Let's play show and tell. If you've been reading me for any length of time, you know that the Glory-Beaming Banjo home office is in Northeast Ohio. As such, old-time music from the Buckeye State is of particular interest to this author. Without much to report on during these days of COVID-19, it seemed like a good time to show off my Ohio old-time music collection.
Many of these items have appeared on this blog in the past, but I've never shown everything all in one place. Most of these albums are solely by artists from Ohio, with the exception of the two Young Fogies volumes and Visits, each of which feature only a couple of Ohio musicians.
A couple of these musicians are not native Ohioans, such as Ward Jarvis, Rector Hicks, Cecil Plum and Dan Gellert, but they lived here for a significant period of time. Gellert apparently no longer lives in Ohio, but he did when his Old-Time Tiki Parlour album came out.
The following is a rundown of the collection ...
Bad Dog, Oldtime Blah Blah Blah (CD)
This is the first album of my "Mark Olitsky collection." You may know him from all the times I've mentioned him on this blog. Released in 2003, the album also features Andy Williams, Leo Lorenzoni and Jason Sypher.
Dan Gellert, The Old-Time Tiki Parlour Presents (CD/DVD)
Released in 2015, this was Gellert's first album in more than a decade. I wrote about this album here. The album features 19 tracks, with Gellert singing and playing banjo and fiddle.
Jeff Goehring, With Friends & Friends (CD)
Released by the Field Recorders' Collective (FRC601) in 2007, this album features Goehring with his Red Mules bandmates, as well as old-time legends like Bruce Molsky, Rafe Stefanini, Paul Brown and more. I wrote a little more about the album here.
Rector Hicks, Sugar in the Morning (CD)
Another Field Recorders' Collective release (FRC709), this one from 2014. Hicks was a younger cousin of Laury Hicks, a noted associate of the legendary Ed Haley. I wrote more about the album here.
Ward Jarvis (CD)
Another Field Recorders' Collective release (FRC402), compiled from Goehring's collection of recordings made in 1977. I may have mentioned Jarvis before on this blog.
jimmyjohnnyjoe, oldtime fiddle music & songs (CD)
Another Olitsky album, this time paired with fiddler Joe Thrift. Released in 2004, this recording also features Debra Clifford and Jason Sypher.
Killer Grits, Midnight on the Run (CD)
Released in 2007, this album features that Cleveland-based banjo wizard and former Cleveland-based fiddler David Bass. Charlie Pickford and Alex Scala round out the quartet. It's a little high-energy.
Oak Island Skunk Jumpers, Vols. I & II (CD)
This is a two-disk set of original old-time tunes and songs written by Gordon Keller, from Geauga County, Ohio. The album features a number of other Ohio musicians, including Joe LaRose and Dave Rice.
Cecil Plum (CD)
Back to my Field Recorders' Collective albums (FRC404), released in 2005. Plum lived in Massillon, Ohio, when Goehring recorded him in 1983, but he was originally from Tunnelton, West Virginia. This album also includes some tracks by Lonnie Seymour. This CD was also part of that post I've already linked a couple times above.
Red Mules, Old-Time Music (Cassette)
Released by Marimac Recordings in 1992, this lineup includes the core trio of Jeff Goehring, Rick Goehring and Susie Goehring, along with Beth Braden and Lynn Frederick. I'd like to get this album digitized some day.
Lonnie Seymour (CD)
More from the Field Recorders' Collective (FRC403), released in 2005. Seymour was a Chillicothe, Ohio-based fiddler, who is perhaps best known for "Log Chain." Goehring made these recordings as part of an apprenticeship program through the Ohio Arts Council. Again, see that same post.
Arnold Sharp (CD)
OK, this is the last of my Field Recorders' Collective albums (FRC406). Released in 2006, this CD features Gallia, Ohio-based fiddler Arnold Sharp. Yep, check that same post for more.
Waxwings Stringband (CD)
Another group of musicians from Geauga County, this family band released this album in 2011, featuring lots of lovely harmonies.
Christian Wig, Gate to Go Through (CD)
Wig is based in Mechanicstown, an unincorporated community in Carroll County, Ohio. Released in 2004, this album also features Mark Olitsky and Dave Rice. This was a go-to album for me for a long time. I mentioned this album in the second part of my Olitsky interview.
Christian Wig, Constancy: Fiddling on the Frontier (CD)
I reviewed this album for The Old-Time Herald last year. The CD features a bunch of other Ohio old-time musicians and is the fourth album in Wig's "Frontier" series.
Various, Folk Music in North Central Ohio (LP)
This compilation from 1981 produced by the Three Seas Institute with the support of the Ohio Arts Council. I don't recognize any of the names, but the cover art is awesome.
Various, Seems Like Romance to Me (LP)
You can get a reissue of this 1985 compilation of through Smithsonian Folkways, which I highly recommend doing. Subtitled "Traditional Fiddle Tunes from Ohio," the album was produced by Jeff Goehring and Howard Sacks, featuring Clifford and Telford Hardesty, Jimmy Wheeler, Arnold Sharp, Cecil Plum, Lonnie Seymour, John Hannah, Rollie Hommon and Kenny Sidle.
Various, Visits (LP)
Produced by Ray Alden, this 1981 compilation was part of my "Vinyl Hunter" series in 2017, and it has a cool story you can read more about here. The album was part of Mike Seeger's personal collection. My main interest was the inclusion of Ward Jarvis playing "Banjo Tramp," but there are a couple other Ohio connections with tunes by Forest Pick and the duo of Lisa Ornstein and Andy Cahan.
Various, Young Fogies (LP)
Another compilation produced by Ray Alden and another album featured in my "Vinyl Hunter" series. Released in 1985, this album's Ohio connections include the Red Mules, Dan Gellert, the Hot Mud Family and the Rhythm Gorillas. You can read more here.
Various, Young Fogies, Vol. II (CD)
Released a decade after its predecessor in 1995, this Ray Alden-produced compilation features "Icy Mountain" by the Red Mules. I'm pretty sure that's the only Ohio connection. I wrote a little bit about the album here.
In addition to the above albums, I also have some periodicals related to Ohio's old-time music.
There are two issues of Banjo Newsletter, one from 2001 that features an interview with legendary banjo artisan Doug Unger and another from 2006 that features an article by Christian Wig, titled "Old-Time Banjo in Ohio."
The Old-Time Herald issues shown are from 1988, featuring an interview with Dan Gellert, and from 2015, featuring an installment of Walt Koken's "Tales from the 'Woods" series that mentions the Kent State Folk Festival. There is also a Xerox copy of Lynn Frederick's article about the Red Mules from 1995, which I would like to track down in its original form.
Not shown here, but somewhere I also have an issue of Fretboard Journal that also features Doug Unger.
One item missing from the photos is Stories from the Annie Grimes Collection of American Folk Music, published by Ohio University Press in 2010. Grimes was a folklorist and dulcimer player based in Columbus. The book comes with a CD of her field recordings, as well as her own playing.
Another book I should have included in the photos is Way Up North in Dixie: A Black Family's Claim to the Confederate Anthem, by Howard and Judy Sacks. I wrote about the book way back in 2012, when I had the occasion to hear a talk by the authors a the G.A.R. Hall in Peninsula, Ohio.
I'm still on the hunt for the two LPs produced by David Brose, featuring Ward Jarvis and others. While I have digital copies of Rat's Won't Stay Where There's Music and Traditional Music from Central Ohio, I would like to own them on vinyl one day. I occasionally see them for sale online for ridiculous prices, but I'm hopeful I'll one day find affordable copies. There are also a few more Ohio-related Field Recorders' Collective releases I still need to get.
Let me know your thoughts on my collection in the comments. Do you have any of these albums? What am I missing? What do you collect? Do you want to sell me your Ohio-related old-time albums?
A couple of these musicians are not native Ohioans, such as Ward Jarvis, Rector Hicks, Cecil Plum and Dan Gellert, but they lived here for a significant period of time. Gellert apparently no longer lives in Ohio, but he did when his Old-Time Tiki Parlour album came out.
The following is a rundown of the collection ...
Bad Dog, Oldtime Blah Blah Blah (CD)
This is the first album of my "Mark Olitsky collection." You may know him from all the times I've mentioned him on this blog. Released in 2003, the album also features Andy Williams, Leo Lorenzoni and Jason Sypher.
Dan Gellert, The Old-Time Tiki Parlour Presents (CD/DVD)
Released in 2015, this was Gellert's first album in more than a decade. I wrote about this album here. The album features 19 tracks, with Gellert singing and playing banjo and fiddle.
Jeff Goehring, With Friends & Friends (CD)
Released by the Field Recorders' Collective (FRC601) in 2007, this album features Goehring with his Red Mules bandmates, as well as old-time legends like Bruce Molsky, Rafe Stefanini, Paul Brown and more. I wrote a little more about the album here.
Rector Hicks, Sugar in the Morning (CD)
Another Field Recorders' Collective release (FRC709), this one from 2014. Hicks was a younger cousin of Laury Hicks, a noted associate of the legendary Ed Haley. I wrote more about the album here.
Ward Jarvis (CD)
Another Field Recorders' Collective release (FRC402), compiled from Goehring's collection of recordings made in 1977. I may have mentioned Jarvis before on this blog.
jimmyjohnnyjoe, oldtime fiddle music & songs (CD)
Another Olitsky album, this time paired with fiddler Joe Thrift. Released in 2004, this recording also features Debra Clifford and Jason Sypher.
Killer Grits, Midnight on the Run (CD)
Released in 2007, this album features that Cleveland-based banjo wizard and former Cleveland-based fiddler David Bass. Charlie Pickford and Alex Scala round out the quartet. It's a little high-energy.
Oak Island Skunk Jumpers, Vols. I & II (CD)
This is a two-disk set of original old-time tunes and songs written by Gordon Keller, from Geauga County, Ohio. The album features a number of other Ohio musicians, including Joe LaRose and Dave Rice.
Cecil Plum (CD)
Back to my Field Recorders' Collective albums (FRC404), released in 2005. Plum lived in Massillon, Ohio, when Goehring recorded him in 1983, but he was originally from Tunnelton, West Virginia. This album also includes some tracks by Lonnie Seymour. This CD was also part of that post I've already linked a couple times above.
Red Mules, Old-Time Music (Cassette)
Released by Marimac Recordings in 1992, this lineup includes the core trio of Jeff Goehring, Rick Goehring and Susie Goehring, along with Beth Braden and Lynn Frederick. I'd like to get this album digitized some day.
Lonnie Seymour (CD)
More from the Field Recorders' Collective (FRC403), released in 2005. Seymour was a Chillicothe, Ohio-based fiddler, who is perhaps best known for "Log Chain." Goehring made these recordings as part of an apprenticeship program through the Ohio Arts Council. Again, see that same post.
Arnold Sharp (CD)
OK, this is the last of my Field Recorders' Collective albums (FRC406). Released in 2006, this CD features Gallia, Ohio-based fiddler Arnold Sharp. Yep, check that same post for more.
Another group of musicians from Geauga County, this family band released this album in 2011, featuring lots of lovely harmonies.
Christian Wig, Gate to Go Through (CD)
Wig is based in Mechanicstown, an unincorporated community in Carroll County, Ohio. Released in 2004, this album also features Mark Olitsky and Dave Rice. This was a go-to album for me for a long time. I mentioned this album in the second part of my Olitsky interview.
Christian Wig, Constancy: Fiddling on the Frontier (CD)
I reviewed this album for The Old-Time Herald last year. The CD features a bunch of other Ohio old-time musicians and is the fourth album in Wig's "Frontier" series.
Various, Folk Music in North Central Ohio (LP)
This compilation from 1981 produced by the Three Seas Institute with the support of the Ohio Arts Council. I don't recognize any of the names, but the cover art is awesome.
Various, Seems Like Romance to Me (LP)
You can get a reissue of this 1985 compilation of through Smithsonian Folkways, which I highly recommend doing. Subtitled "Traditional Fiddle Tunes from Ohio," the album was produced by Jeff Goehring and Howard Sacks, featuring Clifford and Telford Hardesty, Jimmy Wheeler, Arnold Sharp, Cecil Plum, Lonnie Seymour, John Hannah, Rollie Hommon and Kenny Sidle.
Various, Visits (LP)
Produced by Ray Alden, this 1981 compilation was part of my "Vinyl Hunter" series in 2017, and it has a cool story you can read more about here. The album was part of Mike Seeger's personal collection. My main interest was the inclusion of Ward Jarvis playing "Banjo Tramp," but there are a couple other Ohio connections with tunes by Forest Pick and the duo of Lisa Ornstein and Andy Cahan.
Various, Young Fogies (LP)
Another compilation produced by Ray Alden and another album featured in my "Vinyl Hunter" series. Released in 1985, this album's Ohio connections include the Red Mules, Dan Gellert, the Hot Mud Family and the Rhythm Gorillas. You can read more here.
Various, Young Fogies, Vol. II (CD)
Released a decade after its predecessor in 1995, this Ray Alden-produced compilation features "Icy Mountain" by the Red Mules. I'm pretty sure that's the only Ohio connection. I wrote a little bit about the album here.
There are two issues of Banjo Newsletter, one from 2001 that features an interview with legendary banjo artisan Doug Unger and another from 2006 that features an article by Christian Wig, titled "Old-Time Banjo in Ohio."
The Old-Time Herald issues shown are from 1988, featuring an interview with Dan Gellert, and from 2015, featuring an installment of Walt Koken's "Tales from the 'Woods" series that mentions the Kent State Folk Festival. There is also a Xerox copy of Lynn Frederick's article about the Red Mules from 1995, which I would like to track down in its original form.
Not shown here, but somewhere I also have an issue of Fretboard Journal that also features Doug Unger.
One item missing from the photos is Stories from the Annie Grimes Collection of American Folk Music, published by Ohio University Press in 2010. Grimes was a folklorist and dulcimer player based in Columbus. The book comes with a CD of her field recordings, as well as her own playing.
Another book I should have included in the photos is Way Up North in Dixie: A Black Family's Claim to the Confederate Anthem, by Howard and Judy Sacks. I wrote about the book way back in 2012, when I had the occasion to hear a talk by the authors a the G.A.R. Hall in Peninsula, Ohio.
I'm still on the hunt for the two LPs produced by David Brose, featuring Ward Jarvis and others. While I have digital copies of Rat's Won't Stay Where There's Music and Traditional Music from Central Ohio, I would like to own them on vinyl one day. I occasionally see them for sale online for ridiculous prices, but I'm hopeful I'll one day find affordable copies. There are also a few more Ohio-related Field Recorders' Collective releases I still need to get.
Let me know your thoughts on my collection in the comments. Do you have any of these albums? What am I missing? What do you collect? Do you want to sell me your Ohio-related old-time albums?
That is a nice collection. I have "Seems Like Romance." I also have Snow on the Roof Fire in the Furnace," featuring Cincinnati musicians; "Turn Back the Clock" by the Cincinnati group Company Comin'; and three of Christian Wig's CDs, who is an acquaintance. A good group in my area (North Canton) was Blue Eagle String Band. They released a cassette in the 1980s and a CD in the early 2000s. Christian and BESB founder Dave Neff started Boulder Junction near Uniontown in 1975, where they built mountain dulcimers and hosted old-time jams, which later moved to Quail Hollow State Park, now a county park. I have a mountain dulcimer they built in 1975. Christian has some history on his site, http://www.chriswig.com/. John Whitacre (The Rampant Mandolin)
ReplyDeleteJohn, thank you for your comment and giving me a couple new titles to add to my list. The Blue Eagle String Band played a music festival in my neighborhood in Akron a few years ago. I didn't realize the connection between Neff and Wig and the Quail Hollow jam. I always meant to attend, but never got the chance.
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