Lowe Stokes, Georgia Fiddler – FRC723
By Joe LaRose
A previous version of this article served as liner notes for Heritage 048, Georgia Fiddle Bands, ©1983 Heritage Records.
Of the many legendary fiddlers from old time music’s “Golden Age,” the period of commercial recording from the mid-twenties to the early thirties, Lowe Stokes seemed to have an aura of myth that went beyond his superb fiddling on records by the Skillet Lickers and others. Continue reading
Ora Watson – Watauga County, NC Old Time Music – FRC720
Article courtesy of Old Time Herald, Volume 11, Number 1
By Mark Freed
Leaving my office in Boone, North Carolina, one afternoon in May, I drove to the western part of Watauga County for a visit with Ora Watson. I parked my car, grabbed a banjo from the back seat, and walked inside where I found my friend Cecil Gurganus visiting with Ora in the living room. Ora asked me to come closer so she could see me, so I got within a few inches of her face. Continue reading
Maggie Parker – Hammons Family Songs & Music – FRC713
by Wayne Howard
Article courtesy of the Old Time Herald, April-May 2010.
I had gotten well acquainted with Lee Hammons by the summer of 1970, but I still hadn’t met Dwight Diller, who had indirectly led me to Lee. At the end of his school year at West Virginia University, Dwight came home. By the time of Pioneer Days, in mid-July, we were fast friends; and Dwight was rapidly acquainting me and my wife, Barbara, with the “mountain music” scene. Continue reading
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
FRC718 – Carlton Rawlings – Bath County, Kentucky Fiddler
by John Harrod
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 strong at the time. We were astounded at the sophistication and complexity of the styles, the level of performance, and the dramatic Continue reading
FRC717 – Ralph Whited – Old Time Alabama Fiddling
by Joyce Cauthen
Ralph Whited lived in one house in Oneonta, AL from the day he was born in 1919 until the day he died in 1994. Oneonta sits in the foothills of the southern Appalachian Mountains, below Sand Mountain and 35 miles north of Birmingham. The Whited home, inherited from Ralph’s prosperous grandfather, was large enough to comfortably house Ralph’s parents, Henry and Elizabeth Whited, and their 6 robust sons Coy, O’Dell, Ward, J.D., Ralph and Brady. When Ward and J.D. took up playing guitar, it became a musical gathering place. Continue reading
A few of our long-time loyal customers were inquiring about the yearly sets we offered in the past. Please note that all of our CDs and DVDs are still available and with the capabilities of the new web site we are able to offer quantity discounts that allow you to make your own sets at the same lower prices.
In any case, we have attached a list of the past issues that were grouped in sets. You can download the list here.
FRC711 – Craig-johnson – Deep Woods and Hollows
Remembrance written by Dave Shombert (reproduced with permission from Dave Shombert and the Old Time Herald)
Continue reading
FRC710 – Dean Sturgill – The Spencer Branch Fiddler
Dean Sturgill is an old-time fiddler and poet from Ashe County, North Carolina. For many years, he led the popular Grayson Highlands Band. In the early 1990s, he self-published these three books of wonderful poetry about life in the mountains (available for download in pdf below). He reads his poem, “The Fees Branch Fiddler” in the video.
An Old Fiddler’s Book of Rhymes
An Old Fiddler’s “Second” Book of Rhymes
An Old Fiddler’s Book of Rhymes III
September 2009
Our dear friend and the founder of the Field Recorders’ Collective died this fall after a long and valiant struggle with cancer. Continue reading
Jimmy Wheeler (FRC401)
by Henna R. Armstrong, Getzville NY – 18 Dec. 2007
I was tickled to read on the web page about the trip down to Portsmouth to get Jimmy on tape. You see, Jimmy Wheeler was my father’s first cousin. Jimmy’s mother, “Aunt Em,” was a sister to my grandmother, Nell Odell. I was raised in Portsmouth but we rarely visited the Wheelers, and I don’t remember Jimmy and his sisters at all. My dad told me about going there one time after I Continue reading
Jimmy Wheeler (FRC401)
by Jeff Goehring
Oct. 5, 1982 – First recording session with Jimmy Wheeler in Portsmouth, Ohio
Arrived approx. 2 p.m. unexpectedly.
Found Jimmy and two of three sisters sitting under awning between house and shop/garage, smoking cigarettes and drinking Old Milwaukee in red and white cans, a welcoming wave. Jimmy didn’t remember my name though I’m positive he remembered me. His sisters Dottie and Merle were friendly. Dot remembered me, Merle didn’t. Continue reading
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
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
Sidna & Fulton Myers (FRC504)
by Jody Stecher (Fiddler Magazine)
This installment of Cross-Tuning Workshop (CROSS-TUNING WORKSHOP Part Thirty-Two: ADAE) pairs a well-known fiddle tune with a little-known but fascinating fiddler. “Soldier’s Joy” is a contender for the world’s most played fiddle tune. If you wonder why, you’ve heard only the bad versions. This is a great tune for dancing, always fun to play (on any instrument), and it carries a huge amount of energy which it will release to Continue reading
Santford Kelly (FRC503)
by Kerry Blech, Old Time Herald Magazine
I want to be perfectly clear about my feelings about this series, The Field Recorders’ Collective (FRC). I have bought into the concept totally, from the very moment that Ray Alden told me about his plans several years ago. There are many recording projects that are worthy and fruitful, but this one is very special, to me at least. I’ve known Ray for over 30 years. He’s always Continue reading
Lonnie Seymour (FRC403) and bonus tracks on Cecil Plum (FRC404)
by Betty Seymour, April 2006
Lonnie was born June 15, 1922. Lonnie’s grandpa, John Seymour, played the fiddle, so when Lonnie was about five years old, grandpa would put him on the bed with his fiddle and let him play it. Lonnie watched how Grandpa worked his fingers and bow, that is how he learned to play the fiddle. He came from a family that loved the fiddle, including his dad, Webster, and Continue reading
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 (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
Buddy Thomas (FRC303)
by Mark Wilson
Biography and photos from Rounder CD0032, “Kitty Puss,” produced by Guthrie T. Meade and Mark Wilson.
Used by permission. To order Rounder CD0032, visit www.rounder.com.
We growed up real poor, so poor that even the poor folks said we were poor. There were ten in our family and we had to raise most everything we ate and work in logwoods and stuff like that. My dad worked all the time, but he was sick and had to doctor so much, that I don’t see how he could have made it if it hadn’t been for us. He was a big strong man until he got sick and he Continue reading