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 Sounds, 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 Gibson, Brett Ratliff and Clifton Hicks, who originally put me on the scent of this project back in May 2018.
Since then, I've been in touch with the production manager at Smithsonian Folkways, who has kept me up to date about the project's progress.
While it might be sad to think that it's been 10 years since the old-time music community lost one of its biggest advocates, it's comforting to know that his final works will be receiving grand treatment with this robust package.
Check out the video preview:
You can pre-order Just Around the Bend by visiting the Smithsonian Folkways website, or by clicking this link. I plan to provide a review of the set once I receive my copy.
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 Gibson, Brett Ratliff and Clifton Hicks, who originally put me on the scent of this project back in May 2018.
Since then, I've been in touch with the production manager at Smithsonian Folkways, who has kept me up to date about the project's progress.
While it might be sad to think that it's been 10 years since the old-time music community lost one of its biggest advocates, it's comforting to know that his final works will be receiving grand treatment with this robust package.
Check out the video preview:
You can pre-order Just Around the Bend by visiting the Smithsonian Folkways website, or by clicking this link. I plan to provide a review of the set once I receive my copy.
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