6.12.2010

musical instruments of the southern appalachian mountains: part 1

Well,
I am back in The Big Crapple
yet still thinking about 
and missing
the Blue Ridge Mountains that we got to stare 
at lovingly every night.
So, here are some shots, well, 
a BUNCH
of shots, from a book I found down there.
It is a really amazing book, and I had never seen it before,
but apparently it's not that rare.
I highly suggest you buy yourself a copy....

There are so many cool pictures in the book that I decided to do a 
part 1
featuring the people, the players and a 
part 2
featuring the amazing instruments.
I tried to edit the shots down for one post,
but I just couldn't...

This is Clyde Fox
Fiddle Maker

Stillman Lambert
Fiddle Maker

Fiddlin' Bill Sievers
of the Tennessee Ramblers

The original Tennessee Ramblers
From left:
Bill, his daughter Willie, his son Mack, and
Jerry Taylor on the mandolin.

Renda Whitaker
Banjo Maker and resident of
Lick Skillet, Tennessee.

Dow Pugh
Artist and Ham Can Banjo Maker.

Tater Hole Joe Johnson
Banjo Player and Hermit.

Earl Blackwell
Banjo Picker

The Great Alex Stewart
Mouth Bow Player.

The late Lawrence Warwick
of Dark Hollow, Tennessee.
Mouth Bow Picker

Mrs Carrico
with the family Dulcimer.
(Notice it has no fingerboard.)

Earl Mullins
playing his mother Dora Mullins'
Dulcimer with bow.
(Very rare)
The bow is strung with hair from a Mule's tail.
Made by Willie Speaks of Powell River, Tennessee.

George Allen Johnson
Dulcimer Maker and Player.
(Unidentified gentleman  in background.)

Sallie Swor 
with a rare (in Appalachia)
Humle.

Jean Schilling
Famous Dulcimer Player
(As famous as one gets playin' a Dulcimer.)

Hobart Hoskins
of 
Hoskins Hollow (on Cow Creek) in
Anderson County Tennessee.
Gourd Trumpet Player

Noah Kinney
Hub Cap Banjo Player and Maker

Charles Kinney
(Noah's Brother)
Fiddle Player and Maker
(He did not make the fiddle he is playing.)

Elaine Irwin Meter
with "the most beautiful dulcimer ever viewed."

Dulcimer Players
at
Pineville, Kentucky
1970

3 comments:

  1. these guys look all like saints,the girls are full of grace.
    funny, over here in austria original rural music and singing itself seems to be more and more embarrassing to (young) people.
    so it slowly disappears..
    one cause might be that during the nazi era all this vernacular was turned into the biggest ufa-style kitsch ever and that for the young it seems to be the opposite to their concept of modern living(which means to be always near a wlan or a shopping centre)
    some thing like your library of congress was founded here only 15 years ago, many tunes were lost before.they had one guy playing the "blue danube" waltz on a xylophone instead of wooden blocks consisting out of tuned bricks.
    their glissando you'd never forget.

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  2. super(HAMCAN)picker6/14/10, 10:24 AM

    We've been playing the ham Can banjo since day one here in Jersey. Two monkey's in front of a typewriter, agreed.

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  3. What a wonderful collection of history

    ReplyDelete