In 1969 banjo virtuoso and bluegrass innovator Earl Scruggs parted ways with his
longtime musical partner
Lester Flatt and the band they led to
great popularity and acclaim,
The Foggy Mountain Boys. Scruggs wanted to push his musical gifts as far as they could go. In 1970 he was the subject of a PBS documentary where he played with artists such as Bob Dylan, Doc Watson, The Morris Brothers, The Byrds, Charlie Daniels, Bill Monroe, Joan Baez, various friends and family members, and even records a track accompanying a Moog. You can watch the whole thing online:
Earl Scruggs, His Family and Friends.
posted by Kattullus
on Jan 28, 2011 -
17 comments
I had this concept--after a strange dream, while scoping out the
I Dreamed I Saw st. Augustine tab in my just-in-case-it-disappears downloaded
dylanchords, of ...
St. Augustine as a slow moody slide in Open D ala Blind Texas Marlin. But then I got to wondering whether someone might have a chord dictionary online where a few variations on a first position
B Minor in Open D might be found. Voila! Achtung, Baby! Behold
Brian's huge chordlist collection. Oh, man, he's got your standard and open tunings on guitar plus mandolin, uke, banjos, bouzouki, pipa and lute. A living room guitarist's must have, no doubt, although a few more open tunings for pipa would have been nice...
[more inside]
posted by y2karl
on Dec 9, 2009 -
6 comments
To Hear Your Banjo Play is a documentary by Alan Lomax from 1947. It is narrated by Pete Seeger and features Woody Guthrie, Sonny Terry, and Brownie McGhee among others.
posted by RussHy
on May 23, 2009 -
15 comments
Music in the Digital Library of Appalachia provides an unprecedented resource for study of repertoire, technique, lore, and the musical interchanges among the region's traditional musicians. Once you know what you like, it's easy to find the music live with
Blue Ridge Music Trails. Meet musicians who have grown up with that music, visit settings in which Blue Ridge folk music thrives, see traditional dancing, and in many cases, take part in the festivities.
The Crooked Road, Virginia’s Heritage Music Trail, winds through the mountains of Southwest Virginia. Along the trail, the Bluegrass, Old Time, and Traditional Country music is as beautiful and rugged as the landscape itself.
[previous 1, 2]
posted by netbros
on Mar 8, 2009 -
12 comments
Wade Mainer played a two-finger style of banjo, between old timey and bluegrass. Here is an interview he did with David Holt at the age of 97.
Part 2.
Part 3. Still playing strong!
posted by RussHy
on Feb 1, 2009 -
9 comments
Eighty one years ago to the day, barber, banjoist and balladeer
B.F. Shelton travelled from his home in Kentucky to take part in a recording session in Bristol Tennessee. Now referred to as the "
Bristol Sessions", these recordings are widely viewed as some of the most important and influential in American music history. The four songs Shelton recorded that day, stark, simple and immensely powerful in their unadorned honesty, can all be heard
here. After Bristol, Shelton never recorded again.
[more inside]
posted by flapjax at midnite
on Jul 29, 2008 -
16 comments
What happens when a US President declares war on a concept? In 1964, Canadian photojournalist Hugh O'Connor traveled to eastern Kentucky to document the battlefields of Lyndon Johnson's
war on poverty and was shot for trespassing.
The incident is the subject of a wonderful documentary,
Stranger with a Camera by filmmaker
Elizabeth Barrett, produced by
Appalshop, a non-profit organization in Whitesburg, Kentucky, that works with local artists to promote self-representation in media and the expediency of culture to counteract a stagnating local economy.
Makes you think twice about
nostalgic representations of poor Appalachian coal miners plucking their banjo strings in the hollers, doesn't it?
posted by billtron
on Apr 15, 2008 -
14 comments
Each of the following
MySpace Music pages features bios and/or photos and/or videos and/or miscellaneous related materials and/or up to four songs by each of the following Old Time, Traditional, Appalachian folk (and related) artists:
Lowe Stokes,
Clarence Ashley,
Charlie Poole,
Gid Tanner and the
Skillet Lickers,
Roanoke Jug Band,
Roscoe Holcomb,
Hobart Smith,
The Weems String Band,
Burnet & Rutherford,
Bascom Lamar Lunsford,
John Masters,
Dock Boggs,
Tampa Joe & Macon Ed,
William Stepp,
Buddy Thomas,
Buell Kazee,
Isidore Soucy,
John Salyer,
Cousin Emmy,
Luther Strong,
Elizabeth Cotten,
Fred Cockerham,
G.B. Grayson,
Melvin Wine,
Lewis Brothers,
Uncle Dave Macon,
George Lee Hawkins and
Wilmer Watts. And here's some general Old Time (etc.) pages, featuring various artists:
Dust To Digital,
Traditional Music of Beech Mountain and
North Carolina Folklife Institute.
[more inside]
posted by flapjax at midnite
on Oct 24, 2007 -
17 comments
For lovers of old-time, mountain banjo styles and songs,
Roscoe Holcomb and
Dock Boggs are revered figures. To many, however, plucker and singer
David Akeman remains uncelebrated or unknown, even by his stage name of
Stringbean. Is it because he
was for a time actually
famous as a
country music showbiz staple, and therefore lacks
folk cred? Or maybe the purists just can't get with those
low-hanging pants the man was known for, his original
hillbilly homeboy styling? Or was it cause on any given tune his
left hand would likely be
off the neck of the banjo more than on it? Whatever the reason, it's time folks took a new look at Stringbean. After all, the lines between
folk and commercial styles have
always been blurry in American music. Let's hear it for
Stringbeeeeeeeaaan! [more inside]
posted by flapjax at midnite
on Oct 17, 2007 -
15 comments
MusicMoose wants "to provide the world with free, useful music lessons, and a community based site to help back it all up." The
site contains hundreds of free video music
lessons (often containing notation and/or tablature) with a distinct focus on acoustic and bluegrass music, all taught by some pretty
badass pickers (including the astonishingly good mandolin shredder Anthony Hannigan). There are also obligatory but very useful
forums.
Takeaway: the whole thing is free and you don't have to register to watch the lessons.
posted by kosem
on Jun 29, 2007 -
15 comments
You really shouldn't miss the snazzy ukulele stylings of the great
Roy Smeck, strummer and showman extraordinaire, who was not only fast as greased lightning, but for whom the ukulele also occasionally functioned as a
wind or
percussion instrument. The man was indeed a
wizard of the strings: just give him a slide and watch him lay down that
Hawaiian sound. And as you'll see
here, he was still going strong in his later years.
[most links to YouTube]
posted by flapjax at midnite
on Mar 23, 2007 -
15 comments
Long before Robert Johnson ever went down to the crossroads, violinist & composer Niccolo Paganini was rumored to have
sold his soul to the devil in exchange for musical ability. Evidence against this theory: Paganini's 5th Caprice actually
prevented the devil from
stealing The Karate Kid's soul (the devil settled for stealing Ralph Macchio's career instead). Evidence in favor of this theory: When played on acoustic guitar, the virtuosity in his 24th Caprice really
seems supernaturally inspired. For my money, however, the perfect storm of ominous music & stringed instruments comes together in
this version of Carmina Burana (mp3 direct download), arranged for solo banjo.
posted by jonson
on Sep 27, 2006 -
35 comments
