The Glory-Beaming Banjo

This is not a new book, but I finally read it during this pandemic. Originally published in 2010 by the University of Illinois Press , Ray Allen's Gone to the Country: The New Lost City Ramblers & The Folk Music Revival is a biography that looks at the history of the band and its impact on the folk revival period and continuing legacy through an academic lens. Allen paints a portrait of a band that rode the wave of the commercial folk revival of the 1950s and '60s and weathered the storms of scant financial gains, public perception and personal conflicts to leave a lasting legacy that has influenced legions of old-time musicians since their inception in 1958. John Cohen, Tom Paley and Mike Seeger — the original lineup of the band — first played together on a radio show in Washington, D.C., in May 1958. After that performance, Cohen took the initiative and spoke to Folkways Records founder Moe Asch about making a recording and then to Izzy Young of the Folklore Center...

During these waning days of 2019, I figured I'd give you one last look back at the year that was. The following are the five most viewed posts of 2019.  Review: Mike Seeger's Just Around the Bend . I'm cheating a bit with this one because this Smithsonian release occupied two of the most popular posts of the year. The actual top post by a couple hundred views was my post announcing that Seeger's final project would be released in August . My review of said CD/DVD/booklet set came in a few slots down the list. Remembering the Kent State Folk Festival . A love letter to a once-popular event for old-time musicians like Tommy Jarrell, Melvin Wine, the Highwoods String Band, the Carolina Chocolate Drops and more. And it all happened in my hometown. Remember when I said I was going to write multiple posts on the festival? Me neither.  Review: Anna & Elizabeth, "Hop High"/"Here in the Vineyard." Anna Roberts-Gevalt and Elizabeth LaPrel...

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 final project for Smithsonian Folkways will be released Sept. 20. The two-CD and DVD set, titled Just Around the Bend: Survival and Revival in Southern Banjo Sound s, features field recordings and documentary footage that Seeger collected in January, May and June of 2009, shortly before his death on Aug. 7 that year. Just Around the Bend is now available for pre-order on the Smithsonian Folkways website for $35.98. In addition to the CDs and DVD, the package includes an 80-page booklet with extensive notes on Seeger's field recording project. The 110-minute DVD was directed, edited and produced by by Yasha Aginsky, a filmmaker who accompanied Seeger on these final field recording sessions and who produced an hourlong video titled Banjo Tales in 2012. I was told this will be a different film. Compiled by Bob Carlin, the CDs feature performances by 19 "virtuosic banjo players," including Riley Baugus , Frank George, Rhiannon Giddens , George Gi...

Last year, I wrote about a final project of Mike Seeger that Smithsonian Folkways was preparing for release this year. In that post , I reported that Just Around The Bend: Survival and Revival in Southern Banjo Styles. Mike Seeger’s Final Documentary  was to be released this spring. However, with the vernal season nearly over and no such release in sight, I decided to follow up with my contact, Mary Monseur, production manager at Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. In an April 24 email, Monseur reported that she had been working on the Mike Seeger project that day. "I just sent corrections to the printer and the DVD is about to be authored," she wrote. "Because it’s an oversized, special package, it’s printing in China which takes longer than printing in the U.S. But the good news is … it’s coming." Monseur added that she would have more solid information in a month and suggested I follow up then. I followed up a month later, on May 31, and Monseur wrote: "...

You may have voted with your pageviews which posts you liked best over the past year, but a few of my favorites didn't make the cut. Since we looked back at your favorite posts of 2018 last week, I thought it would be fun to revisit some of my pet projects this week. The following are five of my favorite posts to write in 2018:  1. Sounds of Summer: Beach Boys and the Banjo — My Beach Boys obsession seeped into my banjo addiction with this post. At first I found five songs where they used a banjo, but  I have since added two others I discovered after writing this post in July. From 1968 to 1973, the Beach Boys included the banjo on five of six albums. Al Jardine appears to be the only band member to actually play banjo. 2. Mike Seeger's Final Smithsonian Folkways Project  — In May, I wrote to Smithsonian Folkways regarding an uncompleted documentary that Mike Seeger was working on prior to his death in 2009. After some correspondence with Folkways p...

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...

For whatever reason I forgot to write about one of my vinyl purchases earlier this year. As you know, I've been working on building my collection of old-time music on LP. Back in July, I learned that Mike Seeger's record collection was being auctioned off on eBay. As you can imagine, there were quite a few albums that I coveted, including a copy of Harry Smith's Anthology of American Folk Music . However, the prices on some of the more collectible items skyrocketed beyond my checking account. But there was one record that I kept a close eye on.  The album I managed to buy was Visits ,  a compilation put together by Ray Alden and released on Heritage Records in 1982. The double album is split between "The Old Timers" and "The Young Musicians." It features the likes of J.P. Fraley, Fred Cockerham, Doc Roberts, Esker Hutchins, Mose Coffman, Burl Hammons, Buddy Thomas, Melvin Wine and Ward Jarvis.  Alden was the founder of the Field Recorders...

Mining the depths of experience for a solution to my lack of banjo-related posts, I remembered my last hair cut. As it is nigh time for another, this was a couple months ago. My barber, a short walk from my house, had closed his shop for his lunch break. Not wanting to give up and go home, I killed time at my local record store . I only had a $20, and my hair cut would take up most of that, so I wasn't expecting to purchase anything. Flipping through the "Folk/Misc." section, though, something changed my mind. It is pointless to resist. The cover was a wreck, held together with yellowed tape. But the sleeve had done its job, keeping the vinyl clean. For $2, I couldn't resist the lure of Mike Seeger, leaning against an old GMC truck parked inside the pitch black confines of a red barn, wearing jeans and a blue work shirt, above the words " The Second Annual Farewell Reunion " and featuring such old-time luminaries as the Highwoods, Roscoe Holcomb, Kil...

For those familiar with old-time music, Mike Seeger’s name rings like the banjo he was renowned for playing. This summer, the eighth annual MikeSeeger Commemorative Old Time Banjo Festival will pay tribute to his legacy with a series of concerts and workshops on the weekend of July 12-13. The Birchmere Music Hall in Alexandria, Virginia, will host the concert on Saturday, July 12, featuring Tony Trischka, Cathy Fink, Richie Stearns and Rosie Newton, Marcy Marxer, and Rick Good. Tickets are $29.50 and available through Ticketmaster (service fees apply) or directly from the Birchmere box office. The roots music store House of Musical Traditions in Takoma Park, Maryland, will host the workshops on Sunday, July 13, featuring old-time fiddle, clawhammer and finger style banjo. Space is limited, and the organizers recommend registering early at www.hmtrad.com/lessons/workshops.html#banjofest . If it is less than three days before the workshop, call (301) 270-9090 to regis...

Due out tomorrow is the final recording of founding New Lost City Rambler Mike Seeger , who died from cancer in late summer 2009. "Fly Down Little Bird" was recorded with Seeger's sister, Peggy Seeger, and features 14 tracks of songs they learned as children from field recordings. From the Mike Seeger website : Not "children's songs," these have a wide range in sound and subject: the quirky fun of Fod, the Poor Little Turtle Dove's lovesick plaint, a ballad in unaccompanied octaves, social commentary in The Farmer Is The Man, the spooky religiosity of Blood-Stained Banders. The two singers play various combinations of banjo, guitar, fiddle, harmonica, mandolin, lap dulcimer, and piano. Included in the booklet are Peggy's vivid evocation of their early listening experience and several early photos. Track Listing: Old Bangum The Dodger Song Cindy Blood-Stained Banders Big Bee Suck the Pumpkin Stem Where Have You Been, My Good Old Man? Little...