The Glory-Beaming Banjo

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...

This week, the Floyd, Va.-based old-time group Old Sledge embarks on a Midwest tour to promote its new CD. Throughout April, the band will play shows in Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Michigan, with a short detour to North Carolina for the Shakori Hills festival. This blogger is hoping to lure Chance McCoy and Sabra Guzman, the primary members of Old Sledge, to play a little farther north in Ohio, but so far the band is only slated to play in Cincinnati and nowhere within an hour's drive of Glory-Beaming Banjo headquarters. Old Sledge just released its new album, "Don't Let Your Deal Go Down," this week. For the time being, the CD is only available at their shows, but three tracks from the album are available for free download at the band's store website, where you can also buy the self-titled E P with Anna Roberts-Gevalt on banjo. Here's Old Sledge (with Jake Hopping on banjo) playing "Boats up the River" at the WTJU radi...