The Glory-Beaming Banjo

Thinking way back to when I started exploring the fiddling style of Ward Jarvis , among the first batch of tunes I learned was "Tomahawk."  Jarvis plays the tune in AEAE tuning, and the Milliner-Koken book includes notation for his version. While researching and learning how to play the tune, I discovered that this fairly recent composition had gone through a few noticeable permutations. To my ear, the so-called "folk process" has yielded five distinct variations of "Tomahawk." Folklorist David Brose recorded Jarvis playing "Tomahawk" in the 1970s, though the tune does not appear on either of the albums Brose produced for the Ohio Arts Council and Ohio Folklife in 1979. The late Red Mules String Band fiddler Jeff Goehring also recorded Jarvis playing the tune in 1977, according to the liner notes of the resulting Field Recorders' Collective (FRC) release. Jarvis is on record saying he learned the tune from Tommy Jackson , a fiddl...

This morning brought the sad news that Benton Flippen , the legendary fiddler from Mount Airy, N.C., died yesterday. Benton Flippen was a fixture at old-time fiddlers convention and was noted for his distinctive fingering style, which included many slides. In 1990, he won the North Carolina Heritage Award for his musical contributions. There are many recordings available of Mr. Flippen: Old Time, New Tunes An Evening at WPAQ, 1984 (with the Smokey Valley Boys) 270 Haystack Rd.  (with the Smokey Valley Boys) Fiddler's Dream  (with the Smokey Valley Boys) Beware of Dog  (with the Smokey Valley Boys) The Banjo Hangout has a nice little tribute to Mr. Flippen in the forums. His obituary is also available. Below, he plays his signature tune, "Benton's Dream." ***UPDATED June 30, 2011: The Mount Airy News pays tribute to Benton Flippen