Here at TSAD we like the fiddle and banjo. We've written about contemporary acts like Old Crow Medicine Show, The Avett Brothers, and The Low Anthem as well as old school acts like Flatt and Scruggs and Ralph Stanley, all of whom incorporate these instruments into their music. Today, we're going back to the beginning of string music.
The banjo's roots can be traced to Africa, which is interesting considering the instrument's hillbilly reputation today. But in the beginning, American folk music was crafted by the slave population and later the African American string bands of the Carolina and Virginia Piedmont. Before even the phonograph existed, the banjo and fiddle were the primary instruments used at social gatherings and dances, and sons learned to play by watching and listening to their fathers.
Why does this interest me? I came across a band that has recreated this old-timey style of music with great success. They're called the Carolina Chocolate Drops, and their latest album was released on Tuesday. Check out a couple tracks:
Carolina Chocolate Drops - Cornbread and Butterbeans
Carolina Chocolate Drops - Starry Crown (off their 2007 release)
They snuck a recent cover onto the album as well:
Carolina Chocolate Drops - Hit Em Up Style
Carolina Chocolate Drops website
The mentor and inspiration for this band is a man named Joe Thompson. Old Joe is a fiddle player and has been since he first picked up his dad's fiddle at the age of six. He's 91 now. And he's still playing. Here he is with the Chocolate Drops:
Joe used to jam with his cousin Odell, who played the banjo. Here's a sample:
Some other torch bearers of the old banjo style are Dink Roberts, John Snipes, Hobart Smith, and Clarence Ashley. All of these guys played at a time when the instruments were the main attraction, before the Carter Family came along and created the lyrics-focused country music we know today, and before record companies decided that white folk would play bluegrass and country and African Americans would play jazz and blues. The work of these banjo players is summarized nicely on the album Black Banjo Songsters of North Carolina and Virginia. If fiddle is what you're looking for, try Classic Old-Time Fiddle. Or just cut out the middle man and listen to Joe Thompson's spectacular release Family Tradition:
This is where it all began. Songwriters today are inspired by Bob Dylan, and Bob Dylan was inspired by Woodie Guthrie, and Woodie Guthrie was inspired by Irish troubadours. The same can be said for banjo and fiddle players, all the way back to the original creators of the sound whose efforts have been passed down through the generations.
I hope you enjoyed this little tour of the origins of American music. Some time soon I intend to put something similar together regarding the Delta Blues and trace the guitar back to its roots. Until then, enjoy.
Stew
P.S. - A lot of the banjo players from this era used a technique known as drop thumb, which I had never heard of before yesterday. It's pretty awesome to watch:
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