The Glory-Beaming Banjo

In my never ending quest to learn more about Ohio's old-time music heritage, I recently came across an article from the Ironton Tribune about Jess Large. His name has been referenced in Field Recorders' Collective releases for Arnold Sharp and Jimmy Wheeler , but I never knew anything about Large or his legacy.  Born Jesse James Large in 1905, he lived in Ironton, Ohio, a small city at the southernmost tip of the state, along the Ohio River. Ironton is the county seat of Lawrence County, with a population of more than 10,500. Large was most active in the 1930s and '40s, fiddling for barn dances and radio programs in the tri-state region of Ohio, Kentucky and West Virginia. Large took his own life in 1961 after a brain tumor robbed him of his ability to play the fiddle.  In addition to Sharp and Wheeler, Large was reportedly an influence on other fiddlers in the region, including Asa Neal, Forrest Pick and J.P. Fraley, according to the article Mark Shaffer of 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...