The Glory-Beaming Banjo

During a fit of lunacy, I ordered a stack of albums from Jalopy Records , the in-house record label for the Jalopy Theatre and School of Music , located in Red Hook, New York. My first experience with the Jalopy catalog was last year when I reviewed Clarence Ashley, Live and In Person: Greenwich Village 1963 for The Old-Time Herald . Jalopy is one of the few labels today that is publishing old-time music on vinyl. They have a fairly robust catalog of new releases and reissues, as well as its  7 Inch Series that was originally available as subscription service.  The 7 Inch Series was pretty unique. Each month, Jalopy pressed a new record for subscribers. Performances were captured as live takes, mixed to a tape machine on location. The music was kept analog all the way through the process of making the vinyl record, and only at the last phase were they digitized for download. This series was produced in 2017 and funded through a Kickstarter campaign to aid in the ...

Prior to his death in August 2009, Mike Seeger had been working on a documentary project, recording banjo players throughout North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Alabama and Tennessee. He became ill before he could finish the project. Ten years later, Seeger's final work is at last seeing the light of day. Released in September by Smithsonian Folkways, Just Around the Bend: Survival and Revival in Southern Banjo Sounds — Mike Seeger's Last Documentary includes a 110-minute DVD, two CDs and an 80-page booklet. The documentary was directed by Yasha Aginsky, who accompanied Seeger on the project. The CDs were compiled by Bob Carlin and include 19 banjo players that Seeger interviewed and recorded during the summer of 2009. Seeger sought to document different banjo styles, including variations of clawhammer and up-picking. He also chose players with a wide range of experience and age. Seeger also aimed to represent women and African American banjo players, th...

Mike Seeger’s legacy in the banjo community is already secured. The late founding member of the influential New Lost City Ramblers was a tireless promoter of the five-string. Through his music, instructional videos and field recording projects, the banjo’s place in American folk music is secure. However, there is one project that remains unreleased. For now. Earlier this month, Tennessee-based banjo player Clifton Hicks pleaded that Banjo Hangout forum members and his YouTube followers write to Smithsonian Folkways to inquire about Mike Seeger’s final project for Smithsonian Folkways. As Hicks believed, the project was to be released as a documentary and music album.  “When he [Seeger] died, he left behind him an unfinished, masterpiece, maybe?” Hicks says in his YouTube video. “Unfinished piece of work, a film called, well, the working title was Mike Seeger’s Banjo Tales or Banjo Tales with Mike Seeger .” Hicks says he was recorded as part of the film in 2008, alo...