http://www.downhomeradioshow.com Down Home Radio is a hardcore, unreconstructed, paleo-acoustic folk music program. Thu, 01 Dec 2011 19:06:30 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 2006-2007 eli_smith@hotmail.com (Down Home Radio Show) eli_smith@hotmail.com (Down Home Radio Show) 1440 http://www.downhomeradioshow.com/images/dhrspostcard.jpg http://www.downhomeradioshow.com 144 144 Down Home Radio is a hardcore, unreconstructed, paleo-acoustic folk music program. Down Home Radio Show Down Home Radio Show eli_smith@hotmail.com no no http://www.downhomeradioshow.com/2011/08/david-honeyboy-edwards-1915-2011/ http://www.downhomeradioshow.com/2011/08/david-honeyboy-edwards-1915-2011/#comments Tue, 30 Aug 2011 17:20:22 +0000 admin http://www.downhomeradioshow.com/?p=1324 http://www.downhomeradioshow.com/2011/08/david-honeyboy-edwards-1915-2011/feed/ 1 0:00:01 Today we mourn the loss of David “Honeyboy” Edwards, one of the greatest blues musicians there ever was.  Honeyboy was an incredible talent in his guitar playing, singing, songwriting and also with his rack harmonica playing (see his 19[...] Today we mourn the loss of David “Honeyboy” Edwards, one of the greatest blues musicians there ever was.  Honeyboy was an incredible talent in his guitar playing, singing, songwriting and also with his rack harmonica playing (see his 1979 Folkways album, “Mississippi Delta Bluesman” as well as his very first recordings made by Alan Lomax in Clarkesdale, MS, 1942, among many others.)  Honeyboy was not only an amazing artist but also through his longevity became the last living link to the world of the old Deep South that created the Folk-Blues.  That world was a small world, and many of the people that created the blues knew one another.  Honeyboy counted as friends and musical associates Big Joe Williams, Tommy Johnson, Robert Johnson, Charley Patton, The Memphis Jugband and others and undoubtedly ranked among them as one of blues music’s great practitioners.  With his passing the kind of deep feeling and subtle mode of expression that he lived and breathed in his music leaves the world a diminished place. On today’s show we revisit my extended interview with Honeyboy which we recorded when he came to play at BB King’s club in New York in 2006.  I picked up Honeyboy and his manager and harmonica player Michael Frank at La Guardia Airport and drove them back to Michael’s brothers house on the Upper West Side.  Once there we relaxed in the living room and Honeyboy and I recorded this interview.  He was easygoing and easy to talk with and very generous with his time to speak with me, just a kid.  I knew Honeyboy and Michael from when I had booked them a couple of years before to play at the Oberlin College Folk Festival and felt lucky to be able to reconnect with them in New York. In this interview Honeyboy reveals many fascinating insights, vignettes and critical information gathered during his 80+ years as a professional musician. He talks about his days playing in Memphis with the Memphis Jug Band (plus how to blow a jug and build a tub bass) and Big Walter Horton, living and playing in the Mississippi Delta and then Chicago with all the greats there, how to hop a 1930′s freight train and get away with it as well as lots more. I used the interview as a chance also to play a number of my favorite recordings by Honeyboy, as well as recordings by many of his musical associates he mentions, to give listeners not already familiar with his work and milieu a better understanding of his life and music. For a brief account of his extraordinary life, see the below obituary from the New York Times.  For more I highly recommend his autobiography The World Don’t Owe Me Nothin’ and the excellent documentary film about his life, “Honeyboy.” Check out his websites: Honeyboy Edwards & Earwig Records Below is the obituary that appeared in today’s New York Times: By BILL FRISKICS-WARREN Published: August 29, 2011 David Honeyboy Edwards, believed to have been the oldest surviving member of the first generation of Delta blues singers, died on Monday at his home in Chicago. He was 96. His death was announced by his manager, Michael Frank. Mr. Edwards’s career spanned nearly the entire recorded history of the blues, from its early years in the Mississippi Delta to its migration to the nightclubs of Chicago and its emergence as an international phenomenon. Over eight decades Mr. Edwards knew or played with virtually every major figure who worked in the idiom, including Charley Patton, Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf. He was probably best known, though, as the last living link to Robert Johnson, widely hailed as the King of the Delta Blues. The two traveled together, performing on street corners and at picnics, dances and fish fries during the 1930s. “We would walk through the country with our guitars on our shoulders, stop at people’s houses, play a little music, walk on,” Mr. Edwards said in an interview with the blues historian Robert P[...] Shows eli_smith@hotmail.com no no http://www.downhomeradioshow.com/2011/07/interview-with-pat-conte-part-1/ http://www.downhomeradioshow.com/2011/07/interview-with-pat-conte-part-1/#comments Thu, 07 Jul 2011 21:02:57 +0000 admin http://www.downhomeradioshow.com/?p=1304 http://www.downhomeradioshow.com/2011/07/interview-with-pat-conte-part-1/feed/ 1 http://www.downhomeradioshow.com/2011/02/interview-with-r-crumb/ http://www.downhomeradioshow.com/2011/02/interview-with-r-crumb/#comments Wed, 23 Feb 2011 15:15:43 +0000 admin http://www.downhomeradioshow.com/2011/02/interview-with-r-crumb/ http://www.downhomeradioshow.com/2011/02/interview-with-r-crumb/feed/ 4 0:00:01 [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 m[...] [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! Shows eli_smith@hotmail.com no no http://www.downhomeradioshow.com/2010/11/interview-with-jody-stecher/ http://www.downhomeradioshow.com/2010/11/interview-with-jody-stecher/#comments Mon, 01 Nov 2010 19:59:35 +0000 admin http://www.downhomeradioshow.com/?p=1181 http://www.downhomeradioshow.com/2010/11/interview-with-jody-stecher/feed/ 4 0:00:01 [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[...] [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. Check out Jody and Kate’s new CD Some photos: TThe New York City Ramblers, 1965. Gene Lowinger, fiddle; Winnie Winston, banjo; Jody Stecher, guitar; David Grisman, mandolin. Jody Stecher CCNY South Campus – 1965 Shows eli_smith@hotmail.com no no http://www.downhomeradioshow.com/2010/10/interview-with-jake-from-the-cangelosi-cards/ http://www.downhomeradioshow.com/2010/10/interview-with-jake-from-the-cangelosi-cards/#comments Sun, 24 Oct 2010 23:14:03 +0000 admin http://www.downhomeradioshow.com/2010/10/interview-with-jake-from-the-cangelosi-cards/ http://www.downhomeradioshow.com/2010/10/interview-with-jake-from-the-cangelosi-cards/feed/ 0 0:00:01 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 b[...] 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 . [Giant polaroid of The Cards taken by Aperture Magazine!] Shows eli_smith@hotmail.com no no http://www.downhomeradioshow.com/2010/07/interview-with-oscar-brand/ http://www.downhomeradioshow.com/2010/07/interview-with-oscar-brand/#comments Sat, 31 Jul 2010 01:51:22 +0000 admin http://www.downhomeradioshow.com/2010/07/interview-with-oscar-brand/ http://www.downhomeradioshow.com/2010/07/interview-with-oscar-brand/feed/ 2 http://www.downhomeradioshow.com/2010/05/interview-with-clifton-hicks/ http://www.downhomeradioshow.com/2010/05/interview-with-clifton-hicks/#comments Tue, 11 May 2010 03:49:48 +0000 admin http://www.downhomeradioshow.com/?p=1069 http://www.downhomeradioshow.com/2010/05/interview-with-clifton-hicks/feed/ 1 0:00:01 On today’s show I speak with Clifton Hicks, a great young banjo player originally from Florida and Georgia who now resides in Boone, NC.  I’ve known and known about Clif for a while now, ever since he sent in his home recordings to Down[...] On today’s show I speak with Clifton Hicks, a great young banjo player originally from Florida and Georgia who now resides in Boone, NC.  I’ve known and known about Clif for a while now, ever since he sent in his home recordings to Down Home Radio.  I was blown away by his singing and playing and was very happy to finally meet him when I was in Boone at the Black Banjo Gathering in March.  Hicks is a protege of George Gibson and was kind enough to set up an interview for me with George which we heard on the last installment of Down Home Radio.  In this interview Clifton speaks about his family background and introduction to the music, gives some thoughtful notes on his style and technique as a musician and plays a bunch of tunes live on the show.  He also speaks about his experiences as a soldier in Iraq which led him to oppose the war and get involved with IVAW (Iraq Veterans Against the War).  Clifton Hicks is one of my favorite musicians and it was great to finally get him on the program.  He will be appearing at the Jalopy Theater on Saturday May 22nd as part of the Brooklyn Folk Festival.  Check it out! Below are some videos: Darling Cora Hicks testifies at the Winter Soldier hearings about his experiences in Iraq. Cuckoo Shows eli_smith@hotmail.com no no http://www.downhomeradioshow.com/2010/05/interview-with-george-gibson/ http://www.downhomeradioshow.com/2010/05/interview-with-george-gibson/#comments Mon, 03 May 2010 03:02:39 +0000 admin http://www.downhomeradioshow.com/?p=1057 http://www.downhomeradioshow.com/2010/05/interview-with-george-gibson/feed/ 0 0:00:01 (George Gibson [L] with Clifton Hicks [R]. Photo by E. Smith.) On today’s show I speak with Eastern Kentucky banjo player George Gibson.  I was lucky enough to catch up with George when we were both participating in The Black Banjo Gathering [...] (George Gibson [L] with Clifton Hicks [R]. Photo by E. Smith.) On today’s show I speak with Eastern Kentucky banjo player George Gibson.  I was lucky enough to catch up with George when we were both participating in The Black Banjo Gathering at Appalachian State University in Boone, NC in March.  George hails from Knott County, Kentucky where he learned to play old-time banjo from his neighbors as well as from his father back in the early 1950′s.  One of the local banjo players that George met growing up was “Banjo” Bill Cornett, one of my favorite musicians, so it was a thrill to get to hear a personal account of Banjo Bill.  George Gibson is a wonderful banjo player and singer and is also a noted banjo collector and historian of the music from his region.  He has served as a bridge between the old generation of musicians such as Banjo Bill, who’s music and culture was dying out when George Gibson was growing up and a new crop of young Southern old-time musicians who are coming up today.  George has gathered around him and served as mentor and teacher in an informal sense to a number of very talented young musicians from around the South including Clifton Hicks (Boone, NC), Brett Rattiff (Knott Co, KY), John Haywood (Knott Co. KY), Matt Kinman (Bethel, NC) and Jesse Wells (Knott Co. KY).  Check out the 2008 Interview I did with Brett Ratliff here in the Down Home Radio archives. And  be sure to check out George’s album, “Last Possum Up the Tree” on the Appalshop label.  Below are some of George Gibson’s excellent notes to that album: “The Possum CD contains some of the banjo songs and stories I learned as a boy in the Kentucky mountains ca. 1950. I was born in 1938 at Bath, in Knott County, Kentucky. Bath was a rural post office, now discontinued, on Little Carr Creek, which was known by local people as Burgey’s Creek. I learned to play and sing the old songs, in the old tunings, from my family and neighbors. I left Knott County in the 1960′s, taking with me a Kay banjo and a Vega Whyte Laydie guitar banjo. I have been mostly a couch banjo player since leaving. I believe that continuing to play banjo was my way of holding on to a past that I glimpsed only briefly. That past is part of a world and time in Knott County that has vanished forever. As far as I know, I am the last person left playing the old Burgey’s Creek banjo music. I am the last possum up the tree.” “A few academics and revival musicians from outside the mountains wrote the banjo out of existence in pre-Civil War Appalachia. This is one example of cultural strip mining that I thought should be reversed. Therefore, when I was afforded the opportunity to write the liner notes for the Possum CD, I included evidence of a banjo tradition in Kentucky prior to the Civil War.” “Most of the banjo songs were played on a ca. 1907 Bacon ff Professional 5-string banjo. Tracks 7 and 20 were recorded playing a ca. 1924 Gibson GB-4 trap-door guitar banjo, which has a 14″ head.” For more of George Gibson’s writings from the notes to this album, as well as lyrics, click here. Shows eli_smith@hotmail.com no no http://www.downhomeradioshow.com/2010/04/the-hundred-songs/ http://www.downhomeradioshow.com/2010/04/the-hundred-songs/#comments Sun, 18 Apr 2010 22:08:36 +0000 admin http://www.downhomeradioshow.com/?p=1028 http://www.downhomeradioshow.com/2010/04/the-hundred-songs/feed/ 0 0:00:01 On today’s show I speak with Peter Stampfel and Jeannie Scofield.  In 2004 Peter Stampfel, founder of The Holy Modal Rounders and early member of the Fugs, began a project to research and record one song from every year of the 20th century.  [...] On today’s show I speak with Peter Stampfel and Jeannie Scofield.  In 2004 Peter Stampfel, founder of The Holy Modal Rounders and early member of the Fugs, began a project to research and record one song from every year of the 20th century.  Early on in the project he met singer Jeannie Scofield and they have been working on it together these past 6 years.  This amazing project is getting near completion, and we get a sneak preview of it today as they perform live on the show.  Peter and Jeannie create a wonderful sound and put their own stamp on a number of great songs drawn from their survey of 20th century American popular music.  There’s a lot of great songs back there! Also be sure to check out Peter’s new solo CD, Dook of the Beatniks. And check out the interview and live performance I recorded with Peter Stampfel and John Cohen from back in the 2006 DHR archives! Shows eli_smith@hotmail.com no no http://www.downhomeradioshow.com/2010/04/radio-unnamable-with-bob-fass/ http://www.downhomeradioshow.com/2010/04/radio-unnamable-with-bob-fass/#comments Thu, 08 Apr 2010 16:14:22 +0000 admin http://www.downhomeradioshow.com/2010/04/radio-unnamable-with-bob-fass/ http://www.downhomeradioshow.com/2010/04/radio-unnamable-with-bob-fass/feed/ 4