The Glory-Beaming Banjo

The 45th annual Kent State Folk Festival kicks off tonight with a performance by the Carolina Chocolate Drops and will wrap up Sunday with a concert by Peter Yarrow, of the legendary folk group Peter, Paul and Mary. The real fun will be Friday's Folk Alley 'Round Town , with free performances by a variety of musical acts around downtown Kent, Ohio, and the free community workshops Saturday at the KSU Student Center. The 'Round Town and workshops will provide a number of opportunities for enthusiasts of old-time music and the banjo to watch, listen, and play. On Friday, you can participate in the Kent Shindig old-time jam from 5 to 8 p.m. at the Europe Gyro. This is the group your host regularly jams with every first Sunday of the month. They're a welcoming group, so don't be shy. From 7 to 9 p.m., you can swing over to Woodsy's Music to catch Brady's Run, a local string band that includes Lynn Frederick and Sue Goehring. Also of interest are the Mayfie...

It's been more than three weeks since the last post here at Glory-Beaming Banjo. Clearly, we're in need of some updates. Here's what we've been up to: As for some local news, the GBB team attended the Raccoon County Music Festival , in Burton, Ohio, for the first time. Master banjo-smith Doug Unger presented a workshop and performance, which was a real treat, as these hands finally got a chance to hold one of his amazing instruments, sealing the desire to one day own one. Earlier this month, an article about Riley Baugus , written by yours truly, was sent off to Dan Levenson for an upcoming edition of The Old-Time Way in the Banjo Newsletter . We mentioned Craig "Frailin" Evans' documentary project , Conversations With North American Banjo Builders, back in June. Volume 1, a three-disc set that features builders from east of the Mississippi River (plus one in Texas), is now available for purchase at the project's website . You can also view a ...

Playing old-time banjo, a lot of the repertoire is fiddle tunes. There's a discussion going on now on the Banjo Hangout about just what's so great about fiddle tunes anyhow? Here is the winning response: What exactly is a fiddle tune? A fiddle tune is a melody that once you hear it, you can't seem to get it out of your head until you can grab your banjo and learn it yourself. A fiddle tune is a living cord connecting us back to long ago generations, to feel deep in ourselves just a fragment of feeling transmitted from across the ages by some plain common folk, our ancestors otherwise long forgotten. A fiddle tune is a kind of tune that has a lot of music concentrated in just a little bit of space, and in that respect it is to notes what poetry is to words. A good fiddle tune you can play for a very long time and not get tired of it. A good fiddle tune is a tune that you can never quite play the same way twice, even when you want to. A good fiddle tune will bring two or m...

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

Earlier this summer Craig "Frailin" Evans embarked on a tour of the eastern portion of North America to interview banjo builders as part of a project to document this "golden era" of artisans. He also spoke to a number of musicians and retailers to gain their perspective about our favorite instrument and these craftsmen. Next year, Evans will tour the western part of the continent. The result will be The North American Banjo Builder Series , which he plans to make available by DVD and as pay-per-view online episodes. He recently established a website for the project at www.northamericanbanjobuilders.com . The seeds of the banjo builder project can be seen in a  series of webinars  Evans conducted and posted at the Banjo Hangout . To get a glimpse of how the banjo builder series will look, he produced a video about Minnesota mandolin and guitar builder  Lloyd LaPlant . You can also check out this introductory video where Frailin explains why he's doing this ...