Clifton Hicks

Prodigal Son | Performance

f#DGAD (relative) AKA "Dock Boggs" or "Southern Texas" tuning. 

This is another song I learned from the famous recording of Dock Boggs of Wise County, Virginia. Boggs was a three-finger picker, but as a child I learned to emulate some of his sound using my own two-finger style. Played on a 1930s Gibson "Kalamazoo" banjo. 

Coke Oven March | Performance

f#DF#AD (relative) AKA "Dock Boggs" or "Southern Texas" tuning. 

I learned this tune from the recording of Dock Boggs of Wise County, Virginia. Boggs was a three-finger picker, but as a child I learned to emulate some of his sound using my own two-finger style. Played on a 1930s Gibson "Kalamazoo" banjo.  

Boggs said he learned this piece from a little music box he bought ...

1930s Gibson "Kalamazoo" Banjo (RARE!)

The Gibson Guitar Corporation produced very few banjos of any kind prior to the 2nd World War, making this "Kalamazoo" resonator banjo a fairly rare find. The fingerboard is fine rosewood; the rest of the wood appears to be maple. At one point someone had modern geared tuners installed on this instrument but it now has antique S.S. Stewart patent tuners from the turn of the century--they work w...

Q&A: Old Chattanooga, Ola Belle Reed, Down-Tuning & Matt Kinman?

(Intro music is "Shortening Bread" gDGBD from Lewis 'Big Sweet' Hairston.)

"Clifton, I’ve been trying to figure out the picking pattern for Old Chattanooga, especially the B section of the tune, by watching your hands but for the life of me I can’t get it. Would you mind posting a little tutorial on the song when you get the chance. I really love the song. My sister learned it on fidd...

1880s Fairbanks & Cole (short 24" scale and 10" pot)

This little 24" scale banjo was made during the 1880s in Boston, Massachusetts by Fairbanks & Cole. Walnut neck, ebony fingerboard, 10" maple hoop spun-over with sheet metal. The heel cap and peg head overlay appear to be a faux ebony made from walnut stained black.

From Hank Schwartz's website: http://hschwartz.com

"I...

Q&A: Percussive Techniques for Traditional Banjo?

 "I was thinking a good tutorial would be on the way you hit the drum of the banjo in a particular pattern. I've noticed that in some of your performances (Rocky Island, for example),you don't hit the drum in the natural pattern that clawhammer produces--but you're choosing to hit the drum at specific times, and when I try to do that, it kind of messes with my rhythm." - Joel 

Boucher-style Minstrel Banjo by Bob Flesher

This fine Boucher-style minstrel banjo was made by master musician and luthier Bob Flesher of Peachtree City, Georgia. It is easy to play, light as a feather and LOUD!  Purchased in the late 1990s it shows very little wear (in other words: this was not used in the field by an historical reenactor, as is the case with many Boucher repros). Beautiful instrument with very solid tuning pegs an...

"Old Coon Dog" | Performance

gCGCD (relative) AKA "Double C" or "One-Finger C."

I learned this song from the a field recording of J.M. Mullins available from the Alan Lomax Kentucky Recordings website: https://lomaxky.omeka.net/items/show/1203

Bring me back my old coon dog (x3)

She treed a possum in a hollow log!

<...

Farewell, My Bonnie Blues Eyes | Performance

gCGCD (relative) AKA "Hook & Line" tuning, "Double C" or (as Eddie Haggard called it) "One-Finger C."

https://patreon.com/cliftonhicks

http://cliftonhicks.bandcamp.com

I learned this song from George Gibson of Knott County, Kentu...

FINE c. 1880 Buckbee(?)

https://patreon.com/cliftonhicks

http://cliftonhicks.bandcamp.com

I know I say it all the time, folks, but I absolutely _love_ this banjo! Beautiful wood marquetry fret markers (that are actually in the correct positions), relatively early...

I've Always Been a Rambler | Performance

f#DF#AD (relative) AKA "Reuben Tuning" or "Drop D" when playing with a guitarist.

I learned this song from Josh Hayes of Watauga County, North Carolina. Josh knows about a million songs and is a fantastic banjoist, singer and performer. When singing this (or similarly themed songs) he'll often shout "Poor Boy!" or "Take Warning!" etc. in between his verses. 

I've alw...

Rare Historic Banjo Photos

Detail of banjo player near Petersburg, Virginia, circa 1870 (R. H. Sayers Collection).

 Miners at Leadville, Colorado, circa 1870 (R. H. Sayers Collection). 

2019-01-12 02:29:45 +0000 UTC View Post

"Hustling Gamblers" (Country Blues) | Close-Up

eCFGC actual (f[sharp]DGAD relative) aka "Dock Boggs tuning" or "Southern Texas" tuning.

In this video I demonstrate how I play Hustling Gamblers/Country Blues/False-Hearted Lovers Blues using the overhand "clawhammer" technique, then two-finger "thumb-lead" and finally a more complicated up-picking or "upstroke" technique.

(To slow this video down, click on the little machine wheel...

"Hustling Gambers" (Country Blues) Lesson & Tab

eCFGC actual (f#DGAD relative) aka "Dock Boggs tuning" or "Southern Texas" tuning.

In this video I discuss the song Hustling Gamblers/Country Blues/False-Hearted Lovers Blues which I learned from recordings of Dock Boggs of Wise County, Virginia. This, and several other worthy pieces, hinge around the chord shape I often use in this tuning. 

2019-01-07 13:32:54 +0000 UTC View Post

"Hustling Gamblers" (Country Blues) | Performance

f#DGAD relative (aka "Dock Boggs" or "Southern Texas" Tuning).

I learned this song from two recordings of Dock Boggs of Wise County, Virginia: "Hustling Gamblers/Country Blues" and "False-Hearted Lovers Blues." 

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 Come all you good time people while I've got the money to spend 

Tomorrow...

Fine Antique Fretless Banjo (1870-1890)

Here's an elegant c. 1870-1890 banjo with federal eagle brackets and a finely-carved curly maple neck. When "rediscovered" it was just a dusty old pile of parts and, for that reason, was restored to its current condition.

The eagle hardware (though antique) was added during the restoration proces...

For SALE $1000 (shipped) | 1890s Luscomb "Banjeaurine!"

1890s Luscomb banjeurine with 13" solid brass rim and hardwood tone ring--all original hooks & shoes--original patent tuners freshly cleaned and in good working order. Mahogany neck, ebony fingerboard; this is a fine antique instrument designed for playing guitar-style "classical banjo" pieces composed at the turn of the century.   

2018-12-29 18:18:57 +0000 UTC View Post

1930s Gretsch "Broadkaster"

This was the same model played in later years by world-famous Mississippi banjoist Gus Cannon. Tony Thomas has a great article about Cannon in the new book Banjo Roots and Branches available here: https://www.press.uillinois.edu/books/catalog/23cnd4ft9780252041945.html

"For the...

Cluck Old Hen | Lesson

fCFB♭C actual (gDGCD relative) aka "G Modal" or "Pretty Polly Tuning."

In this video I discuss how to play the classic Appalachian dance piece "Cluck Old Hen" using two traditional banjo methods: overhand (clawhammer) and two-finger (thumb-lead).

I learned this piece from George R. Gibson of Knott County, Kentucky and it is one of the only pieces of  music I've never heard hi...

Cluck Old Hen | Close-Up (Overhand & Two-Finger)

fCFB♭C

I apologize for the washed-out right hand view in this video (hazards of working with natural light). Please let me know in the comments if you'd like to see a different angle or different style.

https://patreon.com/cliftonhicks

2018-12-26 22:27:46 +0000 UTC View Post

Cluck Old Hen | Performance

 gDGCD, relative (fCFB♭C, actual) aka "Pretty Polly" or "G Modal" tuning. I learned this tune from George R. Gibson of Knott County, Kentucky.   

This is one of the only pieces that I've never heard George sing with. He always plays it very fast with heavy rhythmic brushing (what I call fanning) up and down the neck of the banjo--he calls this technique "walking the fingerboard....

East Virginia | Close-Up

gDGCD, relative (fCFB♭C, actual) aka "Pretty Polly" or "G Modal" tuning. 

 https://patreon.com/cliftonhicks  

East Virginia | Lesson & Discussion

 gDGCD, relative (fCFB♭C, actual) aka "Pretty Polly" or "G Modal" tuning. 

Alternate tunings to experiment with:

fFGCD aka "East Virginia" tuning (from George Gibson)

fDGCD aka "F" tuning

In this video I explain one of the ways that I learned to play the early banjo song "East Virginia" from George Gibson of Knott County, Kentucky. I also go into some detail about w...

RARE Early English Banjo (1870s?)

This is one of the coolest banjos I've seen. The wooden, top-tension design and the fact that it was converted from 6- to 5-string suggest the instrument was made in Britain. The label on the back side of the apparently original head reads: "A. & N. C.S.L." This stands for "Army & Navy Store Co-Operative Society Limited," a British manufacturing company founded in 1871.
2018-12-13 21:45:29 +0000 UTC View Post

Taylor's Banjo Completed!

This banjo's neck came from a black walnut tree on Taylor's family land up in Virginia. Since the block he sent me was good and long I decided to make this neck slightly longer than standard (as is often seen with early "minstrel" banjos). The hoop is a maple snare drum shell, submerged cherry bridge and tail piece, deer bone nut and rosewood fiddle pegs.

2018-12-10 14:48:16 +0000 UTC View Post

East Virginia | Performance

 fDGCD, relative (aka "East Virginia" or "F" tuning.) 

This early banjo song is an oral history record of the mass migration of west African and Scots-Irish people from the Chesapeake Bay region into the frontiers of Carolina and Kentucky. I learned it from George R. Gibson of Knott County, Kentucky who learned it from neighbors during the 1950s. He plays this a couple of ways and both...

Progress Report! |Banjo #17

A friend mailed me this piece of black walnut, apparently cut down and milled by he and his father on their land in Virginia. It turned out to be a very pretty piece of wood and with a near-perfect banjo neck grain! It has been a few months since I carved a neck from black walnut and doing this one reminds me that black walnut is my all-time favorite wood--there's nothing else I'd rather ...

"Cold Icy Mountain" | Close-Up

gDGBD, relative (fCFAC, actual) aka "standard tuning" or "Cripple Creek tuning."

In this video I demonstrate the chorus and verse parts to Cold Icy Mountain, first using overhand technique and then two-finger.

https://patreon.com/cliftonhicks

h...

Cold Icy Mountain | Lesson/Discussion

 
Banjo is tuned gDGBD, relative (fCFAC, actual) aka "standard" or "Cripple Creek" tuning. Lookout for a close-up of this piece and please comment below with any suggestions.

Daw Henson | "Old Piney Mountain" (Cold Icy Mountain)

I wanted to share this video with y'all now as I am about to film close-ups and a lesson/discussion on Cold Icy Mountain. I think this is a very early banjo song, perhaps going back to the 18th century when blacks and whites first traveled "over mountain" into Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia. Variations of this song have been found all over southern Appalachia.

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