The Glory-Beaming Banjo

This review has been a long time coming. Lew Stern contacted me in March regarding his latest book, Tommy Thompson: New-Timey String Band Musician . Some of you may recall Stern's biography of Dwight Diller , which we wrote about in 2016. His latest book brings a similar approach to Thompson's life and banjo playing. Published in March by McFarland, the 247-page biography provides an in-depth look at Thompson's life, his roll in establishing the old-time music scene in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and the evolution of his banjo playing from starting on a Pete Seeger-style long-neck banjo to playing with the Hollow Rock String Band, Red Clay Ramblers and beyond. Stern conducted detailed research and consulted with a host of musicians who knew Thompson and played music with him, providing a thorough profile of Thompson and his peers from his school years until his untimely death in 2003. There is also a companion book of banjo tabs, titled "He Could Surely Make a...

The old-time music community lost one of its great champions yesterday. John Cohen died at the age of 87. He was a founding member of the New Lost City Ramblers, singing and playing guitar and banjo. Cohen was also a photographer, filmmaker and musicologist. From 1972 to 1997, he was a professor of visual arts at SUNY Purchase College in Harrison, New York. In addition to his notable work as a musician, Cohen was instrumental in documenting old-time musicians through his photography and films. He is credited with "discovering" Roscoe Holcomb and featured him in his 1962 documentary, The High Lonesome Sound . He co-produced the influential album High Atmosphere in 1975, which included Cohen's field recordings of Dillard Chandler, Wade Ward, Gaither Carlton, Frank Proffitt, Fred Cockerham, Estil Ball and others. His photography has been published in numerous books over the years, including one just released on Sept. 10, called Speed Bumps on a Dirt Road: When Old Time...

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...

Five years ago Mumford & Sons was probably the biggest name in banjo music. They appeared on stage with Bob Dylan . They had a bunch of catchy songs that were all over the radio. They won a couple of Grammys . The head guy was in a really good Coen Brothers movie . And people were excited because they played acoustic instruments, particularly the banjo. Then, they decided to get moody. They took a hiatus after their worldwide tour in 2013, and two years later they released an album that ditched their signature sound . They went ... electric . Maybe they thought they could emulate Dylan's career path. It seemed to me like a manufactured publicity stunt. During the band's hiatus, banjo player Winston Marshall gave an interview where he said Mumford & Sons were done for good. And then, he dropped some serious shade on the banjo. When asked if Mumford & Sons had "killed" the banjo, Marshall told Vulture , "I think 'killed' is an under...