Black walnut neck and tuners, bridge +tailpiece. Poplar hoop. Deer bone nut and fifth string pip. Brass screws. Copper wire.
The head is Jamaican goat skin from Jeff Menzies (2018-04-05 00:40:57 +0000 UTC View Post
In an earlier video I mentioned that I possessed this evidently rare recording of William 'Banjo Bill' Cornett playing and singing two versions of the Knott County, Kentucky banjo blues song "Morphine...
2018-04-03 15:04:33 +0000 UTC View Post
Here are a few images I've gathered that are unusual in the sense that they portray banjo players "in the field" rather than a typical studio setting. Check out that wild neck profile on the banjo pic...
2018-04-03 12:01:00 +0000 UTC View Post
https://www.patreon.com/cliftonhicks
2018-04-02 20:10:27 +0000 UTC View Post
(relative tuning: gDGBD)
Here's a close-up of Clif's left hand playing through the first and second parts of "White House Blues" (aka If I Lose Let Me Lose, All You Fascists, Railroad Bill, Washingt...
2018-03-31 21:43:32 +0000 UTC View Post
(relative tuning: gDGBD) Here's a close-up of Clif's right hand playing through the first and second parts of "White House Blues" (aka If I Lose Let Me Lose, All You Fascists, Railroad Bill, Was...
2018-03-31 21:40:59 +0000 UTC View Post
https://kentuckyexplorer.com/nonmembers/01-02033.html
(The following is the conclusion to "The Banjo in ...
2018-03-30 12:00:01 +0000 UTC View Post
A while ago I performed this piece for you; today let's take a closer look at the basic techniques which make up the song. Look out in the near future for some close up shots of the right and left han...
2018-03-29 22:30:37 +0000 UTC View Post
John sent us some fascinating info and a question about "Boil Them Cabbage Down." Also, is Clifton Hicks related to Stanley Hicks, Dee Hicks or any of the noted Appalachian Hicks families?
And check...
2018-03-29 02:41:28 +0000 UTC View Post
In banjo researcher George R. Gibson's 2002 article 'Gourd Banjos: from Africa to the Appalachians' note the following citation:
'Banjo playing in Tidewater Virginia is described in the Journal and ...
2018-03-25 17:27:53 +0000 UTC View Post
Most of us know that the American five-string banjo traces it's history to a family of west African musical instruments that were introduced to North America via the Atlantic slave trade.
Blacks, wh...
2018-03-24 21:50:53 +0000 UTC View Post
'From at least as early as the late 18th century, then, African American banjo players could be found in Appalachia. This fact is not surprising, since one would expect that they could be found wherev...
2018-03-24 19:22:00 +0000 UTC View Post
Following is an outline of essential reading for those seriously interested in the general history of the banjo.
"It is difficult to find much personal information in written history about the...
2018-03-22 22:27:24 +0000 UTC View Post
"Lee and Opal Sexton are subsistence farmers living at the head of a hollow, at the end of Dead End Road in Linefork, Kentucky. Opal carefully preserves all that their garden produces. Lee, a retired ...
2018-03-21 18:10:07 +0000 UTC View Post
The last time I showed yall this black walnut banjo neck I've been working on it was basically a rough block of wood with the beginning of a tenon and the neck outline traced on one side.
My method ...
2018-03-21 16:55:02 +0000 UTC View Post
(Banjo is tuned 1.5 steps below fDGCD)
Before moving on to the next song I need to wrap up this series on Cumberland Gap with a brief discussion on my technical approach to the song. In this ...
2018-03-21 10:00:01 +0000 UTC View Post
"On today’s show I speak with Clifton Hicks, a great young banjo player originally from Florida and Georgia who now reside...
2018-03-20 12:01:00 +0000 UTC View Post
In this segment I'll play a version of Pretty Polly inspired by the recent tablature posted by Justin over in the Community section at 2018-03-19 11:01:00 +0000 UTC View Post
"My research of banjo history in Knott County, Kentucky, and the surrounding area is on-going. Listed below are a few notes regarding African American musicians in east Kentucky. " - George R. Gibson<...
2018-03-19 07:01:58 +0000 UTC View Post
Here's a somewhat slowed-down and close-up shot of the little interlude I sometimes play up the neck in between the standard A and B parts of Cumberland Gap.
Most of the better traditional banjo pla...
2018-03-18 13:00:01 +0000 UTC View Post
"If the banjo was commonly known over a large area by 1750, as I assume, then it must have been introduced two or more generations prior to 1750. It is likely, therefore, that the amalgamation o...
2018-03-18 12:00:01 +0000 UTC View Post
(Banjo tuned to e♭CFB♭C -- relative fDGCD)
Here's the left hand work for Cumberland Gap. I picked up this way of playing the song from listening to recordings of Morgan and Lee Sexton of K...
2018-03-17 16:03:22 +0000 UTC View Post
In 2010 George Gibson and I sat with New York musician, teacher, organizer etc. Eli Smith for a pair of interviews.
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2018-03-17 13:00:01 +0000 UTC View Post
(The following is an interesting piece of personal correspondence from master banjo player and historian George R. Gibson.)
Gibson's latest research into the evolution of American banjo cultur...
2018-03-17 00:56:11 +0000 UTC View Post
(Banjo tuned to e♭CFB♭C -- relative fDGCD)
A while back I posted a performance of this song, here is the right hand close-up. I figured out this way of picking the tune from listening to r...
2018-03-17 00:05:19 +0000 UTC View Post
gDGBD, relative (tuned down to F)
"White House Blues/All You Fascists/Railroad Bill" (originally recorded by Charlie Poole in 1926). While, my version may sound similar to Poole's at first glance (w...
2018-03-16 12:01:00 +0000 UTC View Post
Before we can dive into any of the more advanced techniques that involve noting the banjo above the fifth fret, it's necessary to understand a little bit of the geometry involved in the layout of the ...
2018-03-15 12:00:00 +0000 UTC View Post
Daniel has a fascinating question about singing in foreign accents and Adam needs a word of advice on transitioning from tablature to learning by ear.
Will wants to know more about the friction tuners on his 'new' antique banjo: can/should he upgrade? And Ryan is having one Hell of a time shopping for a left-handed antique banjo.
(Dan Torigoe is a dude from Japan who spends most of his time studying traditional American folk music and travelling around, mostly the southeast, recording it. Check out Dolceola Recordings