The Glory-Beaming Banjo

The old-time music community lost one of its great champions yesterday. John Cohen died at the age of 87. He was a founding member of the New Lost City Ramblers, singing and playing guitar and banjo. Cohen was also a photographer, filmmaker and musicologist. From 1972 to 1997, he was a professor of visual arts at SUNY Purchase College in Harrison, New York. In addition to his notable work as a musician, Cohen was instrumental in documenting old-time musicians through his photography and films. He is credited with "discovering" Roscoe Holcomb and featured him in his 1962 documentary, The High Lonesome Sound . He co-produced the influential album High Atmosphere in 1975, which included Cohen's field recordings of Dillard Chandler, Wade Ward, Gaither Carlton, Frank Proffitt, Fred Cockerham, Estil Ball and others. His photography has been published in numerous books over the years, including one just released on Sept. 10, called Speed Bumps on a Dirt Road: When Old Time...

John Cohen and the Dust Busters delivered a bouquet of old-time gems Sunday night, at an event that was nearly canceled because of a house fire. Road weary and looking tired from a heavy touring schedule this fall, the Dust Busters arrived at the Unity Center in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, after a string of concerts starting Nov. 15 from Hiram, Ohio, to Louisville, Ky., to Knoxville, Tenn., to Newport, Ky., and finally back to Ohio on the 20th. With one last concert before heading home to Brooklyn, N.Y., the band featured Cohen as its special guest at an event that featured a showing of Cohen's recent film " Roscoe Holcomb: From Daisy, Kentucky " and a potluck meal. The concert was sponsored by the non-profit group Roots of American Music  (ROAM). The event started at about 6:45 p.m. with the film, a short documentary about Holcomb and his life in East Kentucky, compiled from the outtakes of Cohen's seminal film " The High Lonesome Sound ." After the f...

Festival season is upon us, and Northeast Ohio hosts two events this weekend for fans of traditional music. The 13th annual  Oberlin Folk Festival kicks off tomorrow, May 6, at Cat in the Cream Coffeehouse on the campus of Oberlin College and Conservatory . A highlight of the Friday concert is a performance by the Dust Busters , an old-time string band based in Brooklyn, N.Y. Capping off the evening will be a contra dance sponsored by the Oberlin Contra Dance Club . The festival continues Saturday, May 7, with more performances by local and student acts. You can view the full schedule here . Admission is free. From the far, far west side of Cleveland, we go to the far, far east side for the inaugural  Blue Sky Folk Festival , at the East Shore Unitarian Universalist Church, in Kirtland, Ohio, on Saturday, May 7. Performers include Hal Walker, Hu$hmoney, Dale Rodgers, and the Workmen's Circle Klezmer Orchestra, with storytelling by Robin Echols Cooper and c...

Starting April 29, the Brooklyn-based old-time string band the Dust Busters will launch a short tour through the Midwest and South Atlantic states for their " Mud Season Tour ." Dust Busters out sitting in their field: (from left) Eli Smith, Walker Shepard and Craig Judelman. (Photo by John Cohen) Northeast Ohioans should pay close attention to the Dust Busters' May 6 stop, which will be at the Cat in the Cream coffee shop for the Oberlin Folk Festival . The Dust Busters sound like the incarnation of old 78s from the 1930s. Their most recent album , "Prohibition Is a Failure," was produced by legendary New Lost City Rambler John Cohen. You can check out videos of the band on YouTube , specifically the pages of band members Craig Judelman  and Eli Smith . Hot Off the Press The Dust Busters are also featured in an article from the Spring 2011 edition of the Oberlin Alumni Magazine. The article focuses on former Oberlin students who have gone on to ca...