This unusual instrument consists of a 1920s Washburn (Lyon & Healy) Style C tenor banjo pot mated to a circa 1970 custom bluegrass neck.
2022-10-28 15:00:07 +0000 UTC
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I learned "Muddy Road" from a 1960s recording of Claude Wolfenbarger of Grainger County, Tennessee. This song is known by various titles, including "County Jail," "Fall On My Knees," and "Lonesome ...
2022-10-21 15:00:09 +0000 UTC View Post
Watch us pick, clean, and start curing our hard shell gourds. We'll leave them on the porch for a few more nights, but will move them indoors before the hard frost sets in. In 8 or 10 months, these...
2022-10-14 15:00:10 +0000 UTC View Post
In this video I talk a little about the heirloom gourds we raise every year for banjo building, and how to select a site for planting them. Expect another video on my curing process.
2022-10-12 01:08:39 +0000 UTC
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In this video I explain how to play my original banjo arrangement of "Alabama Bound" using traditional two-finger as well as overhand (clawhammer) techniques.
I derived my version from...
2022-10-07 15:00:09 +0000 UTC View Post
My grandfather (Aaron Mayo Moore, 1923-1990) was a migrant farm worker from Alabama. Although I never heard him sing it, I suspect he would've been familiar with this popular folk song. ...
2022-09-23 20:01:28 +0000 UTC View Post
I learned this rare, early ballad from George Gibson of Knott County, Kentucky. Gibson said he learned it from Orgus "Gran" Hudson, also of Knott County, about 1960.
Cassette tape recordings ...
2022-09-16 15:00:08 +0000 UTC View Post
I learned "William Hall" from George Gibson of Knott County, Kentucky. Gibson told me he'd learned it from Orgus "Gran" Hudson (also of Knott County) circa 1960.
My instrument is a 1940s Baco...
2022-09-09 15:01:02 +0000 UTC View Post
My tuning is eAEG#B (actual) ~ gCGBD (relative). This tune first appears in one of Frank Converse's banjo tutors dating to the 1860s. I first heard it played at a Civil War reenactment in Florida, ...
2022-08-26 15:00:10 +0000 UTC View Post
I learned "Coon Hunt Walk Around" from Banjo Without a Master by Frank Converse (1865). My instrument is an 1880s Buckbee banjo with an 1886 Hoseus (or 1903 Farmer?) tone ring. Tuning is ~ 3 frets ...
2022-08-19 14:00:07 +0000 UTC View Post
I learned "Will the Weaver" from a 1920s recording of Charlie Parker & Mack Woolbright. My instrument is an 1888 Cubley banjo tuned ~ gDGBD.
2022-08-12 15:01:02 +0000 UTC
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We learned "Midnight Special" from a recording of Huddie William "Lead Beally" Ledbetter. Aaron Stephens of Monteagle, Tennessee, on 1920s Cincinnatus guitar. My instrument is an 1888 Thompso...
2022-08-05 15:01:02 +0000 UTC View Post
Peter Rowan recorded "Ruby Ridge" on his 1996 album, Bluegrass Boy. My instrument is an 1888 Thompson & Odell "The Luscomb" banjo tuned eBEG♯B ~ gDGBD.
2022-07-22 14:01:04 +0000 UTC
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I learned "Will the Weaver" from a 1920s recording of Charlie Parker & Mack Woolbright. My instrument is an 1888 Cubley banjo tuned ~ gDGBD.
"Son O son go home and love her
Do...
2022-07-15 15:00:07 +0000 UTC View Post
I learned "You Don't Know My Darling" from a recording of John Snipes of Chatham County, North Carolina. Another recording of Snipes performing this tune exists under the title "Hello My Darling." ...
2022-07-08 15:01:02 +0000 UTC View Post
I learned "Ruby Ridge" by Peter Rowan from his 1996 album, Bluegrass Boy.
My instrument is an 1886 Buckbee archtop banjo tuned fCFAC ~ gDGBD. Lesson & tab coming soon!
I learned "Don't Go Riding Down That Old Texas Trail" (gDGBD) from a recording of Lawrence Eller (banjo & vocals), Vaughn Eller (guitar), and Ross Brown (fiddle).
2022-06-17 15:00:07 +0000 UTC
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I learned "Don't Go Riding Down That Old Texas Trail" (gDGBD) from a recording of Lawrence Eller (banjo & vocals), Vaughn Eller (guitar), and Ross Brown (fiddle).
Recorded in 1978 n...
2022-06-10 15:00:09 +0000 UTC View Post
I learned "You Don't Know My Darling" (You Don't Know My Babe" from a recording of John Snipes of Orange County, North Carolina. My instrument is an 1880s E.J. Cubley banjo tuned eAEG♯B ~ gCGBD. ...
2022-05-27 15:01:03 +0000 UTC View Post
I learned "Sally Brown" from 1980s recording of Andy Irvine, Dónal Lunny, and Christy Moore. My instrument is a 1940s Bacon "Belmont" banjo tuned ~ gCGCD.
2022-05-20 15:00:01 +0000 UTC
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I learned "Sally Brown" from 1980s recording of Andy Irvine, Dónal Lunny, and Christy Moore. My instrument is a 1940s Bacon "Belmont" banjo tuned fA#FA#C ~ gCGCD.
I shipped...
2022-05-13 15:00:01 +0000 UTC View Post
E.J. Cubley manufactured banjos in Ravenswood, Illinois (Chicago) between 1881 and 1891. While many Cubleys appear to be copies of Buckbee and Dobson designs, this example borrows heavily from J.F....
2022-05-06 15:00:09 +0000 UTC View Post
I learned "I'm Dying, Mother" from a recording of Bert Hare. My instrument is a 1940s Bacon "Belmont" banjo (made by Gretsch) tuned ~ fDGCD.
One summer eve as the sun was setting ...
2022-04-22 15:00:07 +0000 UTC View Post
Played on a 1940s (Gretsch) Bacon "Belmont" banjo tuned eAEAB ~ gCGCD. I learned "Indian Tribes of Tennessee" from recordings of Addie Graham, L.P. Carlock, Dee Hicks, and Bessford Hicks. Alternate...
2022-04-15 15:01:03 +0000 UTC View Post
I learned "brother Green" (The Dying Soldier) from a recording of Rev. Buell Kazee of Magoffin County, Kentucky. My instrument is a 1940s Gretsch Bacon "Belmont" banjo tuned fCFAC ~ gDGBD.
When the Great New England Hurricane of 1938 swept up the east coast it wiped out Fred Bacon's state-of-the-art banjo factory in Groton, Connecticut. By 1939 Gretsch was producing Bacon & Day b...
2022-03-25 13:00:10 +0000 UTC View Post
I learned this 6-string banjo version of "Wild Bill Jones" from George Gibson of Knott County, Kentucky. My instrument is a 1960s Harmony guitar tuned DADGAD.
2022-03-18 13:01:02 +0000 UTC
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I learned "Brother Green" (The Dying Soldier) from a 1920s recording of Rev. Buell Kazee of Magoffin County, Kentucky. My instrument is an 1888 Thompson & Odell "The Luscomb" banjo tuned eBEGâ™...
2022-03-12 12:00:01 +0000 UTC View Post
I learned "Wild Bill Jones" from George Gibson of Knott County, Kentucky. George played it on a 6-string guitar-banjo tuned DADGAD, with a worn-out 4th string in place of his 6th string. &nbs...
2022-03-11 15:00:07 +0000 UTC View Post
