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Tag: banjo
Showing 1-11 of 11 results
5 Questions with LEAF performer Abigail Washburn
Leading up to LEAF festival, Mountain Xpress is talking to a number of artists from across the country and across musical genres. Abigail Washburn (Uncle Earl, The Sparrow Quartet) recently released the 12-track collection Béla Fleck & Abigail Washburn with her husband and fellow banjo player, Béla Fleck (The Fleck Tones, The Sparrow Quartet). They’ll […]
Smart bets: Noam Pikelny and Stuart Duncan
We’ve all heard of “Dueling Banjos,” but Noam Pikelny and Stuart Duncan are two string virtuosos who work together. Collectively, the musicians have collaborated with a brimming Rolodex of A-list artists, including Fiona Apple, Wilco, Béla Fleck, Dolly Parton and even the Jonas Brothers. Pikelny, Grammy nominee and banjoist for Punch Brothers, says he’s long […]
One-man banjo: Tall Tall Trees puts a new spin on an old instrument
When you think of the banjo, you might think of Earl Scruggs or Uncle Dave Macon, or even Steve Martin. You probably don’t think of loop pedals or bowing, or ancillary sounds from percussive tapping and blowing; you probably don’t imagine anything that could be classified as “space banjo.” But that’s exactly the kind of music banjo player Mike Savino of band-turned-solo-act Tall Tall Trees makes.
Border crossing
Abigail Washburn debuts her new genre- and culture-blending trio, The Wu Force (with Wu Fei and Kai Welch), at The Grey Eagle on Thursday, Feb. 7.
Busk Break: Caster plays the “Crawdad Song”
Traveling busker Caster plays one of the most upbeat of traditional tunes.
Busk Break: Caster performs “Old Paint”
Busker Caster returns with “a slow, sad song about a horse.”
“Play Me No Sad Songs”: a farewell to Earl Scruggs
The legendary bluegrass musician, known for the “Beverly Hillbillies” theme music and social activism, was raised in N.C.‘s Cleveland County. He died yesterday, at age 88. Photo of Scruggs and his sons from the Flat and Scruggs website.
Abigail Washburn finally makes it to the Grey Eagle
It was touch-and-go there for clawhammer banjo player/world music songwriter Abigail Washburn. She had to postpone one show date. But her Feb. 5 performance at Grey Eagle is good to go.
Steep Canyon Rangers and Steve Martin on Prairie Home Companion
Asheville/Brevard-based bluegrass sensations the Steep Canyon Rangers team up once again with actor/banjo picker Steve Martin on NPR’s folksy variety show A Prairie Home Companion. Catch the show this Saturday.
Book Report: Banjo Camp! pitches scales, not tents
Author Zhenya Gene Senyak’s new book, Banjo Camp! is a book about banjo camps that is, in and of itself, a camp. There are scrapbook pictures, doodles, coffee stains and swatted mosquitoes. And just when you think the book has met its kitschy-informative saturation point, there’s a companion disc affixed to the back cover so budding banjo enthusiasts can pick along.