The Ohio River has long drawn settlers—including a very diverse group of musicians—to its banks for work, ready transportation, and natural beauty, creating one of the richest veins of folk music in the country. This FRC collection concentrates upon the varied and sophisticated fiddle tunes that were once unique to this region. It draws on […]
All four of the 2014 releases for one discounted price: Howard Miller – Sixty Years of North Carolina Fiddling (FRC706) ; Albert Hash, Volume 2 (FRC707) ; Lee Stoneking – Missouri Fiddling and Banjo Playing (FRC708) ; and Rector Hicks – Sugar in the Morning (FRC709)
Rector Hicks, fiddler, was born in West Virginia and lived in Akron Ohio. These recordings include his unique versions of familiar tunes, rarely-heard hymns, waltzes, and marches, some Ed Haley pieces, and two fine self-composed tunes. – Joe LaRose
Jeff Goehring was born into a musical Missouri family in 1957 and raised near Columbus, Ohio. As a teenager his fiddling was greatly influenced by Ward Jarvis (FRC401), whom Jeff often visited in southern Ohio. Jeff also sought out and learned from a number of other Ohio fiddlers, and from both young and old musicians […]
Born in 1914 in Gallia, Lawrence County, near the Ohio River in southern Ohio, Arnold earned his living as a dairy farmer near Jackson, Ohio. His grandfather, “Fiddling Andy” Sharp, came to Lawrence County from England in the mid-19th century. Arnold’s father, George Sharp, was also a dance fiddler as well as an accordion and […]
John Hannah was born in Mingo County, West Virginia in 1920. His grandfather, Isaac, and his father, Wallace, were both fiddlers. His mother, Rebecca, played claw-hammer style banjo. John’s first instrument was the fretless banjo, which he took up at the age of six. When he began playing fiddle, he performed with his brother in […]
These recordings feature Cecil Plum on fiddle and Jeff Goehring on guitar, and were made in 1983 at Cecil’s home in Massillon, Ohio. Cecil was born in 1913 in Tunnellton, West Virginia where he learned to play music from his parents, his uncle, and numerous musicians in his community. Beginning in the late 1930s, Cecil […]
These mid-1980s recordings feature Lonnie Seymour on fiddle, Jeff Goehring on guitar, and Tony Ellis on banjo. Lonnie was born in Chillicothe, Ohio in 1922. His playing was influenced by a variety of local Chillicothe fiddlers, including his father, uncle and grandfather; and by country music he heard on the radio, most notably that of […]
These recordings feature Ward Jarvis on fiddle, Dana Loomis on banjo, and Jeff Goehring on guitar, and were made at Ward’s home in Stewart, Ohio in 1977. James Ward Jarvis, born in 1894, moved to Athens County, Ohio from Calhoun County, West Virginia in the late 1940s to work in the timber industry. Ward’s repertoire […]
These recordings feature Jimmy Wheeler on fiddle and Jeff Goehring on guitar, and were made at Jimmy’s home in Portsmouth, Ohio in the mid 1980s when Jimmy was in his late 60s. Jimmy’s fiddling was typical of a very articulate, melodic style prevalent in northern Kentucky and southern Ohio. Some of the older fiddlers Jimmy […]
Robert Lee “Strawberry” McCloud – Bloomington Breakdown – FRC749 Below is the text of an article that appeared in the Bloomington, Indiana, newspaper, the Herald-Telephone (now Herald-Times), based on an interview with Strawberry McCloud. It appeared probably in late 1977 or 1978, given that Strawberry was born November 11, 1907, and the article gives his […]
Robert Lee “Strawberry” McCloud – Bloomington Breakdown – FRC749 ‘He lived hard, he worked hard, he played hard’ by Steve Hinnefeld One day in February 1975, Randy Marmouzé stopped by the trailer where I lived in Bloomington, Indiana, toting his banjo. “Let’s go see if Strawberry wants to play some tunes,” he said. Randy and […]
Robert Lee “Strawberry” McCloud – Bloomington Breakdown – FRC749 By Teri Klassen Fiddler/bass fiddler/heavy equipment operator Robert Lee “Bob” or “Strawberry” McCloud (1907-80) spent his first 30 years in the Bluegrass region of Kentucky, just west of the eastern Mountain region. Both areas were rich in old-time music, but the Bluegrass was more populated and […]
Robert Lee “Strawberry” McCloud – Bloomington Breakdown – FRC749 By Teri Klassen Shortnin’ Bread (1:53) Strawberry McCloud: fiddle; Randy Marmouzé: banjo; Jeff Claus and Steve Hinnefeld: guitar; Mark Feddersen: bass. Recorded by Gary Stanton, January 1978, at WFIU public radio studios on the Indiana University campus in Bloomington. Tracks from this golden session account for […]
Robert Lee “Strawberry” McCloud – Bloomington Breakdown – FRC749 Provided by Gary Stanton, 2021 When Strawberry McCloud was hired to perform at the 1978 Kent State Folk Festival, he was asked to provide his “bio” for festival publicity and programming. In response, he wrote this autobiographical letter to Kerry Blech, one of that year’s festival […]
Since FRC started in 2004, we have made available the recordings of many collectors of traditional music. To date these include (with CDs they contributed to):
FRC732 – Kentucky Fiddlers Home Recordings Vol. 1 by John Harrod One day in September 1977 I got a phone call from George Hawkins asking if would I give him a ride to the fiddle contest at the Bath County Fair. I had visited him a couple of times previously and was struck with his […]
FRC716 – Darley Fulks – Kentucky Wild Horse by John Harrod, September 2015 Darley Fulks (1895-1990) in his long life worked as an oil driller, traveling both north and south from his native Wolfe Co., Kentucky, meeting other musicians, and learning tunes everywhere he went. But the greatest portion of his repertoire came from the older […]
FRC718 – Carlton Rawlings – Bath County, Kentucky Fiddler by John Harrod INTRODUCTION Northeastern Kentucky was still a hotbed of old style fiddling in the 1970s and ’80s when Gus Meade, Mark Wilson, Bruce Greene, and I began making regular visits to record and learn from the many interesting local fiddlers who were still going […]