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On the West Coast… with John Cohen! Feb. 26th-March 12th…

February 24, 2011 by admin 1 Comment

[The Dust Busters with John Cohen, Fall 2010.]
About to head out on tour with The Dust Busters again!  We are very very pleased to be doing a tour of the West Coast with our friend from New Lost City, John Cohen.  John Cohen is a founder of the legendary old-time string band The New Lost City Ramblers, one of our very favorite bands and big inspirations.  John Cohen is a musician, photographer and film maker who has released more than 16 documentary films.  His latest is entitled “Roscoe Holcomb: From Daisy, Kentucky.”  The film follows Roscoe Holcomb, the singer, banjo and guitar player, construction worker and coal miner whom John encountered in 1959 while doing field work in Eastern Kentucky.  John befriended Roscoe and through John, Roscoe Holcomb was able to tour and play shows around the United States and in Europe, becoming known as one of the truly unique and essential voices of American folk music. It’s a beautiful film and a wonderful tribute to Roscoe Holcomb.  We will be touring up the West Coast from Berkeley all the way up to Vancouver, BC, playing shows and screening the film.  See below for all the dates and information.

“Roscoe Holcomb: From Daisy, Kentucky” recently premiered at the Margaret Meade Film Festival at the American Museum of Natural History together with a retrospective of John’s work and also just won the award for Best Documentary Short at the Woodstock Film Festival.

Below are the dates for our upcoming tour.  See ya out in the world!

Sat. Feb 26th, 2pm
Instore appearance at Down Home Music Store
10341 San Pablo Ave
El Cerrito, CA – 94530
(510) 525-2129

Sat. Feb 26th, 5pm
Workshops at The Freight & Salvage
2020 Addison Street

Berkeley, CA 94704

Info:
Old Time 5-String Banjo Workshop w/ John Cohen – Saturday, February 26, 5:00-6:00 pm ($25**)
Old-Time Country Fiddle Workshop w/ Craig Judelman – Saturday, February 26, 5:00-6:00 pm ($25**)
Old-Time Guitar Workshop w/ Eli Smith & Walker Shepard – Saturday, February 26, 5:00-6:00 pm ($25**)
Old Time String Band Sounds & Styles w/ John Cohen, Craig Judelman, Eli Smith, & Walker Shepard – Saturday, February 26, 6:15-7:15 pm ($25**)

**There is a discounted fee of $40 if you sign up simultaneously for one of the 5:00 workshops and the 6:15 Old Time String Band Sounds & Styles.

Mon. Feb 28th, 7:30pm
Show at The Freight and Salvage
2020 Addison Street

Berkeley, CA 94704

– The show starts at 7:30pm with a showing of John’s new Roscoe Holcomb film, then at 8pm the great Bay Area bluegrass band Kleptograss and then The Dust Busters with John Cohen.  We will also be joined on this show by our friend Frank Fairfield!

Tuesday March 1st, 9pm

Posted in: Other Tagged: John Cohen, movie, Roscoe Holcomb, The Dust Busters, tour, west coast

Interview with Robert Crumb

February 23, 2011 by admin 5 Comments
http://downhomeradioshow.com/ShowMp3s2010/DHRCrumb_edit.mp3

Podcast: Play in new window | Download


[Crumb interviewed by Eli Smith.  Photo by Eden Brower, 2010]

On today’s show I speak with Robert Crumb.  R. Crumb is best known as a cartoonist and illustrator, but what a lot people don’t know about him is that he is a very talented old-time mandolin player and a very serious collector of 78rpm records!  I caught up with Robert Crumb at John and Eden (The East River String Band)’s apartment over on the Lower East Side in Manhattan.  We had a good talk about Crumb’s interest in the old music and his early experiences finding old 78rpm records in the same junk shops where he searched for old comics as a kid. He has traveled extensively in search of records! meeting interesting personalities in strange places, from Delaware and Cleveland all the way to Argentina and Uruguay.  Robert Crumb plays live on the show together with Eden and John’s East River String Band.

Tracks played on today’s episode (a lot of this stuff has never been reissued!):
Thanks to John Heneghan for supplying much of the music for this program.

Shook It Up This Morning –  Joe Evans & McClain
KWKA Blues – Eddie & Sugar Lou’s Hotel Tyler Orchestra
Happy Days & Lonely Nights – Charlie Fry And His Million Dollar Pier Orchestra
Ginseng Blues – The Kentucky Ramblers
Sacalelo Desparejo – Trio Odeon (Iriate/Pesoa/Pagez)
Your Soul Never Dies – Smith’s Carolina Crackerjacks
Risonha – Luperce Miranda
Farethee Blues – East River Stringband w/ R. Crumb
Hy Patillion – East River Stringband w/ R. Crumb


And don’t forget to check out our good friends at the Old Time Herald Magazine – www.oldtimeherald.org – lots of great articles, reviews and more!

Posted in: Shows Tagged: 78s, Cartoon, comix, East River Stringband, R Crumb, Robert Crumb

Roscoe Holcomb: From Daisy, Kentucky

February 2, 2011 by admin 1 Comment

Just a word to let everyone know that John Cohen’s new film, “Roscoe Holcomb: From Daisy, Kentucky” is out now!  It has been released by Shanachie Video and is available for purchase by CLICKING HERE.

The film has been packaged by Shanachie as “The Legacy of Roscoe Holcomb.”  The DVD includes John’s new film about Roscoe as well as his classic 1962 film about Holcomb, “The High Lonesome Sound.” You get both!

“Roscoe Holcomb: From Daisy, Kentucky” recently premiered at the Margaret Meade Film Festival at the American Museum of Natural History together with a retrospective of John’s work and also just won the award for Best Documentary Short at the Woodstock Film Festival.

Also, a very nice piece about John Cohen and the new film just aired on NPR’s Weekend Edition: CHECK IT OUT

Here’s a synopsis that I wrote for the program guide of the Woodstock Film Festival:

“John Cohen explores the life, philosophy and music of Eastern Kentucky banjo player, coal miner and construction worker Roscoe Holcomb. Holcomb has been injured on the job and forced into early retirement. He discusses his life and music and plays a number of traditional songs from his region. Using intimate footage of Holcomb at home as well as footage of his family, community and region, Cohen presents a remarkable and visually beautiful portrait of Roscoe Holcomb, a man who despite economic hardship and changing times has maintained a powerful and authentic personal music and philosophy.”

John used old footage from the early 60’s that he couldn’t use for “The High Lonesome Sound” because the technology didn’t exist at that time to put the film footage and audio into sync.  But now that is possible and was accomplished in expert fashion.  For this new film John also used really awesome color footage that he took of Holcomb and his family in the 197o’s.  It’s a beautiful film and a wonderful tribute to Roscoe Holcomb.

[Roscoe Holcomb with John Cohen, 1964]

Recent  reviews of the  film “Roscoe Holcomb: from Daisy, Kentucky.”
———————
Posted in: Articles, Other, Reviews Tagged: Banjo, Daisy Kentucky, John Cohen, new film, old time, Roscoe Holcomb, Roscoe Holcomb from Daisy Kentucky

Midwestern January “Snow-Season” Tour…

January 16, 2011 by admin Leave a Comment

Hello Everyone,

Well first off, apologies for not having posted more Down Home Radio episodes of late.  There’s great stuff in the archive waiting to come out, but I got real busy with my string band The Dust Busters and couldn’t produce Down Home for a while.  It will come out soon! (Fairly soon…)

Meanwhile, The Dust Busters are taking to the road again for our January 2011 Midwestern “Snow-Season” tour. Its gonna be a great tour, with a number of really cool shows on the schedule! See ya out there in the world…

Wednesday Jan. 19th– Hiram College, Hiram, OH.

Thursday Jan. 20th– House Concert in Cleveland, OH sponsored by Roots of American Music.

Friday Jan. 21st– Old Town School of Folk Music, Chicago, IL – Trad Fest with Bruce Molsky and the Foghorn Stringband.

Saturday Jan. 22nd– Old Town School of Folk Music, Chicago, IL – Trad Fest with Bruce Molsky and the Foghorn Stringband.

Sunday Jan. 23rd– Independent Media Center gig in Urbana, IL with the Foghorn Stringband.

Tuesday Jan. 25th–  Rachel’s Cafe Bloomington, Indiana.

Thursday Jan. 27th– Greenline Cafe, Philadelphia PA with Noggin Hill.

Saturday 29th– Cafe Nola, Frederick, Maryland with Lydia Martin of the Martin Family Band and The Woodshedders.

Sunday Jan. 30th – Windup Space with Stephen Strohmeier and Walker & Jay, Baltimore, MD.

Posted in: Other Tagged: the dust

To Hear Your Banjo Play

January 3, 2011 by admin Leave a Comment

Here’s an amazing 1947 film called, “To Hear Your Banjo Play.”  The story and dialogue were written by Alan Lomax.  The film is narrated by Lomax and features a young Pete Seeger guiding viewers through a brief history of the banjo, American Folk Music and its relevance to modern society.  This film features some of the best of the 1940’s New York folk music scene.  It has the only footage of Woody Guthrie performing in his prime, Margot Mayo’s American Square Dance Group is featured, along with Sonny Terry, Brownie McGhee, Butch Hawes and others.  Texas Gladden makes an appearance as well.  This is an incredible film!

Here is some more footage of Woody Guthrie, apparently from the same session as the footage used in “To Hear Your Banjo Play.”  Woody is singing his song, “Ranger’s Command.”  Apparently this footage has only recently come to light.


And don’t forget to check out our good friends at the Old Time Herald Magazine – www.oldtimeherald.org – lots of great articles, reviews and more!

Posted in: Other Tagged: 1940's, Alan Lomax, Butch Hawes, film footage, new york city, old time, Pete Seeger, Texas Gladden, To Hear Your Banjo Play, Woody Guthrie

The Carolina Chocolate Drops Live! at Jalopy

December 7, 2010 by admin 1 Comment


[photo by Ann Chen]

Back in September the acclaimed old-time band The Carolina Chocolate Drops made a surprise appearance at The Jalopy Theater in Redhook, Brooklyn.  Luckily I had heard earlier that day what was going on and brought my recorder with me that night when I made the familiar trek down to Jalopy’s hallowed hall!  They played a great set and I got a good recording right off the board.  Here it is!

The Chocolate Drops performed as part of the Roots n Ruckus show, the awesome – free – weekly folk music show that happens every Wednesday night at The Jalopy Theater.  Well worth checking out.  I’m there almost every week!

Be sure to check out Jalopy’s new blog: www.jalopybrooklyn.wordpress.com

The Carolina Chocolate Drops are students of the elder African American fiddler Joe Thompson- check out my visit with Joe back in June of this year in the archives of Down Home Radio.

And big congratulations to the Chocolate Drops on their Grammy nomination for their new album, Genuine Negro Jig.

Posted in: Live Recordings Tagged: Banjo, carolina chocolate drops, fiddle, Folk Music, Jalopy, old time, string band

This Weekend!

November 18, 2010 by admin Leave a Comment

Saturday Nov. 20th at The Jalopy Theater!

My string band The Dust Busters will be playing with John Cohen to celebrate the release of a new book about John’s band entitled, “Gone to the Country: The New Lost City Ramblers and the Folk Music Revival.”  The books author, Brooklyn College Folklorist Prof. Ray Allen will make a presentation about the book and the night will be topped off with a performance by John and the Dust Busters with Peter Stampfel of the Holy Modal Rounders.  Should be fun!
Look out for a full interview about the book with Prof. Allen coming up soon on Down Home Radio…

Gone to the Country: The New Lost City Ramblers and the Folk Music Revival by Ray Allen
Saturday, November 20
Show starts at 8:30pm

“Gone to the Country: The New Lost City Ramblers and the Folk Music Revival,
” is a new book by Ray Allen that chronicles the life and music of the New Lost City Ramblers, a trio of city-bred musicians who helped pioneer the resurgence of southern roots music during the folk revival of the late 1950s and 1960s. Formed in 1958 by Mike Seeger, John Cohen, and Tom Paley, the Ramblers introduced the regional styles of southern ballads, blues, string bands, and bluegrass to northerners yearning for a sound and an experience not found in mainstream music. Tonight, Ray Allen will show rare and fantastic photos of the band, while telling the story of the band and it’s impact on music everywhere.

Friday Night at 25CPW Gallery

November 19, 6-9pm We’ll be playing at 8pm with John Cohen as part of this wonderful art opening…

Films-Photographs-Kinetic Sculpture-woodcarvings
Stringband MusicEXHIBITION OPENING AND LIVE PERFORMANCES
On exhibit until November 28th

JOHN COHEN of The New Lost City Ramblers performing with The Dust Busters
BOB POTTS of the Highwoods Stringband
JOHN SPECKER of the Correctone Stringband
with additional photographs and video by Bess Greenberg

25CPW Gallery
25 Central Park West
New York, New York
10023
ph. 212.203.0250

More info below:

Posted in: Other Tagged: 25cpw, Banjo, gone to the country, John Cohen, New Lost City Ramblers, old time, ray allen, The Dust Busters

Interview with Jody Stecher

November 1, 2010 by admin 4 Comments


[Jody Stecher (R) with Hank Bradley (L) at the Berkeley Old Time Music Convention 2006.  Photo by E. Smith]

On today’s show I speak with one of my all time favorite musicians, Jody Stecher.  Jody is a master of many instruments- banjo, guitar, fiddle, mandolin, oud, sarod and sursingar and is a very fine singer.  I caught up with him at his apartment in San Francisco where he lives with his wife and singing partner Kate Brislin.  Since I recorded this interview I’ve had several listeners write into the show requesting an interview with Jody and I’m happy to finally be bringing it out on Down Home Radio! Jody Stecher is originally from Brooklyn, NY and was involved from a young age in the folk music scene in Greenwhich Village back in the early 60’s.  Since the late 1960’s he has lived in the Bay Area where he remains a very active and respected musician in the world of folk, old-time and bluegrass music as well as Indian classical music.  He currently plays with Peter Rowan in Rowan’s bluegrass band and has just this year released a new album with Kate.  Its great!  Check it out.

On the show we discuss Stecher’s influences, his time in the old Village folk scene, his musical activities out in California and more!  Jody was a student of Down Home Radio founder Henrietta Yurchenco when she taught Ethnomusicology at City College back in the 60’s.  Jody accompanied Henrietta on a field recording trip to Michoacan, MX in 1965 which resulted in the classic album “The Real Mexico” on the Nonesuch Explorer Series.  In the same year Stecher traveled together with Peter K. Siegel to Nassau Bahama to record Joseph Spence and the Pinder Family which resulted in another classic album “The Real Bahamas,” also for the Nonesuch Explorer Series, check ’em out!

Big thanks go to Steve French for editing this interview for airplay.

return_cover_resized.jpg
Check out Jody and Kate’s new CD

Some photos:

Posted in: Shows Tagged: Banjo, bay area, fiddle, going up on the mountain, guitar, jody stecher, kate brislin, mandolin, old time, return, snake baked a hoe cake

Interview with Jake from The Cangelosi Cards

October 24, 2010 by admin Leave a Comment

The Cangelosi Cards

On today’s show I speak with the bandleader, guitarist and banjoist from The Cangelosi Cards, Jake Sanders.  Here’s what I said about the Cards several years, ago and I stand by this statement now:

“The Cangelosi Cards are one of the best bands I’ve seen anywhere. They have a great live show, perfect for dancing! I envy any one who has not yet seen them because you now have the chance to see them for the first time! They keep it strictly real, playing traditional Old Time style jazz, but continue to see at as a living tradition- and as such bring in influences from ‘outside’ the cannon, such as country, blues, and early popular music. Tamar is an amazing singer and the level of musicianship is brilliant, bring your dancing shoes.”

Jake catches us up on what The Cards have been up to, including tours of Europe and Asia, a studio album and a brand new EP.  Definitely worth picking up their records, great stuff!  Check them out at www.losmusicosviajeros.net .
The Cangelosi Cards

[Giant polaroid of The Cards taken by Aperture Magazine!]

Posted in: Shows Tagged: Banjo, Blues, country, Jazz, New Orleans, new york, old time, The Cangelosi Cards

Lomax’s Southern Journey Reissued!

October 17, 2010 by admin Leave a Comment

“People were saying that Southern folk song was dead, that the land that had produced American jazz, the blues, the spirituals, the mountain ballads and the work songs had gone sterile.” –Alan Lomax, 1960.

Happily, Alan Lomax’s 1959-1960 field recordings from the American South have been reissued on stunning LPs by Mississippi Records out of Portland, OR.  The reissue was currated by Down Home Radio friend Nathan Salsburg over at the Alan Lomax Archive/Association for Cultural Equity.  For more information, check out the blog entry at Root Hog Or Die, and be sure to check out Nathan’s awesome online radio show of the same name at EastVillageRadio.com.

Here’s a bit of what Nathan had to say about the reissue.  Read more on his blog entry at RootHogOrDie.com

“Without delving into the twists and turns of the most highly specialized folkloric record business or indulging in musings about its current strange renaissance and the stranger counter-cultural moment from whence it comes, I’m pleased to say that the season of my tenth year with Alan Lomax’s archive also marks the release of five new LPs commemorating Lomax’s most famous field-recording trip: what he called his “Southern Journey” of 1959 and 1960. Production for a commemorative series began exactly a year ago, after I met Eric Isaacson of Portland, Oregon’s Mississippi Records – one of the principals in the unlikely vanguard of the vernacular music LP resurgence – at a panel discussion put on as part of Asheville’s fine Harvest Records’ fifth anniversary festival. While Harvest was turning five, the Southern Journey turned 50, yet there was not a whisper regarding it anywhere (outside of a season-long tribute series in Belgium, put on by the noble Herman Hulsens and the Ancienne Belgique). Adding insult to injury was the fact that not a single release of Southern Journey material was currently in print…” READ MORE

Posted in: Articles, Reviews Tagged: Alan Lomax, Blues, folk, Lps, Mississippi Records, old time, southern journey
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