Clawhammer, sometimes called frailing, is a distinctive banjo playing style and a common component of American old-time music.
Old-time music is a genre of North American folk music. It developed along with various North American folk dances, such as square dancing, clogging, and buck dancing. It is played on acoustic instruments, generally centering on a combination of fiddle and plucked string instruments, as well as the mandolin.
A string band is an old-time music or jazz ensemble made up mainly or solely of string instruments. String bands were popular in the 1920s and 1930s, and are among the forerunners of modern country music and bluegrass.
Brad Leftwich is a prominent American old-time fiddler, banjo player, singer and teacher of traditional old-time style. He is originally from Oklahoma. He performs solo and with his long-time musical partner and wife, Linda Higginbotham, and with Brad Leftwich and the Hogwire Stringband.
Retrograss is a bluegrass album by David Grisman, John Hartford and Mike Seeger. It was released on the Acoustic Disc record label in 1999. Retrograss received a Grammy nomination in the Traditional Folk Album category in 2000.
A barber chair is a chair for customers of a barber.
Hamilton Ironworks is John Hartford's last album, recorded before his death in 2001. Along with the Hartford Stringband, Hartford interprets 22 traditional fiddle tunes. The title track is a traditional Ozarks tune referring to an old mine in Meramec State Park, Missouri.
The Georgia Yellow Hammers were an old-time string and vocal quartet from Gordon County, Georgia from the 1920s. The group featured Charles Moody, Jr. on guitar; Bud Landress on banjo; Phil Reeve on guitar; and Bill Chitwood on fiddle. All members may have been multi-instrumentalusts. Tony Russell's notes accompanying the 2004 compilation CD "Old Mountain" identify the personnel on "The Picture on the Wall" as Landress, fiddle and lead vocal; Reeve, guitar and vocal; C. Ernest Moody, banjo-ukulele and vocal; and Clyde Evans, guitar and vocal.
The Carolina Chocolate Drops is an old-time string band from Durham, North Carolina. Their 2010 album, Genuine Negro Jig, won the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Album at the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards, and was number 9 in fRoots magazine's top 10 albums of 2010.
The Gypsy Gyppo String Band was an American an old-time music band, based in Seattle, Washington.
The Freight Hoppers are an American old time string band, formed in 1992. Their repertoire includes music that was first recorded in the late 1920s and early 1930s, and spans geographically from Mississippi to West Virginia. Its members include fiddle and banjo players Barry Benjamin and Frank Lee, with Allie Burbrink on guitar and vocals and Bradley Adams on string bass. Based in the Smoky Mountains of North Carolina, The Freight Hoppers draw from rural southern music for their inspiration.
James Benton Flippen was an old-time fiddler from Mount Airy, North Carolina. He was one of the last surviving members of a generation of performers born in the early 20th century playing in the Round Peak style centering on Surry County, North Carolina. His contemporaries included Tommy Jarrell, Fred Cockerham, Kyle Creed, and Earnest East.
The Volo Bogtrotters are an old-time American string band, based in the Chicago area, that played songs and tunes from the string bands of the 1920s and fiddle music from the Midwest, as well as from other new and traditional sources. The band was together from about 1984 to around 2002 and during that period made four recordings on the Marimac Label. They played at many music festivals and traditional dance venues and were known for their driving twin fiddle sound and old songs gleaned from 78 rpm recordings. Six members of the band have recently united again (2011) to play occasional dances and festivals.
Old time fiddle is a genre of American folk music. "Old time fiddle tunes" derived from European folk dance tunes such as Jig, Reel, Breakdown, Schottische, Waltz, Two Step and Polka. The fiddle may be accompanied by banjo or other instruments but are nevertheless called "fiddle tunes". The genre traces from the colonization of North America by immigrants from England, France, Germany, Ireland, and Scotland. It is separate and distinct from traditions which it has influenced or which may in part have evolved from it, such as bluegrass, country blues, variants of western swing and country rock.
Foghorn Stringband is an old-time string band from Portland, Oregon, United States. They are considered one of the finest old-time string bands on the West Coast. According to their booking agent, they are noted for "intense dedication to the sources" of the old time tradition. Their music is billed as "a blend of high-spirited Appalachian dance music tying in sounds of traditional mountain fiddle tunes." Their interpretation of old time is played with the energy and edginess of punk rock, while at the same time showing a tremendous degree of technical finesse.
Paul Kelly is an Irish multi-instrumentalist musician from Tallaght in Dublin, Ireland. He has played Irish traditional music, bluegrass and country, and is equally at home in a variety of different styles of music.
Niall Toner is an Irish bluegrass musician, songwriter and radio broadcaster from Dublin, known nationwide for his programmes Country Heartland and Roots Freeway.
Earnest East was a fiddle, guitar, and banjo player. East began his music career as a member of the Camp Creek Boys, and later founded his own instrumental band which he called the Pine Ridge Boys in 1966. In 1969, the Pine Ridge Boys released their first album, titled "Old Time Mountain Music", on the County label. Their second album, "Stringband Music From Mt. Airy" was released in 1981 on the Heritage label.
Joseph Aquiler "Joe" Thompson was an American old-time fiddle player, and one of the last musicians to carry on the black string band tradition. Accompanied by his cousin Odell, Thompson was recognized with several honors for performances of the old-time style, particularly when the genre was repopularized in the 1970s. In the 1980s and 1990s, he recorded his first studio albums, consisting of a repertoire rooted in the authentic string band approach.
