Category Archives: Banjo

The Stillhouse Reelers Scrapbook

See The Stillhouse Reelers – Had a Big Time Today – FRC740

Here’s a scrap book of photos and memorabilia from the old days of this venerable band. Click above to listen or purchase the recordings of the band.

Stillhouse-Reelers-on-stage-NW-TN-Heritage-Festival-1985

The Stillhouse Reelers on-stage NW TN Heritage Festival 1985

The Stillhouse Reelers at the Uncle Dave Macon Days

The Stillhouse Reelers at the Uncle Dave Macon Days

Michael-Bobby-Clyde-2003-by-Roby-Cogswell.

Bobby Fulcher, Clyde Davenport, Michael DeFosche; 2003 –  Photo by Roby Cogswell

Michael-Bobby-Bob-Douglas-2000-by-Roby-Cogswell

Bobby Fulcher, Bob Douglas, Michael DeFosche; 2000 – Photo by Roby Cogswell

Bobby-and-Michael-Fall-Creek-Falls-State-Park-2006-from-TN-Folklife-Prog

Bobby Fulcher & Michael DeFosche; 2006—from TN Folklife Program – courtesy of Bradley & Sarah Hanson

DeFosche-Caruthers-Cumberland-Plateau-Fiddling.

Michael DeFosche & Trenton (“Tater”) Caruthers – Cumberland Plateau Fiddling – courtesy of Bradley & Sarah Hanson

Michael-Tater-Caruthers-2-Hwy-11-Flea-Mkt-Dec-2017-TN-Folklife-Prog

Michael DeFosche & Trenton (“Tater”) Caruthers – 2 Hwy 11 Flea Mkt Dec 2017 TN Folklife Program – courtesy of Bradley & Sarah Hanson

Michael-Tater-Hwy-11-Flea-Mkt-Dec-2017-TN-Folklife-Prog

Michael DeFosche & Trenton (“Tater”) Caruthers –  Hwy 11 Flea Mkt Dec 2017 TN Folklife Program – courtesy of Bradley & Sarah Hanson

Michael 2015 from Tennessee Folklife Program – courtesy of Bradley & Sarah Hanson

Michael-at-Hwy-111-Flea-Market-Dec-2017-from-TN-Folklife-Prog

Michael at Hwy 111 Flea Market Dec 2017 from TN Folklife Program – courtesy of Bradley & Sarah Hanson

Michael with Mike Bryant & Karen Falkowski Mountaineer Folk Fest 2002 from TN Folklife Program

Michael with Mike Bryant & Karen Falkowski Mountaineer Folk Fest 2002 from TN Folklife Program – courtesy of Bradley & Sarah Hanson

Michael-DeFosche

Michael DeFosche

First Place Award

First Place Award

Brass Award 1985

Brass Award 1985

Uncle Dave Days award 1987

Uncle Dave Days award 1987

1983 clipping

1983 Clipping

Michael-DeFosche-memorial-sign

Michael DeFosche memorial sign – From the collection of Al & Sharon DeFosche

From the collection of Al & Sharon DeFosche

Michael with violin - From the collection of Al & Sharon DeFosche

Michael with violin – From the collection of Al & Sharon DeFosche

From the collection of Al & Sharon DeFosche

From the collection of Al & Sharon DeFosche

From the collection of Al & Sharon DeFosche

Double Decker String Band – Double Take – Annotated TrackLists

Double Decker String Band – Double Take – Annotated TrackLists FRC746

Disc 1

  1. Crawling and Creeping: recorded by Asa Martin and James Roberts, August, 1934
  2. Goin’ Back to Dixie: from Uncle Dave Macon and His Fruit Jar Drinkers, recorded May, 1927. Also recorded by the Leake County Revelers in April, 1929.
  3. Poor Ellen Smith: recorded by numerous artists, but this version is mostly from Dykes Magic City Trio, recorded in March, 1927.
  4. Lawdy, Lawdy: from the Alabama Sheiks, one of only four sides recorded by Eddie West (fiddle) and Ad Fox (guitar) in 1931.
  5. Katie Hill: recorded as “Sally Johnson” by Lowe Stokes with Riley Puckett on guitar in April, 1930.
  6. Giddyap Napoleon: recorded as “Giddap Napolean” by Gid Tanner and His Skillet-Lickers, October, 1929. Vocal by Riley Puckett.
  7. Down in Baltimore: from the Southern Melody Boys (Odus Maggard and Woodrow Roberts). Recorded in February, 1937.
  8. John Henry: our version was inspired by the Williamson Brothers and Curry and the Skillet-Lickers.
  9. Then It Won’t Hurt No More: recorded as “It Won’t Hurt No More” in June of 1931 by (Buster) Carter and (Preston) Young, with Posey Rorer on fiddle.
  10. Riley the Furniture Man: from the Georgia Crackers, recorded in March, 1927.
  11. Mary, Don’t You Weep: from the Georgia Yellow Hammers, recorded in August, 1927.
  12. New Prisoner’s Song: from Dock Boggs (with Hub Mahaffey of Dykes Magic City Trio on guitar). Recorded in March, 1927.
  13. Look Before You Leap: recorded by Charlie Poole and the North Carolina Ramblers in September, 1930.
  14. Horseshoe Bend: from the Stripling Brothers, recorded in August, 1929.
  15. Goin’ to Germany: recorded by Cannon’s Jug Stompers in October, 1929. Harmonica and vocal by Noah Lewis.
  16. Georgia Camp Meeting: from the Leake County Revelers. Recorded in April, 1929 in the same session that yielded “I’m Gwine Back to Dixie”.

Disc 2

  1. Going Across the Sea/Ryestraw: This is a version of “Going Across the Sea” that was being played around the DC area in the 70s. Our rendition of “Ryestraw” was based on the Uncle Dave Macon/Charlie Arrington recording of 1938. It was played at the end of the song “Johnny Grey”. The third part we added probably came from the Highwoods Stringband.
  2. Old Joe: from Dr. Humphrey Bate and His Possum Hunters, with Oscar Stone on fiddle, recorded in March, 1928.
  3. Tittabawasee Jane: written by Jay Stielstra.
  4. Diamond Joe: recorded in October, 1927 by the Georgia Crackers, also known as the Cofer Brothers.
  5. Walking in the Light: from Lake Howard and Bill Wakefield, recorded in April, 1935.
  6. Wait Till I Put on My Robe: from the Famous Jubilee Singers, recorded in July, 1927.
  7. Outshine the Sun: from a recording by William Wexford which we got from Joe Bussard. Neither this title or William Wexford is listed in Tony Russell’s extensive discography, so we can’t provide any information about this recording or the mysterious Mr. Wexford.
  8. Evolution Girl: recorded by the Carolina Buddies (Odell Smith, Norman Woodlieff, and Walter Smith) in February, 1931.
  9. Little Black Train is Coming: from Emry and Henry Arthur, recorded in January, 1928.
  10. Louisianna Breakdown: from the Hackberry Ramblers, recorded in February, 1927.
  11. Just Give Me the Leavins: recorded by Dr. Smith’s Champion Hoss Hair Pullers in December, 1928.
  12. Richmond is a Hard Road to Travel: from Tom Paley and the New Lost City Ramblers, “Songs of the Civil War”, recorded in 1960.
  13. Called to the Foreign Field: recorded in July, 1927 by Alfred Karnes (who accompanied himself on the harp-guitar!)
  14. My Own Iona: from the Scottdale String Band, recorded in March, 1927.
  15. Saturday Night Breakdown: Recorded by the great Mississippi band, the Leake County Revelers in April, 1929. The same tune was played by the Newton County Hillbillies, also from Mississippi. They called it the Nine O’clock Breakdown.
  16. Liza Jane: an unhinged version of the J.P. Fraley tune.
  17. Duck Shoes Rag: an original tune recorded by the Grinnell Giggers in November, 1930. They were from the Missouri bootheel. A grinnell is a fish and gigging was a method of fishing using a three-pronged fork.
  18. Tom and Jerry: this version of the tune came from the playing of John Ashby, the great Northern Virginia fiddler. He likely got it from Uncle Dave Macon and His Fruit Jar Drinkers who recorded it in May, 1927.

Web Links and Videos for Jim Shumate

Jim Shumate: Pioneering Bluegrass Fiddler – FRC727

Continue reading →

Fred McBride: Going Across the Mountain

Fred McBride – North Carolina Fiddle and Banjo – FRC722

by Lucas Pasley

Article courtesy of the Old Time Herald, Volume 13, Number 10.

I remember the first time I saw Fred play down at a little jam around Wilkesboro. I was young and in search of a real old time sound, and when I heard Fred I almost fell on the floor. I drove straight up to Alleghany County and told my grandmother I’d found my hero fiddler. She smiled and said, well, what’s his name?” “Fred McBride.” I said reverently. “Fred McBride!” She yelled back as she sat up in her recliner. “Good Lord,” she said, “You’ve known him your whole life – you’ve seen him at every family reunion you’ve ever been to!” Continue reading →

Old Time Music of Alleghany County, NC

by Lucas Pasley

Despite having produced well-known fiddlers such as Guy Brooks, Art Wooten, and Tim Smith, Alleghany County’s rich old-time fiddling tradition has remained largely out of the spotlight. This CD attempts to capture not only the importance of Alleghany’s fiddling heritage, but also its own unique character. As with other mountain musical communities, the common threads of tradition met the innovative touch of the musicians to create a complex and powerful sound.

There was, however, a tremendous flow of exchange between Alleghany and bordering counties. According to Brad Leftwich, Tommy Jarrell learned his unique version of John Henry from Alleghany County, and prominent Alleghany fiddlers such as Huston Caudill traveled to Virginia for work and played with Grayson County fiddlers such as Luther Davis. State and county lines meant little to the flow of music and musicians, and Alleghany’s musical heritage is richly interwoven with the surrounding areas. Continue reading →

Fred Cockerham

Fred Cockerham (FRC101)

by Ray Alden

Fred Cockerham, one of the seven children of Elias and Betty Jane Cockerham, was born on November 3, 1905.  He was the only one from the Round Peak community to attempt the difficult life of a professional rural musician.  The way that Fred began playing the fiddle is similar to the way many country musicians began.  Basically, this story can be heard on Continue reading →

Review of the Sidna & Fulton Myers CD (FRC504)

Sidna & Fulton Myers (FRC504)

by Kerry Blech, Old Time Herald Magazine

Fiddler James Fulton “Jimmy Natural” Myers was born about 1895 and died in 1979.  According to Blanton Owen, who recorded him in the mid-1970s, he was born near Woodlawn, Virginia, between Galax and Hillsville.  He farmed, worked for the WPA during the Great Depression, and was a mason’s helper.  He learned to play from his father, who played banjo, and from “Old Man” Continue reading →

Review of “The Lost Recordings of Banjo Bill Cornett”

The Lost Recordings of Banjo Bill Cornett (FRC304)

by Art Rosenbaum

Reprinted here by permission of the Old Time Herald Magazine (April-May 2006 issue)

The Field Recorders’ Collective FRC304 CD is a self-recorded legacy of Banjo Bill Cornett, giving us what is arguably the finest very early-style mountain singing to banjo ever recorded.  Cornett did play for others and in public—he played his “Old-Age Pension Blues” on the floor of the Kentucky Legislature, and according to John Cohen, “died while entertaining at a restaurant in Continue reading →

The Lost Recordings of Banjo Bill Cornett

The Lost Recordings of Banjo Bill Cornett (FRC304)

by John Cohen

Bill Cornett was born in East Kentucky in 1890.  He started playing banjo at age eight.  His musical flair, he reported, was inherited from his mother who sang ballads to him.  He operated a country store two miles outside of Hindman.  It is said that he’d rather sit and pick his banjo than wait on customers.  In 1956 he was elected to the Kentucky State Legislature, representing Continue reading →

Ola Belle Reed

Ola Belle Reed (FRC203)

by Thomas Polis (For further information go to www.olabellereed.com)

Ola Belle Reed was born Ola Wave Campbell on August 17, 1916, in Lansing, North Carolina.  She was one of thirteen children born to Arthur Harrison Campbell and Ella May Osborne Campbell.  The Campbell family ancestors had moved to the New River Valley of western North Carolina sometime around the 1760’s.  Arthur Harrison was an educated man who spent his life as a Continue reading →

Clyde Davenport

Clyde Davenport, Vol. 1 (FRC103),  Clyde Davenport, Vol. 2 (FRC104),
Clyde Davenport DVD (FRC1004)

by Jeff Titon

Kentuckian Clyde Davenport is a master old-time fiddler and banjo player. His large repertory of traditional tunes, many of them rare, makes him an important source musician. At 85, he still plays wonderfully well. For almost twenty years old-time fiddlers and banjo players have made pilgrimages to his home in Monticello, Kentucky, to share in his music. Clyde is amused and Continue reading →

Corbett Stamper

Interviewed 29th September 1982 by Frank Weston

FRC306

I was born James Corbett Stamper in Grayson County, Virginia, in the 9th district 13th December in 1910. My father was Matt Stamper, he played fiddle and picked banjo just about all his life. And my uncle, his eldest brother played fiddle. My father’s father also named Matt he’s buried down here in this cemetery was a fife player in the civil war and he also played organ and piano. Continue reading →

Dock Boggs

Dock Boggs FRC305 and FRC312

by Reed Martin

My sister lived in Whitesburg, Kentucky, during the mid 1960s and thereafter. In 1967 I went to live with her for the summer. I had been living in my hometown of Bloomington, Indiana. I was used to playing at noisy dances and had taken to the habit of winding all four strings in the peg head – the same direction. If I was part of a band and the noise was great, if my third string was Continue reading →

The Kimble & Wagoner Families

The Kimble and Wagoner Families (FRC106)

by Ray Alden

Many years ago, while at a conference on Old Time Music at Brown University, I heard Alan Jabbour describe the music deriving not from a single pure source but behaving more like river in which many currents mingle and churn together to produce a song or a tune. So too, when I look at the Kimble family tree, I see a meandering stream of personalities and musical abilities flowing into the blood of Taylor Kimble and his children. Continue reading →

The Complete History of the Plank Road String Band and the Lexington, VA Music Scene

Plank Road (FRC606)

By Brad Leftwich, Al Tharp and Odell McGuire

Brad Leftwich’s Memories

In the early 1970s it seemed like communities of people who loved and lived old-time music and dancing were popping up like mushrooms all over the country. One of the most vibrant was in Lexington, Virginia. I ran across a bunch of musicians from Lexington at the 1972 fiddlers convention in Independence, Va. (Wade Ward’s stomping grounds) and had such a great time Continue reading →