The Glory-Beaming Banjo

Welcome back to our monthly series about the now-defunct Kent State Folk Festival. Click here if you missed the first installment. I was originally going to provide an early history of the festival this month, but figured I'd take a different approach and recall one specific year that was ... alarming . I finally got around to reading Walt Koken's enjoyable memoir, Fire on the Mountain: An American Odyssey , published in 2017. Here's a quick review: It's a fast and interesting read, but he could have used a better editor. There were a number of spelling and grammar mistakes that, as a professional language-type, were hard for me to ignore. I suppose that's the challenge with self-published books. However, the stories about Koken's early days as a musician, the forming of the Highwoods Stringband and their rambling career provided great insights and plenty of entertainment. I have to thank Lynn Frederick for passing along the book to me. But let's get ba...

I have good news for those of you who didn't get a copy of Dance All Night — The Highwoods Stringband Story . The new documentary on the band is available again for a limited time. As I mentioned in my recent review , the DVD sold out quickly, and there were some challenges to producing additional copies. However, it looks like those challenges were overcome. Here's a message I got from Walt Koken this morning: Folks, Due to popular demand, we have re-negotiated to produce another run of the Highwoods documentary in time for the holiday season. A great gift idea, we have set it up to go out via first class mail, as the media mail option was extremely slow. We've had a lot of positive comments and excitement about this production. Larry has done a wonderful job of capturing the flavor of the times, over forty years ago, when Highwoods was barnstorming three continents. Approximately 80 minutes long. Visit the Mudthumper Music website for more details about orderi...

The Highwoods Stringband have been revived in a brilliant new documentary film produced by Larry Edelman. Featuring narration from Paul Brown, extensive interviews and plenty of archival footage of the Highwoods in action, Dance All Night — The Highwoods Stringband Story gives a straightforward account of the band's history and their influence on the old-time scene then and now. In addition to interviews with bandmembers Walt Koken, Bob Potts, Mac Benford, Jenny Cleland and Doug Dorchug, the film includes commentary from a number of other notable musicians, such as John Cohen, Richie Stearns, Sammy Lind and others. The film chronicles how the Highwoods got together, their extensive festival performances, their discography and diverts into amusing tales from the road, such as the time one member hitched a ride with the New Jersey State Highway Police after being left behind at a rest stop. Produced by Piggysnout Productions and Mudthumper Music , the idea for the documentary ...

S o, once upon a time, I tried to drum up support for a crowdfunded documentary project about the Highwoods Stringband. I donated money to help out, and more than a year later I provided an update on the slow progress . Last I heard, there was some old footage of the Highwoods they were trying to acquire. It's been three and a half years now that I first heard about the project, and I still haven't received my DVD. I figured that's the risk you take with these crowdfunded, Kickstarter-type projects. I had all but given up the documentary as a lost cause. Until today. If I managed to convince any of you to help fund the project, I felt it my duty to pass along this update directly from Highwoods mainstay Walt Koken . " After several delays and setbacks, we, the members of the Highwoods Stringband and Mudthumper Music have procured the vintage footage and photos in cooperation with the original producers and put them into the hands of another videographer, Larry ...

Aspiring banjo players are often told to go learn from the masters. One such master has made that task a little easier with the release of a new book of tunes . Walt Koken's upcoming release is a transcription of the tunes on last year's " Sittin' in the Catbird's Seat ," his first solo album in 15 years. Koken, of course, is well known in old-time music circles as a former member of the Highwoods Stringband , a current Orpheus Supertone , and co-conspirator of the " Milliner-Koken Collection of American Fiddle Tunes ." "Sittin' in the Catbird's Seat" features original and old-time tunes and songs played in clawhammer and three-finger banjo styles. Sources include Dock Boggs, Hobart Smith, Mississippi John Hurt, Frank Hutchison, French Carpenter, and Scott Joplin. The companion book is 48 pages long and printed in an oversized, easy-to-read format with spiral binding so that you can lay the book flat. The book is suitable fo...

On Feb. 25, a new resource for old-time enthusiasts was released. The Milliner-Koken Collection of American Fiddle Tunes , transcribed and annotated by Clare Milliner and Walt Koken, is an 888-page book that contains 1,404 tunes in musical engravings, arranged alphabetically. The book also includes a main index of the tunes arranged by title, with references to source recordings and cross references to similar tunes and title; a tuning index arranged by fiddle tunings; a key index; and an artist index arranged by fiddler, showing the tunes included by that artist. Additionally, the book features an artist profiles section with brief biographies of the 347 fiddlers and bands represented in the collection. A majority of the fiddlers were born before 1900. Finally, a comments section contains further information about the tunes and fiddlers. The Milliner-Koken Collection is oversize format and cloth hardbound, which lies flat for easy reading. The ...