Eastern Kentucky Banjo
When the folk music revival got traction in the 1960s folksters flocked to the Round Peak section of North Carolina to record some great old time banjo players like Tommy Jarrell of Toast, NC. And there were numerous other old time banjo players in that area. Nearby Galax, Va held an annual folk festival that drew people by the thousands. Manuals and books sprouted like cudzu, all promoting one style of old time banjo they called Round Peak or"clawhammer". In the 1970s I attended the first ever Augusta Heritage workshop in Elkins,WVA and learned that "clawhammer" technique. But when I returned to live in eastern Kentucky I began to learn a multitude of styles and tunings from folks like Lee Boy Sexton, Morgan Sexton, Rufus Crisp, and George Gibson - two finger, brush stroke, and thumping styles of playing. The Cowan Creek Mountain Music School is held every last week in June that attempts to recover the eastern Kentucky old time banjo.
Below is a video of eastern Kentucky styles on the rowdy tune, Sugar Hill. For a series of lessons on eastern Kentucky banjo go to the "Watch" section of my website.
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