. This was the first music Raymond ever listened to, and he did not forget the sounds he heard in his aunt's cabin. Sometimes, Aunt Ballew would be joined on guitar by Uncle France or Raymond's mother on the mouth harp. Banjos, Raymond remembers, were scarce back in those Smoky Mountains. Religious people thought the banjo was the work of the devil and would have nothing to do with it. Guitars, fiddles, and harmonicas were fine, but the banjo had a mark on it. "You were Hell-bound if you picked a banjo."

Raymond was just ornery enough to want to pick the banjo. Although he listened to Aunt Bellew play for years, it wasn't until Raymond was eighteen years old and nearly grown before he could afford one of the instruments. His first banjo was fretless with a squirrel hide tacked over the hoop. He next ordered a Silvertone model from Sears and Roebuck. The banjo came with an instruction booklet but Raymond had always shied away from book learning. He was learning to play it his own way. His dad noticed his progress on the instrument and finally took the young man to Dunham's Music House in Asheville and bought him a Gibson RB-150 model. Along with the banjo, his dad bought him some picks but it was some time before he realized that Raymond had been trying to play with the picks on backwards!

On one of the rare trips to Asheville, Raymond discovered juke boxes. There's no telling how many hard-won quarters Raymond dropped in the slot to listen to Earl Scruggs play tunes like "Flint Hill Special," "Earl's Breakdown," or "Randy Lynn Rag." Like many struggling banjo players in the early 1950s, Scruggs' playing set Raymond on fire. But unlike many who learned from Scruggs' records by sitting in front of the family record player, Raymond did not have the luxury of electricity, not to mention a record player. Even to this day, he does not own a record player. By the time he was nearly fully grown, his family did purchase a battery-powered radio. Then Raymond could tune in to the Grand Ole Opry on Saturday night broadcasting from Nashville, or listen to the Stanley Brothers on Farm and Fun Time out of Bristol, Virginia. He also tuned in to pioneer banjo player Snuffy Jenkins with Pappy Sherrill and the Hired Hands over a station near Statesville, North Carolina. Except for this limited exposure to the professional banjo players he heard on radio, Raymond had to make his own way with his music. He had to "hold it in his head," as he has said. Besides his Aunt Ballew, there were scarcely any other banjo players around who could show Raymond how to play. But even though banjo players were rare in the mountains, there were plenty of good fiddlers to learn from. Raymond fondly remembers the fiddling of oldsters Carrol Massey and Robert Richards. These and other fiddlers gave Raymond contact with a large store of traditional mountain tunes from which he would later draw in making his own music.

Unlike most banjo players, Raymond has always had a deep feeling for the blues. To some, however, the banjo seem unsuited to playing the blues. But that's before they have heard Raymond. Many years ago as a boy of ten he would often see the black convicts in stripes work on the road crews under the watchful eye of an armed guard. Raymond would often creep up to where they were having their dinner break and listen while they sang the blues. The lonesome sound of their singing made a strong impression on the young man, and this influence would weave a deep thread in his music.

Occasionally, Raymond would get to see some of the professional banjo players in person on their show dates in school houses and tiny auditoriums in western North Carolina. He was especially impressed with Wade Mainer from nearby Weaverville, North Carolina who he called "the real McCoy." He also sat in rapt attention to the music of Bill Monroe, who he often heard on the radio. It wasn't until some time later that he realized that the banjo player he was listening to in Monroe's band over the radio was actually a string of different players who played with Monroe at various times. He does recall that Rudy Lyle was one of his favorites.

Even though Raymond did get to hear some of the professional banjo players in person and on the "piccolos," the name Raymond calls jukeboxes, he stubbornly refused to copy anybody else's playing. Even as a beginner, he was determined to go his own way. But he does admit that "a lot of it came from not getting to hear nobody. You'd hear parts of a tune, and that's as much of it as you'd get. You'd have to pick out the rest of it in your mind. My style is just something I came up with, something I had to do. If I had a record player and had people to show me, I'd probably have done just like anybody else. But I always listen to all kinds of music. Chet Atkins, the Delmore Brothers ...I do yet. You don't know where you get it from. If you see a young kid who only knows two tunes on the banjer, don't ever walk by him because you're liable to pick up something that nobody else can show you."

It was during the middle 1960s that Raymond first attempted to take his music to the public. By this time he had moved from Cherokee to Maggie Valley, North Carolina and had found a receptive audience at "The Hillbilly Campground," located in Maggie. For over twelve years Raymond played for tips next to the road that ran in front of the campground. He was often joined by Roy Mull on guitar, Frank Buchannan (who had earlier recorded with Bill Monroe) on guitar and mandolin, the late Wilford Messer on fiddle, and Buck Duncan on bass. According to Raymond, they'd play on the corner and really pull the cars in. Raymond remembers playing seven days a week in front of the campground from eight in the morning until midnight.

Trying to raise a family with three kids, Raymond also worked as a stonemason to supplement the money he made playing for tips. He hired on as a helper to James Worley but soon they became partners, doing contract work around Maggie. In addition to being an expert stonemason, Worley was somewhat of a musician himself, and had a harmonica rack bolted to his autoharp to enable him to blow the french harp and strum the autoharp at the same time.

It was during this period that Raymond was approached by Uncle Jim O'Neal to record for Rural Rhythm records. The result was a string of albums produced over the next several years including "Mama likes Bluegrass Music" (RRFM 159), "Smoky Mountain Banjo" (RR 46), "Raymond Fairchild and The Maggy Valley Boys" (RRMVB 170), and "Hon key Ton kin' Country Blues" (RRRF 245). These records were a long ways from Raymond's mountain music background or.even bluegrass. Included on several of these recordings were drums, saxophone and steel guitar. Raymond seemed willing to experiment with sounds and styles that few others had ever attempted on the banjo.

As Raymond's style on the banjo became more inventive, his reputation as a unique individual and musician started to spread. By 1972 he had totally and forever quit the bottle which once had quite a hold on him. Things were looking up for Raymond. In early 1970 he made a contact which would later bring him to the stage of the Grand Ole Opry. Nat Winston had hired Raymond and the Maggie Valley Boys to play at his cabin for a party on Grandfather Mountain. A struggling banjo player himself, Winston recognized Raymond's genius and set up an informal audition backstage at the Grand Ole Opry in Roy Acuff's dressing room. While Loretta Lynn and Ernest Tubb were entertaining the Opry audience with "Sweet Thing," Raymond was playing the daylights out of "Whoa Mule" and "Orange Blossom Special" to the slack jaws of the crowd that Raymond gathered.

The assembled group included such dignitaries as Roy Acuff, Bill Monroe, Archie Campbell, Bill Carlisle, and Billy Grammer. Hal Durham, manager of the Opry, who was also listening in, asked Raymond to appear as a guest at the Opry and Archie Campbell approached Raymond about appearing on "Hee Haw. " For Raymond, playing the Opry was the break he needed. As he put it, "When you step in front of those WSM microphones on the Grand Ole Opry, that's the highest you're going in "When you step in front of those WSM microphones on the Grand 0le Opry, that's the highest you're going in this type of music, buddy in this type of music, buddy." Raymond's first appearance at the Opry literally drove the audience wild. Even though he stands motionless when he plays and never smiles, sings, or talks on stage, his playing makes him, in the words of Roy Acuff, "the best showman I've seen." In addition to having the distinction of being the first banjo player since Earl Scruggs to bring down the house at the Grand Ole Opry, he is also the first known musician to walk out in front of the WSM microphones with a loaded .38 revolver in his pocket. Raymond explains that "there's a lot of meanness in this world."

Although playing the Grand Ole Opry does symbolize success to country and bluegrass musicians, the real success- or failure-happens at the end of the long drives down those same old roads when the artist stands in front of his audience. Here is where the real stuff of country music lives. Raymond can tell you that things haven't always come easy for the musicians who drive the roads and face the crowds night after night. "If you're out there playing a show, you've got to play from the heart. You've got to feel it; you've got to live it. A lot of people sing, but they have their mind on something else while they're singing. You can tell by the sound of it where it's coming from. The people who've made bluegrass music what it is today, buddy, they've lived it. Back when bluegrass first started, you know they couldn't have been making much money doin' it. But they wouldn't change; they wouldn't quit. Just the other night I done a show with Don Reno in Blue Ridge, Georgia. Man, he was so sick. Most of these young musicians who claim to like bluegrass would have been at home in bed with somebody rubbing their chest with Vicks salve. But Don Reno was up there doing his show. Any minute it looked like it was going to be his last breath. Now, I ain't kidding. He told me he had something like bronchitis and felt like he was smothering. He'd talk a while and then take a deep breath. That's love. That's what's helped bluegrass music out, people like that. Bill Monroe's traveled the roads many, many times and didn't always make money. So did Ralph and Carter Stanley. Ralph has told me many times they'd have to play a show before they could eat. I've seen Ralph and Carter come into Spruce Pine, North Carolina back in the fifties and play for eight or ten people. They were playing on a percentage basis and people were paying thirty or forty cents to get in, so you can figure out how much they made. It was the love of it that kept 'em going. I love it. There's some great young musicians, but they don't understand what the hard life is. If it boiled down to the hard times again, they'd be quittin'. They wouldn't have the backbone to stand up. They don't love it well enough where they'd hang with it and play for nothing. Them fellers played for years and years and never made nothing-Bill Monroe, Reno and Smiley, Mac Wiseman, Ralph and Carter, the Goins Brothers. That's who we can thank now. They're the ones who handed it down on a silver platter. It was fellers back then that held er together."

For Raymond, one of the hardest things has been finding musicians who had the sound he was looking for. "A lot of people will tell you the woods is full of guitar pickers. The woods is full of frammers, not guitar players. You can name rhythm guitar players on your right hand. What I like to hear is straight solid pickin'. I've been into it for twenty-five years and with all honesty, I'll have to say I've had one, the one I've got now- Wallace Crowe. He's the best rhythm picker I've ever heard in my life. The bass player too, Wayne Crowe, he's the best bass man I've ever heard. It don't take a stage full to play music. You take three men and all of them pushing time, and it sounds right. A lot people tell me to pick one with drive. They think you have to be playing fast to have drive. But the "Tennessee Waltz" has drive if the timing's right. Time is drive. Drive is time. You can drive a waltz just the same as when you're burning one up, if everbody's there. Listen to Bill Monroe's "Kentucky Waltz" or Jimmy Martin's "Widow Maker" and you'll hear drive. That's one thing a lot of 'ems got to learn. I've played with a lot of fellers who had time, but didn't know the melody. And I've played with fellers who knew the melody, but didn't have time. I've always known in my mind what I wanted but I never found it until I run up on the Crowe brothers. That was in 1975. When I met them, I knew I'd found what I'd been looking for."

"I never did try to get hired by any of the professional bands. I knew if I did try to play with any of those guys I'd have to change my style. I never did want to change what I started. When you go to pick with a man like Bill Monroe, you've got to pick the Monroe sound. I could have changed, but I didn't want to leave my work behind. I knew someday I'd put it out, my way. You can't do that working as a sideman for somebody else. You know, I've played for years with these fellers and they wanted to do all Bill Monroe, or all Jimmy Martin, or all somebody else. You can't get nothin' going doin' that. You can play your head off playing like somebody else, but that ain't going to do you no good. Them fellers are great, they're the ones who made it, but you can't get on stage in front of them at a festival and do their stuff. That's what's a matter with bluegrass. They claim they love it, but they don't love it enough to sit down and learn some new songs or new chords. Bluegrass musicians are the laziest people on earth. They want to play something they can use one chord, or something somebody else already has out. You've got to take the old stuff and make it your own way."

Making his own way for Raymond Was meant breaking new ground on the banjo. He had made banjo showcases out of tunes that have seldom been featured on the banjo such as "Yakety Sax" and "Steel Guitar Rag." And when Raymond plays his version of "Orange Blossom Special," you can see the steam rise off the engine, smell the smoke pour out of the stack, and feel the ground shake as the train pulls out of sight. And like that train, Raymond Fairchild is going places. Besides making frequent appearances on the Grand Ole Opry, he is being considered to do the music sound track for a major Hollywood movie. His new record on Marc Pruett's Skyline label is getting the exposure it deserves. Named after his youngest boy, "Little Zane," the record features Raymond's unique banjo style along with Wallace and Wayne Crowe, plus Mike Hunter on mandolin, Steve Sutton an lead guitar, and Tim Galyean on drums.

Although the summer festivals take Raymond far from his home in the Smoky Mountains, in the winter he stays close to Maggie Valley, where he plays at "The Stompin' Ground." If you don't find him there, you can guess that Raymond's gone off in the woods hunting ginseng, ground hog, or solitude.

BLUEGRASS UNLIMITED MARCH 1982

Curly & Jack, The Shelton Brothers by Wayne Erbsen

banjo — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 22:52:47 -0500

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 sing the old-time songs, sometimes accompanied by Manly Shelton on fiddle. These special evenings of music making did not go unnoticed by the young Shelton boys, Manly Jr. and Carson. They watched Charlie with an intense fascination as if a miracle was unfolding before their eyes. By copying the chords that Charlie played, the Shelton boys both began learning on the beat-up guitar that had been left abandoned in the corner. The guitar itself proved to be more of an obstacle than an aid in learning to play, as the strings were "this high" off the fretboard. Noting their interest in the music, Manly Shelton finally ordered his sons a better guitar from Sears and Roebuck.

Soon the Shelton home was filled with the music of guitars and before long the boys were trying their luck at harmony singing. After school they could be found with their ears glued to the family radio listening to WWNC (Wonderful Western North Carolina). Among their favorite groups was the JFG Coffee Boys. From the Sons of the Pioneers they learned "Way Out There," which contained a difficult harmony yodel. Excited by the progress they had made with their music, the Shelton boys entered and won an amateur contest at White Rock School, in nearby Madison County, North Carolina. Also entertaining that evening was Fred Kirby and fiddler Tiny Dodson. As part of the prize for winning the contest, the Shelton brothers were given the chance to play over WWNC in Asheville. As luck would have it Fred Kirby and Tiny Dodson, who were also performing over WWNC, were breaking up so Tiny joined forces with the Sheltons. Tiny, a robust and jovial man and a nimble fiddler, renamed both Sheltons. Manly became "Jack" and Carson was called "Curly." Their new names stuck.

Just before Tiny Dodson and Fred Kirby went their separate ways, they did a final recording session for Decca in Charlotte in 1938. The Shelton brothers, who were invited along, had recently changed their instrumenal and vocal arrangements with Curly switching from the guitar to the mandolin. Originally, Curly had sung lead and Jack, tenor, but when their young voices changed, things were switched around until Jack was singing lead and Curly the tenor part. It was with this arrangement that they held a successful audition for Decca. Among the eight sides they recorded were "Little Rosebud," "Sitting on Top of the World," and "Jesus Hold My Hand." The recording was held in a hotel room with two microphones and the recordings came out under the name Tiny Dodson and the Circle B Boys. The fact that the Shelton brothers' name was not featured did not seem to bother Jack or Curly, as they were just beginning their career and were still teenagers.

In late 1939 or early 1940 Tiny Dodson and the Shelton brothers moved to radio WFBC in Greenville, South Carolina and worked there for some time. After "playing out" the Greenville area, they moved to WOPI in Bristol, Virginia, which was a 250 watt station. Playing on the barn dance held on Saturday night, they used the radio to advertise shows in school houses throughout the area. The station was not powerful enough to broadcast over a wide area, so their stay in Bristol lasted only six to eight months. From there the Shelton brothers moved back to Flag Pond, and Tiny to his home in Walnut Cove, North Carolina. Before long, however, Tiny had made contact with the Sheltons with news that Wade Mainer and Zeke Morris had parted company and that Wade was looking to start another band. The Sheltons were asked to audition for Wade in Winston, North Carolina. They were promptly hired and together with Tiny Dodson, they played in the Winston area. From there the band, now known as Wade Mainer and the Sons of the Mountaineers, moved to Asheville and WWNC. Playing school houses and theaters, the group started packing the house. A typical show included Wade singing lead and playing the banjo in a two finger style, Tiny on fiddle and singing bass, Curly playing mandolin and singing tenor, and Jack on guitar and baritone. The Sheltons also did duets and Tiny and Wade did a comedy routine. It might be pointed out that the band had the exact instrumentation (minus the bass) and harmony that would later be called bluegrass music.

In early 1941 folklorist Alan Lomax made contact with Wade and invited Wade and the Sons of the Mountaineers to come to Washington to play for President Roosevelt. Billed as a concert of old-time music, the program also included Burl Ives and the Golden Gate Quartet.

In September of 1941 Jack and Curly journeyed to Atlanta, Georgia with Wade Mainer to record four sides on Victor's Bluebird series. Among the songs recorded was a duet with Jack and Curly singing "Precious Jewel," a cover of a song recorded by Roy Acuff.

Just before the outbreak of World War II, the band moved to WNOX in Knoxville, Tennessee. When the war finally broke out, Wade quit and returned to North Carolina. Wade's brother, J.E., had earlier taken Tiny Dodson's place on fiddle, so the band was renamed "J.E. Mainer and the Sons of the Mountaineers." It was then that Curly, who was the oldest of the Shelton brothers, was ordered to report for induction. With Curly's departure, the band turned in their notice and went their separate ways. Jack moved back to Asheville and joined Carl Story and the Rambling Mountaineers. It was Carl Story's band who took over the spot at WWNC that was left open when Wade Mainer and the Sheltons moved to Knoxville. Carl Story's guitar player, Ed McMahan, had just been called into the service, so Jack Shelton took his place. Jack stayed with Carl for about a year until he too was called into the war. Also in the band at that time was Dudley Watson singing tenor and playing guitar, and Johnnie Whisnant, who was known as "Half Pint," playing 5-string banjo.

Jack served in the army until 1946. While overseas Carl Story had written to Jack several times about forming a band after the war. When the war was finally over, Carl landed a spot on WNOX in Knoxville, Jack Shelton's old stomping grounds. Joining Carl was Jack and Curly Shelton, Claude Boone on guitar, Hoke Jenkins on banjo and Carl on fiddle. Maintaining a heavy schedule, the band played everyday in school houses and theaters and on the Saturday night barn dance. By this time the band members were each receiving a salary of $40 a week for playing on the Mid-Day Merry Go-Round.

After playing with Carl Story for about a year, the band broke up with Jack and Curly going to Raleigh, North Carolina. Joining them there was Hoke Jenkins on banjo and Lonnie Glosson on harmonica. After a short stay in Raleigh the Sheltons returned to Asheville and got a program started on WWNC. A young fiddler by the name of Benny Sims came to the radio station to meet the Sheltons and persuaded them to hire him on as fiddler. Also playing with the band was Chuck Henderson on banjo and Carl Smith, (yes, the legendary country music singer) who played bass and sang solos. In 1949 the band moved to WCYB in Bristol with Wiley Morris taking Carl Smith's place playing bass and singing solos. The band worked out of Bristol for about a year until a knee injury put Jack in the hospital, which broke up the band. Disgruntled with the music business, Curly followed many southerners to Detroit to work in the automobile industry.

By the time Jack got out of the hospital he received a call from Benny Sims who, in the meantime, had been playing fiddle with Flatt and Scruggs. Tired of the road, Sims persuaded Jack to take over as bandleader on the MidDay Merry-Go-Round on WNOX in Knoxville along with Fred Smith on guitar, Speedy Krise on Dobro, and Sims on fiddle. Calling themselves Jack Shelton and the Green County Boys, the band stayed in Knoxville for four years. After it became apparent that they had once again "played out" the territory, the band decided to call it quits for good. Jack, especially, was tired of moving to yet another station and could see "the handwriting on the wall," as he tells it. Unable to secure a major recording contract, the band was dependent on radio to advertise their shows and spread their name. But with TV coming into prominence and live radio shows on the decline, it seemed like an uphill struggle to continue to keep a band together and working.

Faced with these changes in the entertainment world and relishing some stability, Jack returned to Asheville to take a regular job at WLOS-TV where he still works today. Curly returned from Detroit and died of a heart attack in 1968. Unlike many performers who were forced out of professional music by the changes in the music industry after the war, Jack is not at all bitter about the way his career, turned out. He still keeps his guitar under the bed and promises one day to get his fingers toughened up enough to where he can get back to singing and playing again. I, for one, am going to hold him to that promise.

BLUEGRASS UNLIMITED, MAY 1984

�

Tommy Millard - Blackfaced Musician & Bluegrass Boy by Wayne Erbsen

banjo — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 22:54:08 -0500

Walter Davis - Fisk & Skull Banjo by Wayne Erbsen

banjo — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 22:55:51 -0500

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, and was friendly with fiddling Arthur Smith.

I first met Walter Davis after a concert of banjo styles held in Warren Wilson College, in Swannanoa, North Carolina. His stunning two finger renditions of some of the old tunes like "Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane" had me mystified. How could anyone get that many notes and sound so full and right using only his thumb and index finger? I had to find out. I approached him after the show and introduced myself. I found Mr. Davis to be an extremely witty and friendly gentleman, and was promptly invited over to his house for coffee and, of course, music. I accepted. The evening spent at the Davis' house, and the many more that followed, was certainly a rare treat. Here was a man of seventy five years of age who still played much as he did thirty and forty years ago. Age has not seemed to dim his music, which remains full of life and musical creativity. Just like Walter Davis himself, his banjo is usually pulling musical jokes on you, tugging your ear sometimes this way, sometimes that. Certainly, some of his music is "traditional" in the sense that he often plays the old tunes. But each tune bears his personal signature almost as if he wrote it himself. Unlike most old-time musicians, he is not bashful to compose tunes. He has written some delightful marches, hoedowns, rags and blues.

After the coffee had settled down a few inches lower in our cups, Walter went into the bedroom and returned with his arms full of musical instruments: a guitar, a banjo, and a fiddle. As he sat tuning up his "imported" Japanese banjo, he recalled the expensive Gibson Mastertone that he used to own. "I used to have a Master Gibson banjo that the music store had to order special. I give about $500 for it back then; I bought it on the installment plan. It took me a year or two to pay it off! One time the Stanley Brothers, Ralph and Carter, were playing nearby, and someone told them about me and about how I had this Gibson banjo. They come over to the house, and wanted to see that banjo. Ralph, the one who picks the banjo, had a good banjo, but it wasn't as good as the one I had. He wanted to buy it, but I guess it was a little too high priced for him.

"You know a lot of people are hot for the old instruments. I like them, but to get out there and play them in public's a different story. I wouldn't think about taking most of them out on stage, because they'll give way on you, they'll blow up on you. I know enough about them to know that. You take any kind of old instrument and they're likely to give out on you. Pick them up and they'll note perfect from one end to the other. But once you get them out on stage, they're gone. It's kindly embarrassing. You always have to be careful about playing another man's instrument. There was a feller who was playing with us one time. He played left handed. We was putting on a program and I decided to fill in so I grabbed his guitar and went out there and found out that the thing was strung left handed! That boy just lay down and hollered. I said, "You dirty rascal, you knowed that.. Why didn't you stop me?" He said he wanted me to go out there, the smart aleck."

After playing several tunes together in Walter's living room, I managed to turn our conversation toward Walter's past. "I started playing the banjo in about 1914, when I was nine years old. I reckon that makes me an antique. My dad and I were living in Newport, Tennessee at the time. He had an old fiddle that he gave me, but I insisted that I wanted to play the banjo, not the fiddle. Although I can start a tune or two on the fiddle, I never could do much with one. My dad said I could play any kind of musical instrument that I wanted, so I traded that fiddle for a banjo. I believe that banjo I traded for was a Maybelle. I played that instrument for several years."

It was his father who first taught the young Walter Davis how to play the banjo. The elder Mr. Davis was originally from Madison County, North Carolina, where he learned the two finger style of picking. Walter recalls that his father didn't care for the clawhammer style, which he referred to. as "Boom-a-loom, boom-a-loom." They had another name for the clawhammer lick: "fist and skull." Walter explained that many of the dances in Madison County ended up in a fight, hence the name "fist and skull." His music buddies would later kid Walter and call his two finger style "fist and skull," but Walter didn't care. He always enjoyed a good joke, even if it was on him.

Not long after his father had taught him the rudiments of two finger banjo playing, the young Mr. Davis was ready to ply his new-found trade on the world. At his urging, his father deposited him at the busiest corner of downtown Newport, Tennessee (population 250). There he entertained the passing shoppers and pedestrians with his banjo. After a day of street playing, the young Mr. Davis had amassed four or five dollars in his hat. He was rich.

When Walter played on the streets of Newport, it was by himself. Several years later, however, Walter's family moved to Old Fort, North Carolina, and Walter found plenty of companions to play with him on the street. A favorite gathering place for musicians in western North Carolina was in front of Lackey's Hardware Store in Old Fort, North Carolina. On any Saturday, you could find gathered in front of the store a whole assortment of local musicians. It was there that Walter Davis really learned to play. His mentors were none other than the best musicians in the area. On guitar and french harp was Gwen Foster. Also regulars at Lackey's were Clarence Greene on fiddle and Roy Neal playing banjo in a three finger style. Occasionally, musicians from out of town, like Will Abernathy, who played the autoharp, would join the mob assembled on the front porch of the store. None of the musicians ever made much money from the hat that was left out front for bystanders to pitch a penny, but Lackey's Hardware was an important meeting place for musicians none the less.

It was at Lackey's that Walter Davis first met Gwen Foster. Foster was a good guitar player and an outstanding french harp player. With dark skin, and an oriental look to him, Gwen quickly acquired the nickname of "China." The two musicians became fast friends and frequently could be found playing on street corners for pennies all across North Carolina. Walter remembers one time in particular when they were together in Morganton, North Carolina. "Me and Gwen were in Morganton one time broke, and looking for some way to make a little money. Gwen said he knew of a way to make some money fast. He was going to pretend that he was blind while we played on the street corner in front of the courthouse. He put on some sun glasses, and told me to pass the hat around. I told him, 'no, you attach the tin cup to your guitar strap and people will sympathize with you more. I don't want any part of this deal.' So he played for a while and some lady came up and tried to put a fifty cent piece in his cup. But she missed the cup and the coin went rolling down the street. Gwen went right after that coin like a man who could see. That lady said something like 'That boy don't look so blind to me.' At that point me and Gwen took off running, and I believe that was our last engagement in Morganton."

"Playing on the street for a handout now ain't what it used to be. The cops almost never bothered us then, but now they got laws again it." Walter remembers that the best musician he ever saw play on a street corner was a blind blues singer and guitarist by the name of Blind Lemon Jefferson. Walter spent many hours listening in rapt attention to every note the street singer played. "That's where I learned to play the blues, by listening to that old colored gentleman play. He could really play the blues, I want you to know. The musicians who played on the street were called 'backlot musicians' then. That's because the musicians would sometimes play on the back lots where farmers would set up and sell their produce. People would come to get their vegetables, hear the music, and throw a penny or two into the hat. That's the only way some of us had to make a living back then.

"We also used to gather and play in barber shops. I remember we used to go up to Elizabethan, Tennessee, and play in a barber shop there. They'd let a gang of us gather in there and play and pass the hat. There was a feller who used to shine shoes there by the name of Deford Bailey. He could really play the harmonica. He later became quite popular on the Grand Ole Opry.

"I guess I really got my start in the music business when I played one time with Riley Puckett, Clayton McMichen and the Skillet Lickers. One day a bunch of musicians came by my house and asked me to go with them to play up in Cranberry, North Carolina. Among the group was Earl Johnson on fiddle, a banjo player by the name of Backston, Riley Puckett on guitar, and Gid Tanner and Clayton McMichen on fiddles. There was also Clarence Greene, Bert Layne and Arthur Tanner, Gid's son. Anyway, they came over and asked me to play guitar with them on this show they had lined up. I remember that when we reached Spruce Pine, North Carolina, Riley Puckett got mad at something and started walking off down the road by himself. He was blind, you know. We had to catch him and bring him back to the car. He was awful hard to get along with. When I saw him play he played with a thumb pick and a forefinger pick. People didn't start playing with what I call a "fan pick" (flat pick) 'til way after I took up the guitar. And I never saw any grandbar chords (bar chords) when I first started playing the guitar either. I never did see that 'til some of them fellers from the north came down here. Anyway, we put on that show in Cranberry with that bunch. I never will forget the drive over there. There was a feller mowing hay down there beside the road where we were driving along. A bumblebee flew into the car and stung McMichen, who was driving. All of a sudden, he jerked the car to a stop and started to holler that something was eating him up. We about died laughing."

It was after playing with the assortment of musicians who went by the name of the Skillet Lickers that Walter Davis and Clarence Greene decided to strike out on their own. "We figured that they had enough musicians without me and Clarence, so we decided to try to make it on our own. I was still pretty young, so Clarence had to ask permission from my dad to let me travel with him. He had to promise to bring me back in one piece. After promising that he'd bring me back safe and sound, me and Clarence started playing all over the country."

Before long, Walter Davis and Clarence Greene had added several members to their growing band. "We picked up Gwen Foster to play the guitar and french harp, and Will Abernathy to play the autoharp. We traveled around the country playing anywhere we could find. We often played at filling stations. We'd pull up and take out our instruments and play right there near the pumps. It wouldn't be long 'til we gathered fifty or seventy five people there, and we'd really put on a show. Then we'd pass the hat and usually did pretty good. Most of the time the gas station attendent would set up and sell candy and gas to the crowd that had gathered, and sometimes he'd show his gratitude and fill up our tanks, and off we went.

"One time we teamed up with Mack Crow, who billed himself as the "King of the 5-String Banjo Players." We did several shows over in his territory near Hickory, North Carolina. We heard there was going to be a banjo contest down there, so we went down to see if we could maybe take home a little prize money. Mack, he usually won every contest that he entered. I'd played the banjo since I was 9 years old, only not many people knew I played the banjo, 'cause I usually followed the guitar. So I decided to enter that contest, and wouldn't you know, I won first place. Mack Crow couldn't believe I beat him, cause he didn't know I even played the banjo. I played "Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane." I really believe it was the novelty of the way I played it and that the fact that the judges were surprised that I played the banjo at all that caused me to win that thing.

"We used to go to all the fiddler's conventions in our part of the country. I went to one near Bristol, Virginia back in the twenties where I met Charlie Poole. I never did play too much with him, but I heard him play. We entered the contest but Charlie was hired to play, so he didn't compete. Dock Walsh was there too. He played in a two finger style. I guess you could say he played a little like Charlie Poole, but people didn't pattern after each other like they do now. You've got to have your own style. Let them pattern after you.

"I remember one fiddler's convention that they had in Asheville, North Carolina. We went down there, and so did Jimmy Rodgers, who was living in Old Fort, North Carolina, at the time. He worked for the railroad out of Old Fort and used to play music in a restaurant there in Old Fort. We'd have to get together and play together some. So Jimmy went down to this fiddler's convention and played. Clarence Greene, who was a fiddler, went and he played guitar in that contest and won first place over Jimmy Rodgers. Clarence played "The Chattanooga Blues." I never will forget that.

"Speaking about the blues, there was a fiddler who came through town one time that kind of had a blues lick on the fiddle. That was fiddling Arthur Smith. I'm all the time kidding musicians and I remember when I saw Smith I went up to him and handed him a nickel. He asked me what that was for and I told him that if ever I saw a man uglier than I was I'd give him a nickel. He said, 'Wait a minute, I think I'll give it back.'

"We used to have some times back then. I remember that George Morris and I used to buddy around together quite a bit. George is Zeke and Wiley's older brother. George more or less learned off of me, and his brothers, Wiley and Zeke, more or less learned off of him. They were the ones that came up with that song 'Salty Dog.' I made some records, but never made much money off of them. I did some recording with Gwen Foster as 'The Carolina Twins.' We recorded several numbers for Columbia including a song we called 'This Morning, This Evening, Right Now.' Art Satherly was the man in charge up there. I also recorded with Gwen, Dock Walsh and Bill Short for Romeo. We called that group The Blue Ridge Entertainers. I can't remember the names of all the songs we recorded, but I do remember recording 'Bring Me a Leaf From the Sea' and 'Corrina.' I also recorded two guitar solos. One number I wrote called the 'Crooked Creek Blues' and the other was called 'Going Back to Coney Isle.' The last record we made was recorded in New York. We had Clarence Greene, Tom Ashley and Will Abernathy along, with us. We acted like we were going to put on a fiddler's convention in Tom's house. We had a little skit worked up where Tom had some whiskey and I said something like `Give me a drink of that whiskey.' Then Tom barked like a dog and asked his wife to put the dog out. I played the guitar on that record. I believe that our skit about drinking whiskey came out way before the Skillet Lickers started doing theirs.

"After I got married, I settled down, and never really wanted to try to make it as a musician. Carpentering's my trade. After I got married, I did organize me a band and had regular square dances for about a year. We had a dance team, cloggers, and a stage show booked into the Carolina Theater in Spruce Pine. I used different fiddlers, because no one fiddler would want to stay put that long. J.C. McCool played the guitar for me. We still play together occasionally.

It wasn't long before our conversation drifted back to the instruments sitting idle on our laps. They'd grown cold sitting quietly there, but now were warming up as we began playing some good old tunes.

Dan Emmett - The Man Who Wrote "Dixie" by Wayne Erbsen

banjo — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 22:56:57 -0500

The Art of Chewing Tobacco for the Complete Ignoramus by Wayne Erbsen

banjo — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 22:57:53 -0500

The Ballad of Barbara Allen by Wayne Erbsen

banjo — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 22:59:09 -0500

Pig in a Pen - Free Bluegrass Mandolin Tab

banjo — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 15:47:51 -0400

Pig in a Pen

banjo — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 15:50:33 -0400

Welcome Closet Banjo Players! by Wayne Erbsen

banjo — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 22:59:56 -0500

Closet Banjo will, hopefully, be an ongoing column dedicated solely to the furtherance of closet music and speaks directly to the lowly closet picker who has long been forgotten in banjo history. It is designed to render the rudiments of banjo playing painfully easy and is aimed not only at closet banjo players everywhere, but also at those who never dared set foot in a closet with their banjo - the raw, untutored, but trainable banjo picker. In the coming months we will lay aside formal teaching techniques as we sit in our closets together; you in yours and I in mine.

If I may be permitted to criticize current banjo pedagogy, of which I am a part, I would say that entirely too many teachers and writers of banjo books start their would-be students off at too difficult a level. From there they progress up in difficulty until only themselves and a few trusted cronies can decipher what they are trying to teach. Most beginners are simply not going to play Foggy Mountain Breakdown in three keys (without a capo) in the first or second lesson. It not only takes time to get to that point, but it also takes starting out simply enough so beginners can understand what they are playing before they progress to the next level.

So without any additional verbiage, let's begin at the beginning. Three finger banjo playing consists of a series of rolls or finger patterns which recur in the music. If you break down each roll, you will find usually one melody note and several rhythm and harmony notes. Most of these rolls consist of eight notes. The difficulty of three finger picking is in plugging the eight note pattern in the right slot. To make things easier for the closet picker, we will use a four note pattern, and will concentrate on using only two fingers, not three. After we learn to pick with two fingers, it will be easy to add the third finger. This style of picking with two fingers often goes by the name of double thumbing.

The first tune we will try is "Shortening Bread." First we must find the melody. Here is the basic melody to "Shortening Bread." Play it over and over with your thumb until you can play it with one eye shut.

When you can do that, follow each of the notes you just played with the first string played open, with your middle finger. The timing should be the same as you just played, only it should sound fuller.

When you can play "Shortening Bread" to your satisfaction, try cooking up a pan of the stuff. And don't forget to sweep the crumbs out of the closet!

BANJO NEWSLETTER February 1980

Clawhammer Banjo - A Simple Lesson

banjo — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 23:01:00 -0500

1. With your right hand over the strings of your banjo, curl your fingers up as if they were holding a baseball bat.

2. Strike down on the 1st string with the nail of your middle finger. (This is your melody note). With your hand still in motion, let your right thumb come to rest on the 5th string.

3. Then lift up you right hand and quickly brush down on the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd strings with the nails of your middle and ring fingers. Again, your thumb will come to rest on the 5th string, as it did above.

4. Finally, your thumb will strike the fifth string.

You�re trying to get a rhythm that sounds like "claw ham - mer." If you�re tapping your foot, it will be "down, down-up, down, down-up."

Tips: a. Keep your right hand fairly stiff. b. The first note of the clawhammer is your melody note. It could be on the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, or 4^th strings. I suggest using you middle finger of your right hand for the 1st string, and your right index finger for the 2nd, 3rd, or 4th strings.

Tunings: Old-time clawhammer banjo often uses different tunings to play the tunes. One of my favorite is G Modal tuning which is sometimes called "sawmill" tuning.

1. Start in G tuning: gDGBD.

2. Tune the 2nd string up from a B to a C by fretting the 2ndh string at the 2nd fret and tuning it up until it matches the 1st string played open.

"Red Rocking Chair" is an old southern mountain tune that is also known as "Rain and Snow." In western North Carolina, it was one of the favorite tunes of banjoist Obrey Ramsey.

For more help learning clawhammer banjo, check out Wayne Erbsen's new book, Clawhammer Banjo for the Complete Ignoramus!

Watch a video clip of Wayne Erbsen demonstrating the Clawhammer Banjo Lick. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hscc-EKQ9S8

Here's Wayne demonstrating a minstrel banjo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWmucZ9Bvjw

�

How to Play the Banjo

banjo — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 23:02:42 -0500

How to Play Mandolin

banjo — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 23:04:14 -0500

Lonesome Road Blues - Free Bluegrass Mandolin Tab

banjo — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 15:52:10 -0400

How to Build Your Own "Hamdolin" by Wayne Erbsen

banjo — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 23:05:29 -0500

Five or six years ago, I was rooting around in a wrecking yard near my home, searching amidst a sea of abandoned cars for an exhaust manifold for my old Dodge van. Call it fate (or just outright compulsive curiosity), but for some reason I happened to peer through the window of an old truck, and I spotted two empty ham cans sitting peacefully on the seat.

Well, right off, those pear-shaped tins reminded me of mandolins (we musicians tend to see music in almost everything), and that got me to thinking about the banjo-like instrument I'd once made out of a plastic milk jug, and that got me to cogitating on the possibilities presented by the pair of lonely-looking castoffs on the seat of the truck. Hmmmmm . . .

I left the junkyard that day with an exhaust manifold . . . and two adopted ham cans.

Of course, inspiration is one thing, and motivation is another. Since the manifold meant mobility, I installed it right away. But I only recently, as a result of an unanticipated burst of energy, picked up one of the containers I'd rescued, brushed at least five years' worth of dust off it, and decided maybe it was time to make a mandolin.

Not being one to do things the easy way (which in this case would've been to walk into a store and buy a mandolin, or at least the parts for one), I also figured I'd saddle myself with a small handicap. I'd do this thing strictly on the cheap, and I'd stick to a design that anybody with some ingenuity, a ham can, and access to a hardware store could more or less duplicate. I wouldn't spoil my concept by relying on fancy woodworking tools, either. I'd make do with whatever humble implements I had on hand.

In other words, I didn't build my hamdolin so much as I improvised it. That's why, instead of giving you step-by-step instructions for this project, I'm just going to tell you how I put mine together, to give you the general drift of the way it was constructed. Then you can let your own ideas run wild, based on whatever tools and materials you have. This is in the finest tradition of hamdolin makers everywhere. What we lack in tangible resources, we make up for in wit, cunning, and a sense of the charming absurdity of our art.

Ready? Here goes.

THE BODY

Obviously, the ham can saved me the work of building a body for the instrument. When it came to choosing which can to use for my hamdolin, I selected the three-pound-size Wilson Masterpiece brand, which appealed to me because the name was close enough to Gibson Mastertone (a classic mandolin) to invite comparison. My choice had other alluring attributes, too: Cooking directions were printed on the side, so while I practiced I could read how to bake, glaze, broil, skillet-grill, and barbecue. It was nice to know, too, that my instrument would be "boneless and fully cooked," and that satisfaction was guaranteed. And I figured I wouldn't have to worry about anyone walking up to me, pointing at my instrument, and asking, "What's that," since the can is clearly labeled and even carries its original price sticker. There is beauty in the unambiguity of an instrument made from a ham can.

THE NECK

I knew that making the neck (or "hamdle") would be tricky: It'd have to be well shaped and smooth for easy playing, with frets placed accurately to produce true scales and with tuning pegs that were both inexpensive and precise.

At first, I considered using a piece of pine 2 X 4 for the neck, but decided that the wood wouldn't hold up to the pressure of eight taut steel strings. Then I spied a big old block of black walnut, about 18" square, which had been lying around for untold years. All I had to do, I assured myself, was cut away at that ponderous chunk until I'd removed everything that didn't look like a mandolin neck. No problem ... or so I thought until I took another look at my meager store of tools.

I tried using my trusty circular saw to slice the block down to size, but the blade was dull, as usual, and the cut it made was too shallow to make much difference anyhow. I resisted using my chain saw, for fear of ruining my masterpiece (or perhaps myself). The only solution, I concluded, was to resort to the subtle persuasive power of my splitting maul and wedge. I laid the walnut on my chopping block and proceeded to hack away at it, in much the same way, I fantasized, that Michelangelo started his sculptures in blocks of marble centuries ago.

Eventually, I whittled the block down to more manageable dimensions and clamped it to the sheet of plywood I call my workbench. I then rummaged around in my toolbox, extracted a hammer and a set of woodworking gouges, and�using a "real" mandolin as a guide�proceeded to chisel out the rough shape. I had to be careful to make the neck increasingly (but only slightly) wider from top to bottom ... to give it a flat fingerboard surface and a palm-pleasing rounded contour at the back . . . and to angle the peg head slightly down and away from the fretboard. So I worked slowly, taking only a few cuts at a time with the gouges before checking my progress for symmetry and general agreement with the real neck's design.

After hours of painstaking stop-and-go effort, I found myself with a huge pile of wood chips. . . and a pretty fair rough-hewn hamdolin neck. From there I pressed on, using various rasps, files, and�ultimately�sandpaper before finally declaring the piece finished. (The illustration shows the various dimensions of the resulting product.)

Next, after double-checking to be sure that the fretboard was reasonably flat, I laid out the positions of the frets by first measuring the distance from the nut (the piece the strings cross over just below the peg head) to each fret on my own mandolin. Then I used those measurements and a pencil and straightedge to mark the locations of the frets on the hamdolin neck, taking care to keep the lines square to the neck and parallel to one another.

For those of you who might not have a mandolin around to measure, here are the distances I used: Once I had the fingerboard laid out, I carefully cut across each mark with my carpenter's saw, to make shallow slots for the frets.

FRET	DISTANCE FROM NUT
1	11/16"
2	1-3/8"
3	2-1/16"
4	2-5/8"
5	3-1/4"
6	3-13/16"
7	4-5/16"
8	4-13/16"
9	5-1/4"
10	5-11/16"
11	6-1/16"
12	6-7/16"
13	6-13/16"
14	7-3/16"
15	7-1/2"

To make the frets themselves, I selected some six-penny finishing nails from my personal stash of hardware and cut them with a hacksaw (lopping both ends off each one, of course) to fit the fingerboard. Since the neck is relatively narrow at the top and widens gradually toward the bottom, I cut each nail to the exact width of its particular fret location. I also opened up the slots just a bit more with a fine file, so that the nails would be snugly cradled in them but remain raised about 1/16" above the fingerboard itself. Then I glued the frets in place with Super Glue. (I also tried using epoxy but discovered the stuff is somewhat messy to apply. If you do use epoxy, put some paste wax on the fingerboard�don't get it in the slots, though�to make it easier to chisel off any excess that slops over.)

Finally, after all the frets were in and I'd given the glue a chance to dry, I laid a straightedge across them to see if they were relatively level with one another. A few frets stuck up just a bit, so I filed the high spots down until they were all even, from the top of the fingerboard to the bottom, and from side to side.

TUNING PEGS

The temptation just to go buy some tuning pegs at a music store was mighty strong, but I stubbornly resisted and went it alone. After considerable thought and a little tinkering, I came up with a workable design and journeyed to the hardware store with my idea.

I returned with a bag full of nuts and bolts, and a receipt for the staggering amount of $2.40 . . . which, as it turned out, was the total price of my hamdolin (not including strings). When I opened the bag and spread the contents on the kitchen table, I had enough parts to construct eight pegs, each consisting of a 1/4" X 1-1/2" flathead bolt, a 1/4" hex nut, a 1/4" wing nut, and a small washer.

In my workshop, I drilled a 3/32" hole through each bolt, just below the head. (Be sure to keep plenty of oil on the area while you're drilling, or you'll burn out countless bits.) Then I laid out, marked, and bored eight 9/32" holes in the peg head to accommodate the bolts. I positioned each vertical row of four holes about 1/2" in from its respective side of the peg head, and spaced the cavities approximately 1-1/4" apart. (These measurements varied somewhat from one bolt to another, simply because the peg head itself isn't absolutely uniform.) One thing to keep in mind when shaping your hamdolin's peg head is to allow enough length to provide plenty of space between the pegs and thus enough room to turn the wing nuts. Remember, too, to make the peg head thick enough to be sturdy but thin enough to allow the bolts to extend through and well beyond the wood, leaving plenty of thread free for adjusting the strings.

Once I'd bored the peg head holes, I slipped a washer onto each of the bolts, put the fasteners through the peg head (front to back), and secured them loosely in place with the hex nuts. Then I glued a wing nut onto the very end of each bolt with epoxy, so that I could turn any peg to adjust a string merely by turning the wing nut. Simplicity itself!

THE NUT AND BRIDGE

I whittled the nut for my hamdolin from a piece of maple and cut four pairs of shallow grooves into it, to hold the strings in place. The distance from the outside fourth string slot to the outside first string slot is about 1-3/16" ... the distance between each pair about 1/4" ... and the two grooves within each pair are about 1/16" apart. Then I slipped the nut into the notch I'd carved for between the bottom of the peg head and the top of the fingerboard.

It's important to make this component tall enough so the strings will clear the first fret, but not so tall that you'll have trouble pushing the strings down on the frets. You may have to file the first fret down a bit, as I did, to make it all work.

With the nut finished, I went on to whittle a bridge (the part that fits between the body of the hamdolin and the strings; see the photos) from a 5-1/2"-wide scrap piece of oak. I found, though, that I couldn't tell how high to build the bridge until I strung the hamdolin. I originally made the bridge 1/2" tall, but ended up adding another piece beneath it�to increase the height to a total of 3/4"�when I discovered that the bridge didn't raise the strings sufficiently. Live and learn.

I also cut grooves in the bridge, just as I had in the nut, to hold the strings . . . but I used slightly wider spacings: 1-5/8" from the outside fourth string slot to the outside first string slot . . . 3/8" between each pair .. and 1/8" between the strings within pair.

ATTACHING THE NECK

Surprisingly, joining the neck to the ham can turned out to be a fairly simple task. First, carved the lower end of the neck to match the contour of the ham can's top. Then I rustled up an old wooden chair rung (a 1/2" or 5/8" dowel would do just fine) and cut it so that it was about 1" longer than the ham can measured from bottom to top.

Next, I drilled a hole the same diameter as the rung approximately 1" deep straight into the end of the neck, lengthwise, and cut a matching hole in the ham can where the two parts would meet. Then I put a little glue on one end of the rung, inserted that end through the hole in the can, and twisted it into the neck until the opposite end of the rung just reached the inside bottom of the can (see the photo). Finally, I drove a screw through the bottom of the ham can and into the rung, to hold it firmly in position.

When you attach the neck to the can, keep in mind that the angle of the two parts (as well as the height of the bridge and nut) will affect the height of your strings. Remember this factor when you drill the hole into the neck, and when you position the dowel before screwing it in place. The higher the strings, the harder the instrument will be to play.

THE TAILPIECE

In my first attempt at designing a good method of attaching the strings to the can, I simply drilled eight small holes in the bottom of the container, inserted eight screws, and slipped the loop ends of the strings over the screws. But the plan was a dismal failure. The ham can simply wasn't strong enough to hold the screws when I tightened the strings.

Remembering Thomas Edison, I dismissed this minor setback as an experience familiar to all great inventors and turned to a source of salvation that has seldom failed me: my miscellaneous-and-unidentified-parts-and-hardware-and-other-assorted-junk box. I reached in, pulled a chunk of metal out, and gasped in astonishment at what I instantly realized was the ideal hamdolin tailpiece: an old brass strike plate from a doorjamb, beautifully tarnished to give it the look of a vintage Gibson tailpiece from the 30's. I was in heaven.

To install it, I merely wrapped one end of a short piece of heavy wire through and around one of the plate's (two holes, attached the other end to the other hole in the same way, and�with the strike plate's tongue pointing toward the neck�hooked the middle of the wire over the screw that holds the dowel to the can. Then I looped the strings around and through the plate's slot, ran them over the bridge and along the fingerboard, and attached each one to its respective peg head. (A tip: Don't glue the bridge to the hamdolin's body, because you may need to move that piece one way or the other slightly to adjust the pitch of the strings. As a starting point, place the bridge so that its top edge�where the strings first make contact with it�is exactly 13" from the bottom edge of the nut. The tension of the tightened strings will hold the bridge in place.)

TUNING

Just to make sure the strings wouldn't slip, I poked each one through the hole in its peg and then stuck it through a second time before turning the wing nut. Once I had a string up to tension, I fastened its hex nut down with a 1/4" open end wrench, and then fine-tuned it by turning the wing nut. The pegs work like a charm; every once in a while I'll have to retighten a hex nut with the wrench to keep a peg from slipping, but most of the time I can tune my hamdolin just by adjusting the wing nuts. (For those of you who aren't familiar with the way a mandolin is tuned, here's a short course: The first pair of strings�the one closest to your knees when you hold the hamdolin on your lap�is tuned to E ... the second pair to A ... the third to D ... and the fourth to G. A violin pitch pipe is handy for tuning a mandolin. Also, remember that new strings stretch and get out of tune even on expensive mandolins, so if you're installing new strings, give them a chance to stretch before you fine-tune them.)

HAM IT UP!

In case you haven't guessed, I like my hamdolin. I may joke about it, but the fact is it makes a terrific little instrument for beginners and experienced players alike. Granted, it's not quite as perfectly designed or true-to-pitch as a real mandolin (yours may be more or less" so, depending on the time and care you put into making it). But it does have an unmistakable beauty all its own . . . and produces an impressively pleasing mandolin-like sound.

Anyway, I hope you'll give hamdolin making a try. I'll give you a quick course on playing a mandolin in the next issue of MOTHER. Meanwhile, any good book on the subject will get you started on your new instrument. I think you'll find that your hamdolin is especially good on such songs as "Ham Me Down My Walking Cane" and other old-time favorites like "Ham Sweet Ham."

In fact, after you've practiced awhile, you can get together with other hamdolinists and form a "pork-estra."

Wouldn't that be a lard of fun? Good luck, and keep picking!

EDITOR'S NOTE: Wayne Erbsen is director of the Appalachian Music Program at Warren Wilson College in Swannanoa, North Carolina. Mr. Erbsen is also the author of a number of books on playing various instruments and types of music.

Home Page

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The Coon Creek Girls by John Lilly

banjo — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 23:06:28 -0500

Carter Family Music & History by John Lilly

banjo — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 23:07:47 -0500

History of Jimmy Rodgers, Blue Yodeler by John Lilly

banjo — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 23:08:40 -0500

The Delmore Brothers - A History

banjo — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 23:09:36 -0500

D-18, D-28 ... What it All Means by Bob Smakula

banjo — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 23:10:25 -0500

Repairing Your Instrument Case by Bob Smackula

banjo — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 23:12:00 -0500

Fitting Fiddle Pegs by Bob Smackula

banjo — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 23:13:25 -0500

Truss Rods by Bob Smakula

banjo — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 23:14:04 -0500

Rosin by Bob Smakula

banjo — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 23:15:18 -0500

Rosin is made from the sap of pine trees. Live trees are wounded, and the sap is collected for processing. The larch conifer is used most often for violin rosin, but only a small portion of all collected pine sap finds it way to the musical world.

Most rosin in its basic form is similar. Manufacturers add compounds to tweak rosin for particular fiddlers' needs. Dark rosin has tar added to make it softer, which makes the rosin stickier and suitable for colder climates. A small amount of beeswax is sometimes added to help lessen the harmonic squeak caused by static electricity. Gold is the latest in rosin additives. The advertising for one of the companies that manufactures gold-impregnated rosin reads, [Gold] "suspends the rosin particles in much the same way the precious metal suspends calcium deposits in arthritis sufferers taking gold injections. The results are... consistent positive grip with virtually no dust, hiss, or gritty sound."

There are dozens of bowed instrument rosins on the market. The wholesale company where I do a majority of my purchasing lists 27 different violin rosins in their catalog. This doesn't include the rosins marketed for cello or bass players. With the plethora of rosins available, where does the fiddler begin selecting a rosin that meets his or her needs?

Ranger Bob is here to help! I conducted a comparison test of 12 different rosin types.

In an effort to be consistent, I ordered a handful of new bows. I wanted all thebows to have similar weight and have fresh hair on them. The comparison tests were to differentiate tonal qualities and bowing effort attributed to each rosin.

Rosins 1 through 8 were tested on K. Muller pernambuco bows weighing 61 to 62.5 grams. Rosins 9 through 12 were tested on Glasser Fiberglas bows haired with genuine horse hair. The two different bows were used with the appropriate rosin: the pernambuco bows were used with the more expensive designer rosins, while we used the Glasser bows with the student rosins. As daunting as this task was, I knew that I couldn't do it alone. I asked one of my favorite fiddlers, Jimmy Triplett, to help me navigate this ocean of rosin.

Rosin is usually packaged two ways: a round cake glued to a cloth wrapper or a rectangular cake glued in a wood trough. Sometimes manufacturers add a cardboard or plastic box.

The following comparison chart lists the brand, the list price (though the street price can be about 20% lower), and the packaging.

#1. Knilling Dark, $6.25, cloth wrapper, good bite and tone.

#2. Hill Dark, $9.95, cloth wrapper, good grab and fine tone. Most fiddlers I know have been using this rosin for years for good reason.

#3. Knilling Light, $6.25, cloth wrapper. Brighter sounding than Knilling Dark. Almost, but not quite, harsh.

#4. Pirastro Gold Flex, $19.95, cardboard box. A precise feel with clear quality tone that was consistent in a wide range of bowing intensity.

#5. Motroya Gold, $18.95, cloth wrapper. A muted tone that Jimmy didn't like. I thought it was average. A few people that I have talked to about this rosin have noted that it is hypo-allergenic so folks with rosin allergies can still play the fiddle.

#6. Pirastro Oliv, $16.95, cloth wrapper in a light weight cardboard box. A dark rosin that had almost the same characteristics of Pirastro Gold Flex.

#7. A.B. Dark, $6.95, cloth wrapper. A fragile delicate tone. Jimmy remarked "slightly wimpy." I noticed less amplitude from both our fiddles.

#8. Thomastik, $11.95, plastic box. The winner of our innovation in packaging award. The rosin is held in a butterfly looking holder that holds two separate cakes. This ergonomic package's claim to fame is that one side is dark and one side is light. Our sample had two cakes of light rosin. The tone was good but it did not grab as well as the others.

#9. Sherman Dark, $3.95, wood trough with cardboard cover. Mellow and clear especially compared to it's brother #10.

#10. Sherman Light, $3.95, wood trough with cardboard cover. Metallic and harsh.

#11. Super Sensitive Light, $3.95, wood trough with cardboard cover. Bright and loud, almost harsh.

#12. Paganini, $4.95, cloth wrapper in hard plastic box. Nice tone, but did not grab as well as the others.

After trying all the rosins, we both agreed that the Pirastro Gold flex and Pirastro Oliv were our favorites. In a second blind test we used my last two K. Muller bows to see if our impressions were the same. This time the Oliv rosin came out slightly ahead of the Goldflex, the Goldflex sounding slightly harsher on the different bow.

As subjective as this experiment was, we did conclude that, yes, to our ears the two Pirastro rosins were our favorites. The best bang for the buck award goes to the Knilling rosins. The easy to find and popular Hill dark is always a safe choice

The surface of new rosin always has a shiny glaze that is hard to get started on bow hair. I have seen many fiddlers take their pocketknife and scratch deep grooves in the rosin cake to reduce the glaze. A kinder, gentler, if not less messy approach.

Thanks to Jimmy Triplett for his assistance in preparing this article.

Bob Smakula is a musician and resident of Randolph County, WV. He is the proprietor of Smakula Fretted Instruments specializing in the restoration and sales of vintage stringed instruments.

THE OLD-TIME HERALD WINTER 1997/'98

Contact Bob at bob@smakula.com

Cracks by Bob Smakula

banjo — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 23:16:12 -0500

Winter is the time of year my crack repair business booms. Outdoors the humidity is below 35% . Inside, heating systems dry the air out even more, creating a dangerous environment for delicate musical instruments. There are two things I do to keep humidity a little bit higher during the winter months. In my workshop, where there are likely to be twenty instruments being repaired at any given time, I keep a humidifier going constantly. The brand I use and really like is Bionaire Clean Mist. They are available at most discount department and home center stores.

The instruments I play have personal humidifiers. The humidifiers consist of perforated rubber tubes with a sponges inside. Every time I play my instrument I squeeze the tube. If the sponge is soft that tells me there is still water in it. When the sponge is hard the humidifier needs to be soaked in water. I just run it under the faucet, squeeze out the extra water, towel dry the outside of the rubber tube, and put it back in the instrument.

There are two brands of personal humidifers commonly available: Dampit and Humitron. Both manufacturers make different-sized humidifiers for violins, guitars, and basses, and most music stores stock one or the other of the two brands. If your local store doesn't have them they are easily ordered. For my money, I like the Humitron. It costs a little less than the Dampit and the rubber tube lasts longer. I only use these guys from late fall to mid spring when the heat is on.

So your house dries out and your favorite fiddle gets a crack. It's not the end of the world. Most cracks will close when the air around them gets more humid.

To keep a crack from opening again, the crack should be glued. Small wood cleats are glued to the inside of the crack to stabilize it, and the finish along the crack is touched up to seal the crack. Cracks that do not close require the addition of a piece of wood. The luthier's term for that new wood is "spline."

Putting in a spline first requires that the crack be evened out. A knife or razor saw are used to make the open crack even from end to end. Normally the crack is not opened any more than 1/32". The spline is then made of matching wood and scraped to fit the widened crack perfectly. After fitting, the spline is glued in the crack, cleats are glued to the inside, and the finish touched up.

Crack repairs, as with all other complex repairs, should not be tackled by the inexperienced. If you are not sure what the repair requires, take your instrument to an experienced professional. Repair persons know it's easier to fix it right the first time than to undo a bad job.

Low humidity is not the only cause of cracks. Personal experience has taught me that walking into a bench vise with a guitar during a workshop jam session or leaving your fiddle on edge on top of a picnic table during a wind storm and watching it blow off are real good ways to crack your instrument.

But, if you are careful and don't let your instrument dry out, the only cracks you'll experience are wisecracks from the musicians with whom you jam.

Bob Smakula is a musician and resident of Randolph County, WV. He is the proprietor of Smakula Fretted Instruments specializing in the restoration and sales of vintage stringed instruments

Contact Bob at bob@smakula.com

Buying a Used Guitar by Bob Smakula

banjo — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 23:17:42 -0500

Play the guitar. Is there excessive buzzing? Is it too easy to play or do you need hydraulic assisted fingers? String height is determined by several factors. Nut height, saddle height, neck curvature and neck angle all make one guitar's action better or worse than another's. String height can be changed to suit any playing style. My opinion of ideal string height for a steel string guitar (measured from the top of the fret to the bottom of the string at the 12th fret) is 1 / 16" at the high E gradually increasing to 3/32" at the low E.

If the instrument of choice feels hard to play, sight down the neck. If the neck looks like the cross-section of a dinner plate, then the neck should be straightened with a heated neck press.

String height at the nut can be checked by pressing down on a string in front of the second fret. There should be clearance of about the thickness of a piece of paper between the bottom of the string and the top of the fret. Too much clearance translates into a guitar that is hard to play. No clearance means the string will buzz when played open. If you have checked these things and the string height is still too high, look at the saddle (the bone or synthetic piece on the bridge that the strings go over). If the saddle is tall, more than 1 / 16" higher than the bridge, it can be lowered. If it is close to the top of the bridge then a neck reset might be in order. A neck reset entails removing the neck from the body and changing the angle where the neck attaches to the body.

The gauge of strings can make a difference in action. Light gauge strings are easier to fret than medium or heavy strings. Check the frets. Frets wear out when strings are pressed down on them. The worn area is lower than the fret in front of it and causes the string to buzz. Loose or uneven frets are another source of string buzzes.

It is important to check for cracks, glue joint separations and loose binding. These troubles will only get worse with time. Cracks are always easier (read less costly) to repair when they are fresh. Dirt and instrument polish work their way into cracks and make the repair job harder. I have known people who refused to have crack work done because they had the mistaken notion that it might hurt the sound of their beloved instrument. Cracks will get worse over time. l have seen instruments deteriorate to an unusable condition because of neglect.

A lifting bridge is another problem that when corrected early can save you from big repair bills. Look at the edge of the bridge farthest away from the neck. A gap between the top of the guitar and the bottom of the bridge tells you that the bridge should be removed, old glue and finish scraped off the gluing surface, and the bridge reglued.

Be sure to check the interior construction. You may not be able to detect a loose brace or even a missing brace, but a glance through the sound hole may reveal something obviously wrong like gobs of auto body putty. Some bad repair jobs are nearly impossible to correct. Sometimes the most obvious things pass us by. Look at the hardware and make sure it is all there. Screws from tuners can work themselves loose and fall out.

If the guitar you are gazing at and longing for is in good condition and only needs some adjustment, don't buy it just yet. Find out what the guitar and its problems are going to cost. I strongly recommend that before you purchase an older, used guitar, you take it to a professional repair person. Most of the time estimates are free and you can get a good idea of any problems that could cause a nightmare of future repair bills.

Keep these points in mind when buying a used guitar and you can count on years of enjoyable playing with your purchase.

Bob Smakula has been a fretted instrument builder, repairman, and dealer for 16 years. He is an active old-time musician as well, playing fiddle in the Able Brothers and Stand Bayou bands. Formerly from Cleveland, Ohio, he now lives in Elkins, West Virginia, where he operates his business, Smakula Fretted Instruments

Contact Bob at bob@smakula.com

Music of the Southern Appalachians by Mike Seeger

banjo — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 23:18:46 -0500

This area is to the west of the flat tidewater and piedmont areas of the Atlantic coastline and includes some broad valleys with good agricultural land, such as the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia, as well as many smaller valleys, some just wide enough for a little bottomland next to a creek. The eastern mountains are not nearly as tall as the Rockies; they generally rise 1,000 to 3,000 feet with a maximum of 6,000 feet, and are forested with a variety of deciduous and evergreen trees and many smaller bushes and flowers. Some mountains are green, rolling hills, but in certain areas, such as in the southeastern area of Kentucky and some of West Virginia, the mountains are quite steep and rocky.

After Native Americans, the first people to settle in this region came from the British Isles in the mid-1700's. These early settlers included Scots-Irish but were primarily English. A small number of immigrants later came to this area from Germany. Although there were some large landholders, most settlers farmed just enough land to provide for themselves. There were certainly some craftspeople and some small industry to supply local needs, but until the late 1800's there was little industrial development. Little slavery existed in the area largely because the hilly land didn't lend itself to the plantation system of the flat land to the east and south. The mountains were more difficult to farm, less accessible, and therefore not as desirable as the tidewater and piedmont, so that many of the less wealthy settlers, or those wanting more independence and isolation, sought to live there.

For the most part, people were pretty self sufficient in these mountain areas, although they often had furniture, tools and food utensils made by experienced regional craftspeople. Clearing of land and the building of houses and barns in the new country were often community events and were followed by ample food, socializing, music playing and dancing. Most food was raised by each household and only a few items were store bought. Little money was needed or used. The work could be hard, but many older people say that it was a more satisfying, less hurried existence than today.

Communities were also nearly self sufficient culturally, and almost everyone could either sing, play an instrument, dance, or tell a story, usually in a style distinctly their own. English-language culture was dominant. The most popular instruments were the jew's harp and fiddle. Less often one would encounter a plucked or hammer dulcimer, some other home made instrument or possibly a flute or fife. Old stories, tunes and songs were unwritten and passed down through oral tradition and were traded with travelers and new settlers. Songs were sung solo, by a group of family members or by a church congregation, almost always without instrumental accompaniment. Songs ranged from the oldest British ballads and humorous songs to religious songs, and naturally, to newer creations by community members inspired by the new environment. Southern music was and still is a very important part of life for most rural (now working class) people.

The most important element in the creation of American musical styles has been the interaction of English/European and African cultures. Spirituals, jazz, ragtime, blues, rhythm and blues, rock and roll, rap - and in the rural southeast, the banjo-and-fiddle string band and many of the later developments in commercial country music - were all products of this interaction, which was all too often plagued by the cruelties of exploitive racism.

During the first two centuries that African slaves and their descendents were in America, Anglo Americans took little notice of African-American music, thinking it too "primitive." This music ranged all the way from sounds transported directly from their homeland to the composed European music some slaves played for their masters. During this period, African-Americans created new genres of song and melody as they mixed the music of their native homes with the harmonic and rhythmic structures they found in the new country. In the early and mid-1800's a few Anglo Americans began taking notice of African-American banjo music and songs, adapting them to their own use. Some were professional entertainers who learned to pick the banjo and composed songs based on what they heard African-Americans doing, often for blackface minstrel shows which portrayed African/Americans in derogatory stereotypes. It was during this period that the mixing of peoples in the armies of the civil war, the development of the minstrel show, and to some extent, the popularity of black religious music, accelerated the process of African - English musical interaction, a process which continues today. It must be emphasized that until very recently this process consisted largely of white exploitation of black creativity.

With emancipation in the 1860's, more African-American people moved into the mountain areas, which tended to be less racially polarized. In addition to bringing their native banjo to the region, by the late 1800's African-Americans had also introduced newly evolved guitar styles along with a new type of song, the intensely personal blues. In time the banjo and the guitar were blended with the old fiddle and song traditions to create the beginnings of a truly American string band tradition. Around the turn of the century some European instruments such as the French harp (harmonica), mandolin, and the recently invented autoharp made their appearance by way of mail order catalogues, traveling salesmen, and the increasing contact with national urban culture.

Although some music notation, usually from northern cities, came with instruments, rural men and women didn't "play by note" (read music) and each devised their own personal way of playing rural-style music on their new instruments. This period between about 1870 and 1930 was the golden age of old-time southern Appalachian music. The old songs and tunes were still vital, and there was still a role for them in everyday life, yet there was much new music being created.

As railroading, timbering, coal mining and cotton mills began to bring industrialization to much of the mountain south around 1900, southern traditions began changing more rapidly as people moved from subsistence agriculture to industrial work. New inventions, such as automobiles, radio, and the phonograph pretty much finished the movement to a dollar economy, as it was no longer necessary--or desirable--to be self-sufficient, as one could buy anything now, including music--if one had the money.

By the late 1920's, the effect on southern culture was revolutionary. Formerly, a family would gather around and listen to a story or unaccompanied solo ballad (narrative song) at night before bedtime or would sing while doing chores, but now they listened to a radio or phonograph performance by a professional musician in a studio miles away. Or perhaps they had a public dance at an auditorium instead of a community work gathering at someone's home. By the mid 1900's fewer and fewer singers and musicians were transmitting local songs or participating in old-time family music, since virtually all were influenced by or learning totally from recordings by professional country-style musicians. The old songs and ways, which had built on centuries of tradition, especially unaccompanied singing and the quiet instruments such as the trump (jew's harp), fiddle, dulcimer, and later the banjo, simply went out of fashion. Performance styles became more professional, homogenized, and showy. New songs were influenced increasingly by urban music, and their tunes and themes became less varied. The banjo and fiddle gave way to the guitar, which became the most prominent instrument amongst both professional and amateur players. Newer styles of music created for public performance, such as hillbilly, country and western, and bluegrass evolved from the older traditionals, which had been deeply rooted in the rural communities of southern Appalachia.

Since many of the emerging professional writers and performers were raised in a rural environment, some of that traditional feeling, some of the musical elements, the style of expression, and the use of story persisted in country-style music. But if you hear someone making music in a southern Appalachian home today nearly all of the songs and styles will have been learned from a recent commercial recording.

The questions are often asked, "Why was traditional old-time music so important in the rural South?" And since it is so rare anymore, "Why did they give up the tradition so quickly?" Neither question can really be answered satisfactorily, but there are some certainties.

If one values music highly, as most southerners do, and the only way you could have it is to make it yourself, as was the case in the pre-media rural South, then you had to make it yourself. There wasn't a tradition (or the possibility in this non-affluent culture) of paying people to play for them. So they were content, perhaps proud, to be able to provide for themselves musically. Perhaps it was also that there was such diversity: there were long, centuries-old narratives; songs expressing humor, sadness, love, anger; songs about local recent occurences; and so forth. There were tunes, mostly on the fiddle, that could be slow and lonesome or that would make you want to dance. It was their theater, their classics, their popular songs, their dance music: they were self-sufficient agriculturally and culturally. It was a body of music that was a big part of their heritage, belonged to them, and was always accessible all day, anywhere.

There are a number of certain reasons why home/self-made music went out of style earlier in this century, and nearly all of them relate to the establishment of an industrial consumer economy. Though cultural change and development is inevitable, prior to the advent of electronic media change occured far more slowly and for different reasons. This change to the commercial media domination of culture, however, killed a rich, long-lived tradition and within about 25 years left commercial music products in its place. In traditional rural communities, money had not been used very much, and music was not treated like a commodity; it was more like a natural resource. For a brief period when electronic media first appeared, producers mined some portions of traditional music such as fiddle tunes and string band music. Then when those products were sold (in effect, the natural resource, like a mine, was worked out), the market had to develop new country-oriented sounds to sell more products.

Why did formerly rural people buy into this? For one thing, it was certainly easier to tune a radio than to learn to play an instrument. And as often stated here, southerners love their music, and many thought that professional musicians were "better." (They sounded smoother but a little less "country," usually.) Also, in the beginning, radio and recordings were new "toys" and they could be perceived as progress, as part of a desirable prescription for socially and economically upward behavior as one became a part of national culture. The older songs were associated with old times and hard work, with being "hicks" or "hillbillies," someone from the "lower" rural class.

Rural people tried to travel the fine line of bettering themselves yet retaining some of the togetherness of community with other southerners by embracing a new country-oriented music which had a broader and more popular appeal. Another factor in the decline of homemade music was that most of the old structures of family and work were being destroyed by or adapted into the dollar economy. Long days were spent working in factories and there was often too little time for family and community gatherings. It must be added that a lot of the newly created music was really good and interesting. The problem is that most of the old ways, both positive and negative, were overwhelmed and nearly buried by the new diversions of automobiles and commercial forms of entertainment.

Over the past 25 years or so people all across the United States have been searching for ways to reconcile modern life and material progress with some elements of older traditional cultures to fit their late twentieth century need for self-made entertainment and recreation. Some people search for cultural identity, for roots, and a few people in the South are exploring these older styles of music and taking them back into their everyday lives. They have been joined and encouraged by musicians throughout the country who love southern music, especially the fiddle-banjo-and-guitar string band and early country harmony singing. In some areas such as the Galax, Virginia/Mt Airy, North Carolina region, you will find perhaps a hundred people playing these kinds of music, most of them reared in the area and mostly in their thirties or older. At the Fiddler's Conventions in these areas you would hear several hundred old-time style musicians from all over the United States and some from foreign countries. They rarely play for money, and very few are full-time professional musicians--they work at factories, as carpenters, computer programmers, in their own businesses, though rarely as executives. Through the alternative media, they have chosen the elements that they wish to make into their own sub-culture.

Some associated elements of southern folk culture such as the story telling and flatfoot and buck dancing are also enjoying a period of revival as part of this movement. Other aspects of the tradition such as unaccompanied ballad singing have not been so fortunate, and are now very rare.

What place can this music play in today's life? Perhaps I may write more personally here. I would be playing this music whether or not it is my profession. (I'm pleased that it is.) This is the music that I was raised with (though by college-educated parents), and it includes a lot that I have learned more recently from older traditional rural musicians or their recordings. It has those great old love songs and ballads, the story songs. It has blues, topical songs and humorous songs and a world of instrumentals that I enjoy playing when I am alone at home or with my string-band-music friends. This music connects me to the past, it expresses feelings and thoughts about life. It is a pleasure every day, either as I play myself or as I listen to others--usually, these days, to younger musicians, who will be experiencing the same pleasure for many years to come. I hope you experience some of that pleasure, too.

Courtesy of Mike Seeger http://mikeseeger.info/

Appalachian Tradition Music, A Short History by Debbie McClatchy

banjo — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 23:19:58 -0500

The 5-String Banjo in North Carolina by C.P. Heaton

banjo — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 23:21:14 -0500

Banjo History by George R. Gibson

banjo — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 23:22:23 -0500

Uncle Dave Macon, the first star of the Grand Old Opry, was an extraordinary banjo player and entertainer. It is likely that black musicians as well as minstrel entertainers influenced his music. Earl Scruggs, who originated a unique style of bluegrass banjo playing, came from a mountain area where banjos and banjo songs had long been a part of the culture. Many mountain banjo songs became popular with early radio string bands, and later became bluegrass standards. When the banjo and banjo songs entered the mountains is a question that has not been definitively addressed.

Various writers, most from outside the mountains, have maintained that minstrel entertainers in blackface first brought the banjo to the mountains. That the banjo was foreign to Appalachia until after the Civil War is now a popular belief. It is maintained that the banjo was brought back by soldiers returning from the Civil War, or brought in after the Civil War by professional white minstrel entertainers who performed in blackface while touring with circuses, medicine shows, or on steamboats. Proponents of this theory did not consult mountain historians or folklorists. Also, there are no references in the mountains during or after the Civil War that cite the banjo as a newly imported instrument.

Most contemporary historians interested in the banjo are enamored with the banjo music of minstrels, which was documented in tutors published in the 1850s and 1860s. They have ignored the history of Appalachia, while developing theories attributing the origin of mountain banjo to minstrels. The message inherent in this theory is that it was necessary for professional musicians, mostly from the north, to teach mountaineers to play banjo. I attribute this in part to the 'hillbilly' stereotype that grips the popular imagination. This stereotype portrays the mountaineer as either an uneducated simpleton or an uncouth savage, and certainly does not allow for creativity or racial diversity. I believe the power of this stereotype, which has been perpetuated in the popular media for over a hundred years, explains the absurd lengths to which some have gone to establish minstrels as the deus ex machina for mountain banjo music. To properly address mountain banjo history, it is necessary to first provide an overview of minstrel music.

THE MINSTRELS

American musical theater began with stage performances of musicians in blackface in the 1840s. The five string banjo, fiddle, bones and tambourine were the primary instruments of these musicians, now known as minstrels. The history of the minstrels has been documented in several books, one of which is Hans Nathan's Dan Emmett and the Rise of Early Negro Minstrelsy. Some musicians and dancers began performing in blackface while traveling with circuses in the 1820s and 1830s. They performed comedy routines and dances that poked fun at enslaved blacks. Black stereotypes developed during the minstrel era persisted well into the twentieth century.

During the winter of 1842-43 the four musicians who formed the Virginia Minstrels met by chance in a boarding house in New York City, and decided to play as a group. Dan Emmett played the fiddle, Billy Whitlock the banjo, Dick Pelham the tambourine and Frank Brower the bones. The first confirmed appearance of this group was February 6, 1843, at the Bowery Amphitheatre. This performance is commonly accepted as the beginning of minstrel theatre. The Virginia Minstrels became an overnight sensation, and in May 1843, traveled to England, where minstrelsy and the banjo also became immensely popular. Other minstrel troupes were quickly formed, including the Kentucky Minstrels, the Congo Melodists, the Christy Minstrels, the Ethiopian Serenaders, and many more. Minstrel theatre remained the most popular form of entertainment in America through most of the nineteenth century. Stephen Foster, composer of My Old Kentucky Home, wrote most of his songs for minstrel troupes. Dan Emmett, who played the fiddle, banjo and other instruments, became famous for his composition of Dixie, which became the most popular song of the Confederate south. Minstrelsy, much changed from its early origins, remained popular in schools and local theatres through the 1940s.

Joel Walker Sweeney, a white musician born about 1810 in east Virginia, is the first white musician to have been documented playing the banjo. References to any banjo players prior to about 1830 are very rare. Sweeney traveled and entertained in blackface during the 1830s, and later formed his own minstrel troupe. Sweeney had two brothers known to have played banjo. One brother, Samuel, was an orderly for Confederate General Jeb Stuart during the Civil War. He entertained Stuart and his fellow soldiers by playing banjo.

Some minstrel banjoists, including Sweeney, are thought to have learned to play banjo from enslaved blacks. Proponents of the theory that minstrels taught mountaineers to play banjo, however, ignore the fact that slaves accompanied the earliest settlers into the mountains, or claim, apparently without research, that there were not enough slaves in the mountains to have maintained a banjo tradition.

We have documentary evidence in Nathan's Dan Emmett and the Rise of Early Minstrelsy that a mountaineer from western Virginia named Ferguson taught Dan Emmett to play banjo in 1840. This fact is ignored altogether, or described as an anomaly, by those who claim minstrels taught mountaineers to play banjo.

THE BANJO IN COLONIAL AMERICA

Eastern Virginia is known to have had slaves that played banjo. President Thomas Jefferson added as a footnote to his Notes on Virginia: 'The instrument proper to them [slaves] is the banjar, which they brought hither from Africa.' Reverend Jonathan Boucher, a loyalist who lived in America prior to the Revolutionary War, began a dictionary after immigrating to England. He described the banjo as 'A musical instrument ...in use, chiefly, if not entirely, among people of the lower classes...' He further states that the banjo in Maryland and Virginia was '...the favorite and almost only instrument in use among the slaves... The body was a large hollow gourd, with a long handle attached to it, strung with catgut, and played on with the fingers...' It is interesting to note that Rev. Boucher states the banjo was used among the 'lower classes.' Newspapers were still referring to the banjo as an instrument of the lower classes during the rise in popularity of blackface minstrels.

The lower classes in the 1700s included slaves, indentured servants, apprentices and others economically deprived. The class system in the 1700s was based more on economics than race. White indentured servants, for instance, were treated no better than slaves. Joseph Doddridge devotes a chapter in his Notes on the Settlement and Indian Wars to cruelty to slaves and servants. He was an eyewitness to several horrendous punishments, and says, 'Female servants, both black and white, were subjected to the whip in common with the males.' Paul Heinegg says in Free blacks of North Carolina and Virginia: 'Most of the free blacks of Virginia and North Carolina originated in Virginia where they became free in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries before chattel slavery and racism fully developed in the United States...When they arrived in Virginia, Africans joined a society which was divided between master and white servant - a society with such contempt for white servants that masters were not punished for beating them to death ...They joined the same households with white servants - working, eating, sleeping, getting drunk, and running away together.'

It would be logical to assume that the banjo music of slaves and the fiddle music of indentured white servants began to be shared during this era. The mountain frontier of Virginia and North Carolina was populated in part by servants free of indenture and free blacks hoping to improve their circumstances.

Mr. Heinegg documents 400 free blacks families; many were the result of a union between a white female indentured servant and a slave. Descendants of these families were early settlers on the Virginia and North Carolina frontiers. It would be reasonable to assume some of these families maintained a banjo tradition. Mr. Heinegg says, 'Many free blacks families in colonial North Carolina and Virginia were landowners... The light skinned descendants of these families formed the tri-racial isolate communities of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, and Louisiana.' Tri-racial groups had European, Indian, and African ancestry. Some free blacks intermarried with their white neighbors on the frontier, and because of discriminative and punitive laws passed during the rise of virulent racism, began to conceal their blacks heritage from their children and their neighbors. By the Civil War era some families had apparently forgotten their African heritage. Some early settlers in Kentucky were members of a tri-racial isolate community. The majority of early settlers were of English ancestry, with a minority having German, Scots-Irish, Irish, African, French and Indian ancestry.

THE BANJO IN THE MOUNTAINS

Dr. Daniel Drake's letters to his children, published in Pioneer Life in Kentucky, describes in detail his boyhood near Maysville, Kentucky, in the years 1788 to 1800. Mr. Rector, a neighbor whom Dr. Drake refers to as 'Old Leather Stocking,' depended mostly on hunting and trapping for his livelihood. Dr. Drake recounts, 'Deer hunting seemed to have been Old Leather Stocking's cherished pursuit. Its results were clothing, food, & fiddle strings for the Banjo.' Mr. Rector had migrated to Kentucky from near Winchester, Virginia. Dr. Drake wrote, 'What he [Mr. Rector] said about the Valley of Virginia indicated that it had, at the middle of last Century [1750], rather a rude, vulgar, and turbulent population.' That 'rude, vulgar, and turbulent population' included slaves, freed slaves, indentured servants and servants free of indenture. This is most likely where Mr. Rector learned to make 'fiddle strings for the Banjo.'

Dr. Drake's father had come to Kentucky from New Jersey with several of his neighbors. Dr. Drake considered the settlers from New Jersey to be a better class of people than slave owning neighbors from Maryland and Virginia. Dr. Drake said of slaves in his 1851 Letters on Slavery: '...they sometimes assemble for public worship; but, in general, they deliver themselves up to visits, gossip, games, laughter, singing, 'banjoing,' fiddling, and dancing...' Dr. Drake was the best-known physician, teacher, and writer in the mid-west during the second quarter of the nineteenth century.

Some of the first settlers in the mountains had slaves. John Mack Farragher states the following in the biography, Daniel Boone: 'Slaves were another important component of Boonesborough society. There were a number of slave families who should be counted among the early settlers, although few have found their way into the historical record. One who did was a man known as Uncle Monk, owned by James Estill, who arrived with his family in 1775. Monk was one of the most valued men at Boonesborough, a superior hunter and marksman, an accomplished musician who played at all of the dances and frolics, and a blacksmith who knew how to make gunpowder from sulphur, saltpeter, and charcoal, an art he taught to Boone...Slaves made up 10 per cent of Kentucky's American population...' Monk was later freed after heroism in a battle with Indians.

Perry County Kentucky: A History, by the Hazard chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, prints the will of Elijah Combs. He owned slaves and was one of the first settlers in Perry County. He built his first cabin where the present eastern Kentucky town of Hazard is located. The first industry in Kentucky was salt mines. This industry employed many slaves. A road law of January 28, 1817, mentions salt works on the North Fork of the Kentucky River. The minutes of the Mountain Association of Regular Baptists, held in 1860 and printed in the Perry County history, lists a slave, Dick Johnson, as one of the licensed preachers.

My Adams and Hammons ancestors were slave owners in east Virginia, and moved to Wilkes County, North Carolina after converting to the then new Baptist faith. Moving to North Carolina or western Virginia from east Virginia was a migration route for many families. I believe the banjo song, East Virginia, is a musical record of that migration. Descendants of these families were pioneers in Kentucky, Tennessee and other frontier states. Slaves were fewer in the mountains, but were not as separated from their owners as was possible on the large plantations in east Virginia. One early traveler on the frontier noted that it was common for slaves to occupy the same dwelling as their masters. John M. Stamper said of an old cemetery on Carr Creek in Knott County, Kentucky: 'Some of the oldest graves are slave and master, buried side by side.'

Katherine Pettit was a founder of the Hindman Settlement School in Knott County. She and others, including Cecil Sharp, collected folksongs in the area. She is thought to have collected songs from a student, Josiah H. Combs, who enrolled in the school in 1902. Combs was from a musical family, and immediately began collecting songs from his family and others in the area. He collected two versions of Whoa Mule from Cullie Williams in 1902. Williams was a blacks man who resided in Knott County on Breedings Creek, which was named for Elisha Breeding. According to Breeding family history, Elisha had several slaves when he moved from western Virginia in 1816. He freed his slaves sometime prior to or during the Civil War, and gave them land on Breedings Creek. Most blacks in Knott County have since lived at Redfox on Breedings Creek. Both blacks and whites have always attended the nominally 'black' Baptist church at Redfox.

Josiah Combs continued his education at Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky, and at the University of Paris, where his doctorial thesis, Folk-Songs du Midi des Etats-Unis, was published in 1925. D. K. Wilgus used Combs's English draft and the French text to edit in 1967 an English version, Folk-Songs of the Southern United States. Mr. Wilgus's edited version includes a 1959 interview with Dr. Combs, in which Combs describes Cullie Williams as follows: 'When I was a boy, 'Cull' stayed at our house and worked for us at Hindman, Knott County, about the turn of the century. He was a great 'banjer' picker...He was intelligent, industrious, and withal a likeable fellow.' The two versions of Whoa Mule that Combs collected from Williams are in Wilgus's edited version, along with many other folk songs, including a version of Ellen Smith that Combs collected from my grandfather's first cousin, Dan Gibson. My grandfather, George W. Gibson, and his cousin Dan were playing banjo in Knott County by the 1890s. My father, Mal Gibson, learned to play around 1905-10, and used more than fifteen different banjo tunings; however, he never used the lowered bass tuning commonly used by minstrel banjoists, nor did any other old timer I heard in Knott County.

Dr. Combs has the following to say in Folk-Songs of the Southern United States regarding banjo songs: 'The Highlanders have adopted a considerable number of songs belonging to or originating among the Negroes. Some of these songs have long been current in the Highlands, from the days prior to the Civil War, and include banjo- and nonsense-songs, besides some spirituals and songs of the British type... Since the Civil War a number of Negro occupational songs have crept in, notably such well-known ones as 'John Hardy,' 'John Henry,' the 'Yew-Pine Mountain,' 'Frankie,' 'Lynchburg Town,' 'The Kicking Mule,' 'Turkey in the Straw,' and others.' Later, he makes a more specific statement regarding this subject: 'The Highlander has adopted many banjo airs from the Negroes, although the Negro population of the Highlands has never been extensive. Such airs came into the Highlands prior to the Civil War, while the Negro railroad songs came in afterwards, largely during the past twenty-five years [1900-1925]. The tunes of 'Lynchburg Town,' 'Shortnin' Bread,' 'Raccoon,' Shady Grove,' 'Hook and Line,' 'Houn' Dog,' 'Ida Red,' 'Little Gray Mule,' 'Big Stone Gap,' and numerous others, are from the Negroes.' Dr. Combs is very specific in stating that banjo songs came in prior to the Civil War; he did not feel it necessary to state the banjo also came in at the same time, for that was common knowledge at the time he was writing. In any event, it would be difficult to imagine banjo songs traveling without the banjo.

The earliest descriptions of slave banjos, including that of Rev. Jonathan Boucher, depict an instrument with a gourd body. Manufactured banjos supplanted gourd banjos in urban areas by the 1860s. Gourd banjos, however, were still being used in the Kentucky mountains as late as 1950. Leonard Roberts published a 1950's interview with an east Kentucky family in Up Cutshin & Down Greasy: Jim Couch related, 'My grandfather made one [banjo] that lasted for years. The box of it was made outten an old gourd. The strings was connected up some way on the neck, and that thing played right good, I thought.' Jim's father, Tom Couch, a banjo player born in 1860, said one of his forbears started the tradition of picking and singing by making himself a banjo from an old gourd.

Jean Thomas describes banjo making in Devil's Ditties, published in 1931: 'If a fiddle were not to be had, a man could, if he were so minded, make a banjo with pine or cedar for the neck, a coon skin or fox hide stretched tight over a hickory hoop for a sounding board, or he could even use a long necked squash for that purpose.' She describes a small banjo made from a gourd in Ballad Makin' in the Mountains of Kentucky: 'The rounded side had been cut away and the opening covered with a scrap of brown paper made fast with flour paste. The strings were of wire.' Thomas began the American Song Festival in 1931. Folkway's CD F-2358, American Folk Song Festival, which can be ordered from Smithsonian Folkways, has in the liner notes a photo of a young lad sitting on stage with his gourd banjo. There is also a photo of this boy and his gourd banjo in Alan Eaton's Handicrafts of the Southern Highlands.

Eliot Wigginton and his students edited the popular Foxfire books. The second chapter of Foxfire 6, Gourd Banjos and Songbows, has the following statement regarding Ernest Hedges, whom they had met in 1977: 'Since Mr. Hedges is a concert violinist and violin maker, we were surprised to learn that his first musical instrument was a gourd banjo made for him when he was a small boy in the mountains of North Carolina by his grandfather. He related details of how his grandfather constructed the instrument out of a long neck gourd, a tomcat's hide, and a hank of horsehair. We've asked a lot of people since then about gourd instruments and found that they were not uncommon at one time in our region's history.' Leonard Webb, of Macon County, North Carolina provided the students a detailed description of his procedure for making a gourd banjo.

CONCLUSION

The rise of blackface minstrelsy coincided with the rise of virulent racism in the United States. Banjo players in the mountains would have been aware of the racial stereotyping and low comedy that connected the slave with the banjo. I believe this is one reason more references are not found to mountain banjo in the era prior to the Civil War. Another reason is the primitive nature of the home made banjo - early on it was an artifact used in remote cabins; it was not displayed for the casual visitor. Cecil Sharp collected folk songs and ballads in the mountains early in the 1900s when banjos were relatively plentiful. He apparently did not hear a banjo played. He made the following observation in his 1917 book English Folk Songs in the Southern Appalachians: 'I came across but one singer who sang to an instrumental accompaniment, the guitar, and that was in Charlottesville, Virginia.' Mountain folk are very hospitable, and generally try to provide a visitor's wants, which in the case of Sharp were old English ballads sung unaccompanied.

In conclusion, the banjo was brought from Africa, either physically, or in the memory of enslaved Africans. By the mid-1700s the banjo was transported to the Virginia and North Carolina frontiers by the 'lower classes,' which included enslaved African, free blacks, white indentured servants, and servants free of indenture. Mountaineers of both African and European ancestry used the banjo for frolics in remote frontier cabins before 1800.

The transfer of banjo playing from Africans to mountaineers of European descent occurred much earlier than has been assumed and was certainly not as simple as many claim, for some mountaineers have both African and European ancestry. It is preposterous to believe that mountaineers of European ancestry ignored the music of blacks, enslaved and free, with whom they had lived rather intimately for well over a hundred years, and then suddenly adopted the banjo after the Civil War. The contributions of enslaved and free blacks began with the introduction of the banjo, and continued through the introduction of railroad songs as noted by Dr. Josiah Combs. Folk banjo music, a mixture of European and African influences, has been in the mountains since the days of first settlement.

Recordings

I recommend three recordings for those who would like to listen to mountain and minstrel banjo playing:

I heard Banjo Bill Cornett of Knott County, Kentucky, play when I was a boy. His intricate style was typical of that of a few older white banjoists in the area. He can be heard on the CD, Mountain Music of Kentucky, from Smithsonian Folkways.

There are several excellent banjoists using tutors from the nineteenth century to record minstrel banjo music. These tutors, in my opinion, do not represent the diversity of minstrel music as it was actually performed. A representative recording of minstrel banjo music is Old-Time Minstrel Music by Bob Flesher, which can be ordered from County Sales. The minstrel style, as recorded by Bob, is noticeably different from the styles in the above recordings.

Black Banjo Songsters of North Carolina and Virginia, also from Smithsonian Folkways, is a superb collection of recordings of black mountain banjo players. Banjo Bill Cornett's playing style is very close to some heard on this recording.

iBluegrass.com Article
Banjo History
Sep-24-2001
�2001 iBluegrass.com. All rights reserved.

By George R Gibson

Okeh Record's Historic Session in Asheville by Kent Priestly

banjo — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 23:24:36 -0500

Click on the image above to view a slideshow by Kent Priestley

Next to Whitter sat Kelly Harrell, a singer who�d traveled down with him from the same part of Virginia. Harrell tugged absently at his shirt collar. He cleared his throat.

�You boys ready?� the engineer asked. The men nodded. They shouldn�t have been so nervous�they�d done live recordings before, after all�but then, you never got used to it. Making things worse was the fact that the room was so damn hot. They�d been in here for just a few minutes, but already their shirts were soaked through with sweat.

And now it was time. The engineer counted to three and tilted a finger their way. On the bed of the machine before them, a wax platter began spinning. As it turned, a metal blade sliced into it and trimmed a delicate rind from its surface. Whitter led the song off, puffing the melody out on his harmonica once around before Harrell squared his body to the horn and began to sing:

�

I was borned about ten thousand years ago
There was nothing ever happened I don�t know
I saw Pharaoh and his daughter shooting craps for a quarter
And I heard him say, �Oh girl I�ve won your dough.�

The voice was an odd quantity. Phrases spilled from Harrell�s mouth in a long and lagging way. He inserted dips and swoops in his verses, beating words that didn�t have an obvious relationship with each other into something like a rhyme. It was strange voice, but it sold records.

The next morning, the Asheville Citizen had the story: �There is a lot of respiration and perspiration connected with the making of phonograph records. This was demonstrated in the recording laboratory of George Vanderbilt Hotel yesterday when the Okeh Record Company began making a series of �hill country records.��

�Today, a number of singers and players from the mountain country will be tried out before the reproducing device,� the Citizen newspaper story continued. �The first test is said to be one of the severest experiences the singer or player ever has to undergo and more difficult than an appearance before a large audience.�

It was the last week of August 1925, and the music industry had come to Asheville. Its temporary home and workshop was a turret-like structure atop the Vanderbilt�s roof, where, earlier in the week, the Okeh men assembled their make-do �laboratory.� The walls were hung with blankets in order to mask the faint clack of the trolleys, the bleat of horns and human voices rising from Haywood Street below, and the periodic rumbles and moans of the Vanderbilt�s elevator. The �reproducing device� was put together and leveled, and chairs set out for the musicians.

In charge of all of this was Ralph S. Peer, artists-and-recording director for New York City-based General Phonograph Company and its label, Okeh Records. It was an increasingly familiar routine for Peer: arrive at a Southern city, set up, audition whichever musicians responded to the company�s advertisements, winnow the talent from the chaff, make some wax �test� records and return to New York. Already that year, Peer had led nine of these �field recording� excursions, including two dates in Atlanta, one in St. Louis and another in Kansas City.

Okeh�s Asheville stay, the Citizen report explained, was �the first time phonograph records have ever been made in the Carolinas.� Yet, already the company had found the atmosphere of Asheville �to be the best in the country for the reproduction of the human voice and instrument music.� It was expected, the story went on to relate, �that the company will make the majority of its Southern records in this city.�

Three years before, the record business was under assault by a new technology�radio�and Peer struck on an idea. The industry�s standard fare�operatic sopranos, marching bands and jazz orchestras�were losing their appeal. But Peer believed there was a market for records that had yet to be exploited. The secret, he figured, lay in ethnic music: Hungarian violinists, Russian singers, German polka bands, Swedish choirs. And though at first he was reluctant, in time Peer turned his attention to the American South, with its simmering stew of blues, gospel, string bands, hoary balladeers and cornpone humorists.

And rather than try to get those artists to the company�s headquarters in New York, as was the custom, Peer determined that it was in Okeh�s best interest to bring the recording studio to them. The formula was working, and by 1922, the South had given Okeh two popular new categories: �race records,� performances by African-American blues and gospel singers, and �hill country records� of artists who tended to be rural and white.

Image Courtesy Al Haug

This wasn�t the first time the industry had flirted with rural music. In 1914 and again in 1916, Columbia Records recorded a fiddler from Clinton, N.C., named Don Richardson, including his version of an old-time standard with a unique spelling: �Arkansaw Traveler.� The virtuosic Texan fiddler Alexander �Eck� Robertson was recorded in New York by the Victor Talking Machine Company in 1922, but for the most part, Robertson�s sides and those of earlier fiddlers were little more than novelties, barely hinting at the rich seam of black, Cajun and Anglo melodies found below the Mason-Dixon Line.

During a field-recording date in Atlanta in 1923, Peer minted what would be the industry�s first �hill country� star. Okeh had come to the Georgia city to record blues and gospel performers, but toward the end of the company�s residency there, Peer was introduced to Fiddlin� John Carson, a white musician from the north-Georgia hills. Peer recorded Carson�grudgingly, country music lore has it�in conditions that were less than ideal. The sound of Carson�s record, Peer would later say, was �pluperfect awful.�

Nevertheless, a test pressing of 500 of Carson�s debut��Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane� on the A-side and �The Old Hen Cackled and the Rooster�s Going to Crow� on the reverse�sold out in the span of an afternoon.

At first, Okeh took to calling the music of Carson and others who fit the same profile �hill country� or �old-time.� It would be a few years before the success of a band from Galax, Va., would lend the genre another name: �hillbilly,� a title that stuck until the 1940s, when it was replaced by �country.�

More than Atlanta even, Asheville held the promise of �hill country� talent. For one, Peer had a reliable informant in Bascom Lamar Lunsford, a Leicester song-catcher who practiced law. As a young man, Lunsford traveled throughout Western North Carolina, selling fruit trees and gathering scraps of melody and verse. He called at remote mountain cabins and lingered in the company of musicians and singers, acquiring, by one estimate, at least 3,000 songs and other folkloric materials in the course of his life. Already in 1924, Lunsford had been recorded by Okeh in Atlanta, waxing two songs: �I Wish I Was a Mole in the Ground,� which he learned from a fellow student at Rutherford College, and �Jesse James,� which Lunsford got from Sam Sumner of Bat Cave. This, Peer must have realized, was a good person to have around.

�Asheville in the 1920s was an interesting place,� observes Bob Carlin, a Grammy-nominated banjoist and author of String Bands in the North Carolina Piedmont (McFarland & Company, 2004). �It was a very sophisticated place in many ways, but it was also right in the middle of the mountains. There was industry there and opportunity, but very soon after you got out of the city limits, you were in the heart of the mountains and there was a lot of music to be had.�

Artists from Western North Carolina had been recorded in the past, but well outside of their own setting. �Previously, if you wanted to record, you had to travel to New York,� Carlin notes, citing the examples of Samantha Bumgarner, Eva Davis and Ernest Thompson, who in 1924 recorded in New York for Columbia.

�That was a pioneering session for this music,� Carlin says. Bumgarner, who was from Jackson County, was the first five-string banjo player ever to be recorded, and the first woman to record music that could be considered �country.�

�But it was a new thing to make recordings in the South,� Carlin notes. �And the Asheville sessions were an early venture of the companies out of New York and into the Southern mountains.�

Peer wasn�t guided by any notions of historic preservation. He wasn�t a folklorist, and had no particular interest in the rustic arts. He�d come to Asheville in hopes of nosing out talent that would make his company money. With him to the mountains, Peer brought Okeh�s recording engineer, Charles Hibbard, and the company�s general-sales representative, G.S. Jeffers. Up from Atlanta for the event was Polk C. Brockman, Okeh�s regional-distribution chief.

The Okeh men wore fine suits and had a refined air about them, not unusual for guests at the Vanderbilt. What set them apart were the things they brought with them: piles of heavy, folded blankets, trunks filled with mechanical apparatuses, tins clinking with fine metal styluses, crates packed with hundreds of carefully wrapped wax discs, legal forms and ledgers.

Whitter and Harrell, the Virginians, were the first to survive the Okeh test in Asheville, and they went on to record perhaps a dozen more sides that hot August afternoon before yielding their seats to a pair of banjoists from Winston-Salem named R.B. Smith and S.J. Allgood. The latter recorded but one side, a rendition of �American and Spanish Fandango� that ran three minutes and sounded as gentle as waves tickling a lakeshore. It was, the Citizen related, �unusually fine.�

The hotel Okeh picked as its home base hadn�t been there a year before. Like much of Asheville, the seven-story Vanderbilt was brand-new, part of a wave of freshly built upscale lodgings in the city. And while it lacked the scale and outward refinement of the nearby Battery Park Hotel, the Vanderbilt was posh throughout, from its tiled reception room to its Grand Ballroom. Above it all was the Vanderbilt�s roof garden, with its whitewashed wood pergola and dance floor beneath, open to the evening stars.

Days prior to the start of recording, the would-be stars of hill-country music crowded the Vanderbilt�s lobby, hoping for the opportunity to sit before the horn. And what a sight they must have been: milling about the reception area and the sidewalk outside, the roughest among them in slouch hats and denim chore coats, with battered instrument cases clasped in their knobby hands.

Recording began at the Vanderbilt on Tuesday, Aug. 25. A fresh-faced singer of 35, Kelly Harrell was a renowned entertainer and sometimes mill-worker from Drapers Valley, Va. A year before Okeh�s Asheville date, Harrell went to New York to record for the Victor Talking Machine Company, but Peer had since made him a better offer.

His accompanist in Asheville, Henry Whitter, despite a reputation for possessing only a faltering musical ability, was shaping up to be Okeh�s go-to backer for its old-timey selections. Described in the company�s catalog as �the most novel entertainer for he plays a harmonica and a guitar at the same time and never misses a note,� Whitter was labeled by the trade publication The Talking Machine World as nothing short of �a mountain star.�

A day later, Ernest V. Stoneman, and autoharp player and ballad singer from Galax, Va., waxed 10 or more sides in the Vanderbilt�s rooftop hot-box, including �The Sailor�s Song,� �Blue Ridge Mountain Blues,� a spry number called �The Fancy Ball� and �John Hardy,� which told the story of �a desperate little man� who �carried two guns every day.�

By Thursday, with his brother Blackwell chirping along on fiddle, Leicester�s singing attorney, Bascom Lamar Lunsford, had recorded two sides at the Vanderbilt, including �Fate of Santa Barbara,� a song commemorating the California city�s earthquake of just two months before.

�Fate� sat neatly within a hot sales category known as �event songs��songs of trapped spelunkers, wind-whipped fire, shipwrecks and God�s obvious hand in them�which had become central to Okeh�s catalog. On this count Lunsford gave the company what it wanted. Also during that week, Lunsford wrote an even more current event song called �The Last Battle,� or �Bryan�s Last Battle,� which told the story of the Scopes �Monkey Trial� which had wrapped up just a month before, after which the prosecutor, the famous populist William Jennings Bryan, promptly died. Later, Lunsford recorded the song under the title �Evolution.�

Following Lunsford into the studio was Fisher Hendley, a banjo player and singer from North Carolina�s Piedmont. He recorded two sides. After Hendley�s turn at the horn came a duo named J.D. McFarlane and Daughter that recorded two tunes: �Devil in the Woodpile� and �Whistlin� Rufus.� McFarlane Sr. played the fiddle, and his unidentified daughter played a pretty good piano accompaniment.

On Tuesday of the next week, the duo named the Carson Brothers was joined in the Okeh laboratory by autoharp player Roosevelt Smith. Their entire output from that day whispered from beyond the grave, including such toe-tappers as �Oh! We Miss You,� and �Don�t Grieve Over Me.�

Even by the standards of the time, the Asheville sessions were unusually well-stocked with banjo players. �One of the interesting things about these sessions is the variety of banjo styles,� observes Wayne Martin, director of the North Carolina Arts Council�s Folklife Program. The Asheville sides hint at a world of styles on that instrument before a certain banjo player from Shelby, N.C., laid waste to them.

�When Earl Scruggs came on the scene in the 1940s, his style was so pervasive that everyone who played a banjo ended up playing three-finger banjo,� Martin says. �But back in this time, there was an incredible variety in the way the banjo was played.�

Turning up in Asheville from Independence, Va., was the 33-year-old banjoist Wade Ward, who played his instrument in the �clawhammer� style. Ward�s four sides were never issued by Okeh, but at least one of the test records he recorded that day��Married Man�s Blues��survives. In his book Country Music Records: A Discography, 1921-1942 (Oxford University Press, 2004), the English music historian Tony Russell referred to this glimpse of a young Ward, who in his autumn years was studied and emulated by a generation of old-time revivalists, as �tantalizing.�

From West Asheville came Ernest Helton, a half-Cherokee musician with lustrous black hair and lean, film-star good looks. Helton�s talents on several instruments were in demand throughout the region, and in an Asheville City directory from the time, Helton was listed under that rarest of occupations, the professional musician.

While Helton was a gifted player of old-time music, for the Okeh sessions he chose to break out a formal parlor piece on the banjo called �Royal Clog,� a series of ascending and descending scales bridged by peculiar chromatic flights.

Later that day, Okeh captured one of just six recorded sides by J.D. Harris, a senior fiddler and sometimes band-mate of Helton�s who lived near Asheville at the time. Born in 1868 in Flag Pond, Tenn., Harris� command of the bow and his tight phrasing�not to mention his legendary repertoire�would inspire a number of fiddlers from the region, including Cherokee�s Manco Sneed, Bill Hensley of the Avery�s Creek section of Buncombe County and Marcus Martin of Swannanoa.

Harris� advanced age at the time of his recordings has led more than one music historian, including the late Charles Wolfe, to suggest that his playing embodied the sound of fiddling from at least as far back as the time of the Civil War, and perhaps earlier.

Harris recorded but one tune in Asheville, a solo fiddle piece called �The Cackling Hen.�

�Listening to Dedrick Harris makes me think of a passage in Cecil Sharpe�s diary from 1916,� says Adam Tanner, an old-time and blues fiddler who lives in Weaverville. �Sharpe talks about traveling for three weeks on horseback from Asheville to Hot Springs just to listen to a few select men and women sing.� Harris�s �Cackling Hen,� Tanner added, �is similar to the songs Sharpe went out of his way to hear, in that [it is] repetitive and odd, otherworldly and beautifully unpredictable.� By the time he sat for his sole Asheville recording, Tanner suggests, Harris �may have been one of the last of a generation to play a dying music.�

What wasn�t recorded in Asheville is arguably more tantalizing than what was. Stories are still in circulation that the �Singing Brakeman� Jimmie Rodgers showed up but failed to impress the Okeh men. If Peer had any knowledge of Rodgers� presence in Asheville in 1925, he never spoke of it, but the story persists nonetheless. Within a year�s time Rodgers was indeed living in Asheville, playing house parties around the city with Ernest Helton. But exactly when he arrived remains in question.

Other musicians are said to have missed out on the Asheville date as well. �I�ve been working on an article about the people who influenced Earl Scruggs, and one of the musicians who was a big influence on him was Smith Hammett,� Carlin says. �Hammett never recorded. But supposedly he was on his way to Asheville for these sessions and his car broke down. For whatever reason, he didn�t make it. So, that might have been a way that we could have heard Smith, and been able to make a more direct connection between Earl and him.�

Both the Asheville Citizen and the Asheville Times attached considerable moment to the studio appearance on Sept. 1 of Emmett Miller. A blackface and vaudeville performer from Macon, Ga., Miller was in Asheville that week with Nan Fitzgerald, �Juvenile Comedienne in Songs and Dances,� playing to near-capacity crowds at the Majestic Theatre, located on the corner of College and Market streets downtown. In a Majestic advertisement in the Times that week, Miller was hailed as both �Asheville�s Favorite Blues Singer� and �Okeh Record Star.�

His output while in Asheville was modest but influential. With the piano accompaniment of Walter Rothrock, Miller recorded a self-written number, �You�re Just the Girl For Me,� �I Never Had the Blues (Until I Left Old Dixie Land),� �Big Bad Bill (Is Sweet William Now)� and, most interesting to country-music historians, what would be just the second recorded version of the landmark Irving Mills number �Lovesick Blues.�

Despite Miller�s obscurity today, his Asheville sides demonstrate that his �blue yodeling� presaged Jimmie Rodgers� by at least a few years and Hank Williams� by nearly a quarter-century. In 1949, Williams would have a number-one hit with �Lovesick Blues,� even as Miller�s own career was evaporating.

Last to record was the Vanderbilt�s house band, the Foor-Robinson Carolina Club Orchestra. The previous week, the Citizen reported that the orchestra was �putting the finishing touches on preparations for recording some of the numbers that have been so popular with dancers in the Vanderbilt ballroom.�

With temperatures in the high 80s, Wednesday, Sept. 2, was the hottest of Okeh�s 10-day stay in Asheville, and the band suffered considerably in the Vanderbilt�s �laboratory,� according to English jazz historian Mark Berresford. Nonetheless, the orchestra recorded two numbers, �Rose of the Nile,� with an exotic, snake-charmer melody, and �Collegiate,� a zippy tune with a rah-rah college chant at its center.

And then it was over. Even as the orchestra members filed out of the makeshift studio and toward the bar for a drink, the blankets were being folded, the chairs stowed and the �reproducing machine� sent down the Vanderbilt�s elevator. Peer had what he wanted, 60 test records to take back with him to New York.

Okeh never returned to Asheville, even though Peer had told a Citizen reporter on his way out of town that he was �greatly pleased with the results obtained here and with the co-operation by local people.�

�The Okeh company,� continued the Citizen report with more than a little hopefulness, �expects to make Asheville headquarters for summer recording on account of the superior quality of the air here, which is cool and dry and ideal for their purposes.�

The air notwithstanding, the sound on the Asheville records was not good. In 1925, Okeh still employed acoustic microphones, which relied on direct sound pressure to activate the reproducing device�s needle. That same year, the electric microphone was introduced, becoming more or less universal within a year�s time.

Two summers later, under the banner of the Victor Talking Machine Company, Peer�s work would carry him to Bristol, Tenn., a city that today claims itself the �Birthplace of Country Music.� At sessions there, along with a list of musicians including Okeh�s Asheville alumni Ernest Stoneman and Henry Whitter, Peer would capture the first sounds of Jimmie Rodgers and a trio from Maces Spring, Va., that called itself the Carter Family. The success of those two acts would soon reduce musicians such as Kelly Harrell, the strange-voiced singer from Drapers Valley, Va., to little more than footnotes in country-music history.

Harrell�s career would not outlast the Depression. Whatever his skills as a singer and a songwriter, the fact that he couldn�t play an instrument made him a dim prospect in the eyes of A&R men for whom the bottom line was everything.

But in Asheville during the last week of August 1925, all was promise.

At the turn of that year, Okeh announced the new recordings in its holiday catalog, including Harrell and Whitter�s version of the murder ballad �Wild Bill Jones,� with �I Was Born About Ten Thousand Years Ago� on its reverse. Above the description of their record is a snapshot of the two men, taken on the Vanderbilt�s roof. Harrell�s shirt hangs loosely about his small frame, the top button sprung open. He looks tired from his time spent in the �laboratory,� arms slack at his side. Next to him, the larger Whitter stands more proudly, his Gibson guitar angled across the front of his body. Both men are squinting into the late-summer sun.

�The rich-voiced Kelly Harrell has made a record to be proud of,� reads the description beneath the photo. �First because it consists of two very fine songs, and second, because he is such an accomplished singer.�

�Be sure to get this record,� the catalog says, �and learn what you missed.�

Mountain Express, Vol 14, Issue 36, April 2, 2008 http://www.mountainx.com/

Welcome

admin — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 15:46:45 -0400

Railroad Fever: Songs, Jokes & Train Lore (book)

admin — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 01:41:06 -0400

Includes: Blue Train, Death of John Henry, Down at Dinah's Diner, Drill Ye Tarriers Drill!, Early Morning Train, The Hell-Bound Train, He's Coming to Us Dead, In the Baggage Coach Ahead, Jordan is a Hard Road to Travel, Kansas City Railroad, The Little Red Caboose, The Longest Train, Paddy Works on the Railway, The Railroad Blues, Red and Green Signal Lights, Working on the New Railroad.

Customer Reviews:

"...a dandy collection....better than anything else available...you can't go wrong on this one." --Norm Cohen, author of Long Steel Rails

Railroad Fever: Songs of America's Railroads (CD & Tape)

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Railroadin' Classics: 16 Great Instrumentals

admin — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 01:56:43 -0400

Wabash Cannonball, Railroad Corral, Paddy on the Railway, The Lightning Express, Casey Jones, L&N Rag, Freight Train, New Lost Train, Wreck of the Old '97, In the Pines, Kansas City Railroad Blues, On the Dummy Line, New River Train, Reuben's Train, Lost Train Blues, Nine Hundred Miles.

Customer Reviews:

"Congratulations on a job well done!" --Dave Higgs, Radio WPLN-FM

Singing Rails: Railroadin' Songs, Jokes & Stories (book)

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Includes: Cannonball Blues, Casey Jones, Death of Edward Lewis, East Bound Train, Freight Train Boogie, In the Pines, John Henry, Life's Railway to Heaven, The Lightning Express, Lonesome Pine Special, Midnight Special, New River Train, Nine Hundred Miles, Nine Pound Hammer, On the Dummy Line, Railroad Bill, The Railroad Corral, Railroadin' & Gamblin', Railroading on the Great Divide, Reuben's Train, Rock Island Line, Swannanoa Tunnel, This Train, Train on the Island, Train That Carried My Girl From Town, Wabash Cannonball, When the Train Comes Along, Wreck of the Old 97.

Customer Reviews:

"It's fantastic! I love it." --Betsy Schlosburg

"Wayne did a fantastic job!" --David Althaus, Foreman, Diesel Locomotives, Orange Empire Railroad Museum

"I love Singing Rails." --Gladys Ragsdale, 85 years young

Singing Rails: 14 Railroadin' Songs (CD & Tape)

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Cannonball Blues, Railroading on the Great Divide, On the Dummy Line, Nine Hundred Miles, John Henry, The Death of Edward Lewis, Freight Train Boogie, Lonesome Pine Special, Train on the Island, Railroad Bill, Railroadin' & Gamblin', Swannanoa Tunnel, Poor Casey, Midnight Special.

Customer Reviews:

A colorful mixture...enjoyable to listen to over and over."--Railfan & Railroad

Southern Mountain Instruction Books: For Banjo, Mandolin, Fiddle, Dulcimer & Guitar

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Hymns of the Old Camp Ground (book)

admin — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 02:15:03 -0400

�

SONGS INCLUDE: A Beautiful Life, Ain�t Gonna Lay My Armor Down, Amazing Grace, An Old Fashioned Meeting, Angel Band, Are You Washed in the Blood?, Beautiful, Church in the Wildwood, Crying Holy Unto My Lord, Deep Settled Peace, Diamonds in the Rough, Don�t You Hear Jerusalem Moan?, Drifting Too Far From the Shore, From Jerusalem to Jericho, Give Me The Roses Now, The Good Old Way, Grave on a Green Hillside, Hand in Hand With Jesus, Heaven Above, Hold Fast to the Right, Hold to God�s Unchanging Hand, Home in That Rock, I Am a Pilgrim, I Am Bound For the Promised Land, If I Could Hear My Mother Pray Again, I�ll Be No Stranger There, I�m S-A-V-E-D, In the Sweet By And By, I�ve Just Seen the Rock of Ages, Keep on the Sunny Side of Life, The Lone Pilgrim, Methodist Pie, Old-Time Religion, Our Meeting is Over, Palms of Victory, Pass Me Not, Paul and Silas, Pilgrim of Sorrow, Poor Wayfaring Stranger, Precious Memories, Shake Hands With Mother Again, Shall We Gather at the River?, Standing in the Need of Prayer, Swing Low Sweet Chariot, Take Up Thy Cross, Twilight is Falling, The Unclouded Day, Walk in Jerusalem Just Like John, Warfare, We Are Going Down the Valley, We Shall Meet Someday, Who Will Sing For Me?, Will the Circle Be Unbroken?, Wondrous Love, Working on a Building.

"Highly Recommended"-- Midwest Book Review

"After receiving Wayne Erbsen's latest book, Hymns of the Old Camp Ground, I can hardly lay the book down. It will be a resourceful addition for any church that enjoys singing the old-camp meeting songs. I am looking forward to using some of these songs at our senior adult events." --Michael K. McGee, Minister of Music, Elizabeth Baptist Church

The Bluegrass Gospel Songbook

admin — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 02:20:55 -0400

The CD includes: Methodist Pie, Give Me The Roses, Poor Wayfaring Stranger, Angel Band, Where the Soul Never Dies, A Beautiful Life, Just Over in Gloryland, Leaning on the Everlasting Arms, Walk in Jerusalem Just Like John, As I Went Down to the Valley to Pray, Don't You Hear Jerusalem Moan?, I Will Arise, Where We'll Never Grow Old.

The book includes history, lyrics, melody and chords to over 100 gospel classics: A Beautiful Life, A Picture From Life�s Other Side, Ain�t Gonna Lay My Armor Down, Amazing Grace, Angel Band, Are You Washed in the Blood?, Beautiful, Church in the Wildwood, Come And Dine, Come Thou Fount, Crying Holy Unto My Lord, Daniel Prayed, Death is Only a Dream, Deep Settled Peace, Diamonds in the Rough, Don�t You Hear Jerusalem Moan?, Drifting Too Far From the Shore, From Jerusalem to Jericho, Give Me The Roses Now, The Glory-land Way, The Good Old Way, Grave on a Green Hillside, The Hallelujah Side, Hallelujah, We Shall Rise, Hand in Hand With Jesus, He Will Set Your Fields on Fire, Heaven Above, Hold Fast to the Right, Hold to God�s Unchanging Hand, Home in That Rock, How Beautiful Must Be, I Am a Pilgrim, I Am Bound For the Promised Land, I Feel Like Traveling On, I Have Found the Way, I Heard My Mother Call My Name in Prayer, I Will Never Turn Back, I Would Not Be Denied, I�ll Be No Stranger There, I�m Going That Way, I�m Going Through, I�m S-A-V-E-D, I�ve Just Seen the Rock of Ages, If I Could Hear My Mother Pray Again, In the Sweet By And By, In the Garden, Jesus, Savior Pilot Me, Just One Way to the Gate, Just Over in the Gloryland, Just a Closer Walk With Thee, Keep on the Sunny Side of Life, Kneel at the Cross, Leaning on the Everlasting Arms, Let the Church Go Rolling On, Let The Lower Lights Be Burning, Life�s Railway to Heaven, Little Moses, The Lone Pilgrim, Lord I�m Coming Home, Methodist Pie, My Old Cottage Home, Oh Those Tombs!, The Old Rugged Cross, The Old Account Was Settled, The Old Gospel Ship, Old-Time Religion, On The Sea of Life, On The Sunny Side of Life, Our Meeting is Over, Palms of Victory, Pass Me Not, Pilgrim of Sorrow, Poor Wayfaring Stranger, Power in the Blood, Precious Memories, Row Us Over the Tide, The Royal Telephone, Shake Hands With Mother Again, Shall We Gather at the River?, Standing in the Need of Prayer, Swing Low Sweet Chariot, Take Me In the Lifeboat, Take Up Thy Cross, Tell Mother I Will Meet Her, There is No Hiding Place Down There, Twilight is Falling, The Unclouded Day, Walk in Jerusalem Just Like John, Warfare, We Are Going Down the Valley, We Shall Meet Someday, We�ll Understand it Better By and By, What Would You Give in Exchange?, When the Savior Reached Down for Me, When They Ring Those Golden Bells, When I Laid My Burdens Down, When the Roll is Called Up Yonder, Where the Soul Never Dies, Where We�ll Never Grow Old, Who Will Sing For Me?, Will the Circle Be Unbroken?, Will There Be Any Stars?, Won�t You Come and Sing For Me? Wondrous Love, Working on a Building.

Customer Reviews:

"This is a great book, and very informative." --J. Stewart "

"You've done a great job with this book." David Freeman, Rebel and County Records.

"This is an amazing book. It's going to be well-received, well-used and well-loved. Such fabulous history, background to the songs. A treat to read." Cathy Fink

"I am very pleased with your new Bluegrass Gospel Songbook. It was worth waiting for." --D McDougal

"This is a simply wonderful and enthusiastically recommended addition to personal, academic, and community library American Music History reference collections." --Midwest Book Review

"Thank you for taking the hard work and effort and making such a great book of songs and instruction" Tami L.

"A real treasure." --Nadine Kerfoot, Bluegrass Music Profiles"

"This book is a real gem for those who want to have a large repertoire of gospel songs." Jerry Barney, Inside Bluegrass."

"This has got to be one of the best songbooks I have ever seen!" M. R. Hulbert

"I have enjoyed your Bluegrass Gospel Songbook immensly." David F.

"A friend gave me a copy of your Bluegrass Gospel Songbook and I just had to write to tell you how much I'm enjoying having it." --J. Goodman, Israel

Old-Time Gospel Favorites (CD)

admin — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 02:27:47 -0400

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Methodist Pie, Give Me The Roses, Poor Wayfaring Stranger, Angel Band, Where the Soul of Man Never Dies, A Beautiful Life, Just Over in Gloryland, Leaning on the Everlasting Arms, Walk in Jerusalem Just Like John, As I Went Down to the Valley to Pray, Don't You Hear Jerusalem Moan?, I Will Arise, Where We'll Never Grow Old.

Customer Reviews:

"You should be on the Grand Ole Opry!" Judy M.

"I wouldn't take nuthin' for my copy of Old-Time Gospel Favorites." --80 year old loyal customer.

"I'm really glad you finally have Old-Time Gospel on CD - I've worn out my cassette!" --Ann Walper

"A terrific album." --Harmon

Log Cabin Cooking & Music Workshops & Classes

admin — Thu, 13 May 2010 16:53:24 -0400

Old-Time Gospel Songbook

admin — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 02:32:43 -0400

SONGS INCLUDE; A Beautiful Life, Amazing Grace, Angel Band, Are You Washed in the Blood?, As I Went Down in the Valley to Pray, The Church in the Wildwood, Death is Only a Dream, Deep Settled Peace, Don�t You Hear Jerusalem Moan?, Drifting Too Far From the Shore, Give Me the Roses Now, The Glory-Land Way, The Hallelujah Side, Hallelujah We Shall Rise, Hand in Hand With Jesus, He Will Set Your Fields on Fire, Hold to God�s Unchanging Hand, How Beautiful Heaven Must Be, I Feel Like Traveling On, I Have Found the Way, I Will Arise, I Will Never Turn Back, If I Could Hear My Mother Pray Again, I�ll Be No Stranger There, Jesus Savior Pilot Me, Just a Closer Walk With Thee, Just Over in the Gloryland, Keep on the Sunny side of Life, Kneel at the Cross, Leaning on the Everlasting Arms, Life�s Railway to Heaven, Lord I�m Coming Home, Methodist Pie, Oh Those Tombs, Old-Time Religion, On the Sea of Life, Our Meeting is Over, Palms of Victory, Pass Me Not, Poor Wayfaring Stranger, Previous Memories, Rock of Ages, Shake Hands With Mother Again, Shall We Gather at the River, Swing Low Swing Chariot, The Unclouded Day, Walk in Jerusalem Just like John, We Are Going Down the Valley, We Shall Meet Someday, We�ll Understand It Better By and By, When the Roll is Called Up Yonder, When They Ring the Golden Bells, Where the Soul of Man Never Dies, Where We�ll Never Grow Old, Will There Be Any Stars?, Wondrous Love.

Customer Reviews:

"I've been using the 'Old-Time Gospel Songbook' to learn how to add chords to the melody line on the piano. I also got the book because I am learning how to back-up the melody line on the fiddle. I am very pleased with the book, and my piano teacher has bought the book for several of her students. She said it is an excellent way to learn to play chords." Pat & Bill Ramey

"In January I received my order from your company. I just want to say 'Thank You; for the songbooks. They have been a blessing. My grandmother passed away in 1966 and the song 'Wayfaring Stranger' was the one she sang in church. I am now playing the song using the chords and it brings back lots of wonderful memories." Tresa Laferty

"It's a wonderful book and our little group really enjoys it." Jo Remondini

Cold Frosty Morning (CD & Tape)

admin — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 02:37:00 -0400

Old-Time Gospel Instrumentals ((CD & Tape)

admin — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 02:43:35 -0400

Waterdance: Melodies and Rhythms from Nature (CD)

admin — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 02:57:50 -0400

Waterdance/Gayfeather, Canarios, Gaia, Banish Misfortune, Reaping the Rye, Cluck Old Hen, The Water is Wide, Wind That Shakes the Barley, Woodland Jig, Free Little Bird, Old Molly Hare, Shady Grove, Butterfly/Swallowtail, Over the Waterfall, Gaelic Aire, Little Rose is Gone, June Apple, Black Mare of Fanad.

Customer Reviews:

"Their performances aptly reflect the title cut...as their melodies move, flow, and intertwine with brightness and elegance" --Dirty Linen

"We have enjoyed listening to 'Waterdance' immensely!" --James & Sandy Lovelock, Cornwall, England

"I just bought your Waterdance CD and I really love it. The music is truly beautiful and timeless." R. Soots

Bullfrogs On Your Mind: Stories, Songs, & Adventures from the Swamp to the Hen House (CD & Tape)

admin — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 03:05:54 -0400

Bullfrogs on Your Mind, Guardians of the Winter, Roosevelt and Ira Lee, Bake that Chicken Pie, Who Broke the Lock, Mole in the Ground, Bulldog on the Bank, Muskrat Oh Muskrat, Rattlesnake Papa, The Snake and the Egg, Scat Rap.

Customer Reviews:

"My family loves Doug Elliott's recording that we purchased at NC Museum of History. His way of mixing stories, history and songs are just wonderful." Jennifer Dolan

Crawdads, Doodlebugs & Creasy Greens (CD & Tape)

admin — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 03:13:42 -0400

Ain't No Bugs On Me, Mosquito Story, Doodlebug Song, Yellowhammers & Domineeckers, Catfish Song, Cajuns and Crawfish, Crawdads Hole, Green Rocky Road, Strawberry Pickin', Queen Elizabeth and the Frog, Froggie Went a Courting, Creasy Greens, Root Blues, Left Hind Leg of a Rabbit.

Customer Reviews:

"Please help me! My two songs (ages 7 and 5) have borrowed and practically worn out my dad's copy of Doug Elliott's 'Crawdads, Doodlebugs & Creasy Greens.' When my dad announced that he wanted his tape back, we were in horror. You see, my songs demanded to hear it every night before they would go to sleep. Perhaps you have children and know how sleepless nights on their part can wreck the lives of all those involved. We are begging you, please help restore sanity and happiness to our family by sending another copy of the tape." Mandy Farrington, desperate mom.

"On behalf of the Recording Evaluation Committee, I would like to extend my congratulations to you. Your recording, 'Crawdads, Doodlebugs & Creasy Greens' was named to be included on the Notable Recordings for Children List for 1996."
Jean Hatfield, Recording Evaluation Committee

" intelligent, interesting and really fun and appeal both to children and adults." --The Old-Time Herald

Crawdads, Doodlebugs & Creasy Greens Songbook: Songs, Stories & Lore Celebrating the Natural World (book)

admin — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 03:18:44 -0400

Raccoon and a Possum: Stories and Songs 'Specially for Young Folks ((CD & Tape)

admin — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 03:21:57 -0400

"Raccoon and a Possum is a hoot!" --The American Library Service to Children

Raccoon and a Possum, The Jive Three Bears, The Story of Aspirin, Possum, Turtle and the Wolves, The Fox and the Crow, Uncle Reuben Run a Coon, Old Blue.

Sing It Yourself! - 12 Old-Time Sing Alongs (CD & Tape)

admin — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 03:24:46 -0400

Site Index

admin — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 14:28:13 -0400

Bluegrass Banjos

admin — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 18:13:34 -0400

Clawhammer Banjos

admin — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 18:24:04 -0400

Southern Mountain Fiddle (book)

admin — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 21:11:00 -0400

Southern Mountain Banjo (book)

admin — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 21:06:06 -0400

Southern Mountain Mandolin (book)

admin — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 21:15:54 -0400

Southern Mountain Guitar (book)

admin — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 21:19:19 -0400

Southern Mountain Dulcimer (book)

admin — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 21:26:03 -0400

Easy Mandolin Songs

banjo — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 18:11:45 -0400

Mandolins

admin — Thu, 27 May 2010 20:15:26 -0400

Log Cabin Cooking Classes

admin — Thu, 13 May 2010 17:06:48 -0400

Log Cabin Music Classes

admin — Thu, 13 May 2010 17:07:23 -0400

�I Am a Pilgrim� and the Magic Numbers � 2013 by Wayne Erbsen

banjo — Thu, 24 Oct 2013 20:34:46 -0400

Frequently Asked Questions About Wayne's Workshops

Mon, 24 May 2010 19:45:37 -0400

Wayne Erbsen

admin — Thu, 13 May 2010 17:09:48 -0400

Secrets of Playing Mandolin by Ear � 2013 by Wayne Erbsen

banjo — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 17:28:51 -0500

Barbara Swell

admin — Thu, 13 May 2010 17:11:18 -0400

Lost Indian: Fiddling on the Frontier (CD)

Fri, 21 May 2010 18:51:37 -0400

Blind Alfred Reed

banjo — Mon, 17 May 2010 17:29:48 -0400

Dream of the Miner's Child - Free Bluegrass Mandolin Tab

banjo — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 15:55:58 -0400

Books, Recordings and Instruments

admin — Fri, 21 May 2010 18:12:11 -0400

Native Ground Music Index of Songs

admin — Thu, 27 May 2010 21:19:44 -0400

Blue Ridge Mountain Blues

banjo — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 15:46:34 -0400

Bound to Ride

banjo — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 15:55:01 -0400

The Pioneer Village Cookbook

Thu, 10 Jun 2010 17:56:50 -0400

Blue Ridge Mountain Blues

banjo — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 20:31:33 -0400

Blue Ridge Mountain Blues

banjo — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 15:36:13 -0400

The Big Bang Theory of Bluegrass

banjo — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 19:31:23 -0400

The Railroad Blues

banjo — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 17:48:50 -0400

Copy Dream of the Miner's Child

banjo — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 15:55:58 -0400

Handsome Molly - Free Bluegrass Mandolin Tab

banjo — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 15:57:28 -0400

Bound to Ride - Free Bluegrass Mandolin Tab

admin — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 17:42:28 -0400

Little Bessie - Free Bluegrass Mandolin Tab

admin — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 17:43:30 -0400

Little Log Cabin in the Lane - Free Bluegrass Mandolin Tab

admin — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 17:45:46 -0400

Blue Ridge Mountain Blues - Free Bluegrass Mandolin Tab

admin — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 17:47:26 -0400

Pretty Polly - Free Bluegrass Mandolin Tab

admin — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 17:48:48 -0400

Rocky Road Blues - Free Bluegrass Banjo Tab

admin — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 15:45:21 -0400

Black Eyed-Susie - Free Banjo Bluegrass Tab

banjo — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 15:45:19 -0400

A Word about These Free Bluegrass Banjo Tabs!

banjo — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 15:51:32 -0400

A Word About These Free Mandolin Tabs

banjo — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 16:05:36 -0400

Lonesome Road Blues - Free Bluegrass Banjo Tab

banjo — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 16:33:09 -0400

Pretty Polly - Free Bluegrass Banjo Tab

banjo — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 16:35:54 -0400

Pig in a Pen - Free Bluegrass Banjo Tab

banjo — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 16:37:13 -0400

Sittin' on Top of the World - Free Bluegrass Banjo Tab

banjo — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 16:40:20 -0400

A Word About These Free Clawhammer Banjo Tabs

banjo — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 19:03:58 -0400

Man of Constant Sorrow - Free Clawhammer Banjo Tab

banjo — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 19:14:40 -0400

Say Darling Say - Free Clawhammer Banjo Tab

banjo — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 19:16:05 -0400

Cluck Old Hen - Free Clawhammer Banjo Tab

banjo — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 19:17:58 -0400

Shady Grove - Free Clawhammer Banjo Tab

banjo — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 19:19:25 -0400

Willie Moore - Free Clawhammer Banjo Tab

banjo — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 19:20:23 -0400

Single Girl - Free Clawhammer Banjo Tab

banjo — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 19:21:49 -0400

A Word About the Free Bluegrass Guitar Tabs

banjo — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 15:42:37 -0400

Bound to Ride - Free Bluegrass Fiddle Tab

banjo — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 17:40:41 -0400

A Word About the Free Bluegrass Fiddle Tabs

banjo — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 17:42:34 -0400

Little Maggie - Free Bluegrass Guitar Tab

banjo — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 15:49:33 -0400

Jimmy Brown the Newsboy - Free Bluegrass Guitar Tab

banjo — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 15:51:56 -0400

Little Rosewood Casket - Free Bluegrass Guitar Tab

banjo — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 15:53:35 -0400

Soldier's Joy - Free Bluegrass Guitar Tab

banjo — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 15:55:30 -0400

Blue Ridge Mountain Blues - Free Bluegrass Fiddle Tab

banjo — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 19:37:08 -0400

Dream of the Miner's Child - Free Bluegrass Fiddle Tab

banjo — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 19:39:00 -0400

Handsome Molly - Free Bluegrass Fiddle Tab

banjo — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 19:39:45 -0400

Little Bessie - Free Bluegrass Fiddle Tab

banjo — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 19:40:30 -0400

Little Log Cabin in the Lane - Free Bluegrass Fiddle Tab

banjo — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 19:41:06 -0400

Lonesome Road Blues - Free Bluegrass Fiddle Tab

banjo — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 19:41:54 -0400

Pig in a Pen - Free Bluegrass Fiddle Tab

banjo — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 19:42:52 -0400

Pretty Polly - Free Bluegrass Fiddle Tab

banjo — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 19:43:57 -0400

Jimmy Brown the Newsboy - Free Bluegrass Guitar Tab

banjo — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 19:44:58 -0400

Little Maggie - Free Bluegrass Guitar Tab

banjo — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 19:46:21 -0400

Little Rosewood Casket - Free Bluegrass Guitar Tab

banjo — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 19:46:55 -0400

Soldier's Joy - Free Bluegrass Guitar Tab

banjo — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 19:47:44 -0400

A Word About These Free Bluegrass Guitar Tabs

banjo — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 19:49:27 -0400

Mark the 150th Anniversary of the Civil War with Native Ground's Books & CDs

banjo — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 00:44:10 -0400

How to Tune a Banjo

banjo — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 17:59:34 -0500

Civil War Music

banjo — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 16:21:12 -0400

Mandolin Chords

banjo — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 18:49:08 -0400

Easy Banjo Songs

banjo — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 13:57:38 -0400

Arkansas Traveler

banjo — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 19:42:33 -0400

The Ballad of Frankie Silvers

banjo — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 19:53:11 -0400

Pretty Polly

banjo — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 20:01:40 -0400

Swannanoa Tunnel

banjo — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 20:06:05 -0400

Charlie Poole & The North Carolina Ramblers � 2012 by Wayne Erbsen

banjo — Sun, 26 Aug 2012 17:20:36 -0400

The Great American Tear Jerker by Wayne Erbsen

banjo — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 19:10:34 -0400

How to Jam on the Mandolin

banjo — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 16:06:24 -0400

Bluegrass Standards

banjo — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 14:59:38 -0400

How to Play Banjo

banjo — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 21:26:59 -0500

How to Tune a Mandolin

banjo — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 18:54:44 -0500

Banjo Chords

banjo — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 20:22:27 -0500

"Hallejuha I'm a Bum" & Harry McClintock � 2012 by Wayne Erbsen

banjo — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 14:31:16 -0400

Guitar Chords

banjo — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 15:50:30 -0500

How to Tune a Guitar

banjo — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 16:52:14 -0500

Category Table - Wayne update

admin — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 00:57:52 -0500

Bluegrass Jamming on Mandolin (Book & CD Set)

banjo — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 17:30:41 -0500

The Hanging of Fiddlin� Joe Coleman � 2012 by Wayne Erbsen

banjo — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 17:05:52 -0500

A History of Bluegrass Guitar in Western North Carolina By John Martin

banjo — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 01:11:04 -0400

Aunt Barb's Bread Book

Tue, 14 Jun 2011 20:26:22 -0400

Aunt Barb's Bread Book

admin — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 20:44:47 -0400

Lovesick Blues � 2012 by Wayne Erbsen

banjo — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 15:49:06 -0400

Bluegrass Jamming on Fiddle - Book & CD Set

banjo — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 13:53:24 -0400

Bluegrass Jamming on Fiddle - Book & CD Set

banjo — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 14:18:52 -0400

Clarence White and the Roots of Bluegrass Guitar in Southern California

banjo — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 16:07:12 -0500

Bluegrass Jamming on Banjo - Book & CD Set

banjo — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 15:57:44 -0500

The Dreaded G Scale & the Magic Numbers � 2011 by Wayne Erbsen

banjo — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 13:38:55 -0500

Learn to Play the Banjo & Save Electricity! � 2011 by Wayne Erbsen

banjo — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 17:47:20 -0500

The Appalachian Dulcimer � 2012 by Wayne Erbsen

banjo — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 01:40:16 -0500

Figuring Out Chords at the Shindig on the Green � 2012 by Wayne Erbsen

banjo — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 20:52:15 -0500

Footprints in the Snow � 2012 by Wayne Erbsen

banjo — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 16:35:44 -0500

It�s the Melody, Stupid! � 2012 by Wayne Erbsen

banjo — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 16:59:48 -0500

The Dreaded Count-In � 2012 by Wayne Erbsen

banjo — Tue, 15 May 2012 17:28:21 -0400

The Simplest Harmony Part in Bluegrass Music � 2012 by Wayne Erbsen

banjo — Tue, 15 May 2012 18:12:12 -0400

October 14, 2012 for Country Roots on WCQS.org