Clifton Hicks

Cold Icy Mountain | Performance (overhand)

 Banjo down-tuned from standard G tuning to: eBEGsharpB 

Here's "Cold Icy Mountain" played overhand (clawhammer, frailing, down-picking) style loosely similar to the George Gibson's usual approach to this piece.

I'm going across that cold icy mountain (x2) 

That'll be my home that'l be my home (x2)  

Stop and feed my baby candy (x2) 

Fo...

Phillip Kazee | "Moonshiner"

"Song sung and played on banjo by Phillip Kazee and recorded at the Berea College Celebration of Traditional Music 11-08-74. Tune number 07 on AC-OR-005-001-T1 in the Appalachian Center Collection, Berea College Southern Appalachian Archives."

https://dla.acaweb.org/digital/collection/berea/id/2362/...

Wayne Martin on Joe Thompson

“Nowadays, when people play fiddle music, it’s instrumental,” Martin said. “But the older generation insisted on interweaving the vocals with the music. . . . The tunes actually had story lines. When you hear ‘Old Joe Clark’ at a bluegrass festival, it’s often sung as a funny tune, but in Joe’s version, Old Joe Clark ‘killed a man and buried him in the sand.’ It ...

2018-11-28 14:26:27 +0000 UTC View Post

Cold Icy Mountain | Performance (two-finger)

 I learned this song originally from Matt Kinman who's himself learned it from George Gibson--the source for must current versions. Since then I have heard Gibson sing and play it many times, and have further informed my own version by listening to recordings of Daw Henson's "Old Piney Mountain" and related songs such as "My Home's Across the Blue Ridge Mountain," "Green Icy Mountain," "Going...

1880s Mail-Order Banjo

 I recently restored this circa 1880 mail-order banjo. It came to me with  loose, broken tuning pegs, a busted head and a small crack in the fingerboard.  

2018-11-19 17:13:07 +0000 UTC View Post

Left-Handed Banjo 1870s-1880s (Possibly English)

This is one of the prettiest banjos I have ever seen. Walnut neck, spun-over rim, bone and mother-of-pearl inlays. Converted from six-string to five-string.

Is anyone here left-handed and, possibly, looking for a fine antique banjo?

2018-11-18 20:18:54 +0000 UTC View Post

S.C. Thompson (Faribanks & Cole) Banjo 1890s

This banjo is marked "SC Thompson Maker - Boston" on the dowel but I am told it's actually a Fairbanks & Cole. Similar to other F&C banjos we've featured in the past, this banjo has rosewood veneer on the peg head, ebony fingerboard, larger mother-of-pearl position markers, walnut neck and antique celluloid friction tuners. The antique tail piece is marked "Elite." 

Banjo is tuned f...

"German War" | Close-Up (Up-Picking)

In response to several requests, in this video I attempt to demonstrate "German War" using up-picking/up-stroke/Seeger Style picking. I have never tried to play it this way before, but turned out very similar to the way Matt Kinman plays German War, Texas Rangers and Southern Texas (all related songs).

I start out playing the song through at normal speed, then again while singing a verse over it...

1880s Mail-Order Banjo

I am almost finished restoring this 1880s mail-order banjo. An experienced luthier recently gave me some good advice: never mount a new head using the banjo's original tension hooks! Fortunately I found a set of long, steel tension hooks which will now become my dedicated head-mounting hooks. 

This banjo came to me with broked, worn-out tuning pegs, a busted head and a nasty crack in...

"German War" | Close-Up (2-Finger)

f#DGAD

As requested, here's my two-finger approach slowed down & up close.

"German War" | Close-Up (Overhand)

https://patreon.com/cliftonhicks

fsharpDGAD

Click the machine cog symbol in the bottom right area of the Youtube player to slow this video down even more.

"German War" | Discussion & Lesson

f#DGAD (Jump to 05:56 to skip the intro talk.)

In this video I discuss the story behind the song and go through the basics of playing a simplified overhand (clawhammer) version of "German War." Look out for a close-up of this approach and please comment below with suggestions, criticism &c.

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Come all you good people whomever you may be 

I hope...

J.B. Schall "Imperial"

Very good condition antique "Imperial" banjo made by J.B. Schall with the Barrow's patented features, tailpiece, neck attachment and neck angle adjuster. 25 1/4" scale with a 10 1/2" pot.  

Schall operated a large musical instrument company out of Chicago, Illinois off and on from 1870 until his sudden death during a banjo performance in 1907. 

2018-11-13 02:23:09 +0000 UTC View Post

More from 2018 Banjo Gathering

Photos and videos by Justin Hoffman.

Rare octagonal folk banjo from Kentucky.

This is a tack head mountain banjo--there is no internal tension ring inside the pot and the skin head is held on by a thick s...

Are Online Banjo Communities a Sham?

Jacob posted this over in our Community forum and I felt it warranted some closer attention. I generally agree with everything said below: 

"Hey ya'll, wondering what everyone's thoughts are on learning the banjo through the web/alone, versus from others with direct interaction. I believe Clif has mentioned just getting started from a book, but he then had mentors to help him along. For som...

Enter to Win Free Online Banjo Building Course

This might be of interest to some of yall:

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Enter drawing for a chance for you or a friend to win free tuition to Noel Folstad's online banjo building course:

*Online Course Content (30+ classes) Available To You Anytime
*Go At Your Own Pace
2018-11-08 18:34:41 +0000 UTC View Post

Rare Flush-Fret Lyon & Healy

Here we have a lovely and fairly rare flush-fret Lyon & Healy banjo made in Chicago sometime during the turn of the 20th century 1880-1910 or thereabouts.

Nice banjo, fully restored and ready to play.

Inside the 2018 Banjo Gathering

Below are just a few of the photos I took of early and/or homemade banjos:

^ East Kentucky folk banjo with cigar box body ^

^ Justin Hoffman (patreon member) with an 1860s long-neck probably made in New Y...

2018 Banjo Gathering Concert

I will have more material from the 2018 Banjo Gathering soon; for now here is most of the concert we put on the other night at the Birthplace of Country Music Museum in Bristol, VA. 

It begins with George Gibson and I, followed by Aaron Jonah Lewis, Adam Hurt, Kathy Fink, Bob Carlin et al.

This was streamed live by WBCM Radio Bristol 100.1 FM 2018-11-04 20:19:45 +0000 UTC View Post

J.B. Schall Flush-Fret Banjo (1890s)

This is a beautiful example of a 19th century Schall banjo out of Chicago.  

"J.B. Schall started making banjos in the city of Chicago during the 1870s. Within a few short years, the Schall name became associated with some of the most celebrated banjos of the day. A skilled mechanic and ...

Unmarked Fairbanks Banjo (1890s)

Fully-restored, unmarked Fairbanks (& Cole?) banjo from a private collection in North Carolina. Matching ivoroid tuners and tail piece--beautiful walnut neck.

"In 1880 Fairbanks joined with W.A. Cole, a well known Boston banjo performer and music teacher, to form the Fairbanks & Cole company. &n...

Schedule for the 2018 Banjo Gathering at Bristol, VA

I'll be leaving home in a couple days to attend the 2018 Banjo Gathering at the Birthplace of Country Music Museum in Bristol, Virginia. Below is the updated schedule of events for this year's gathering:

Thursday, November 1*

9:00am-2:00pm Exhibit space set up at Birthplace o...

S.S. Stewart "Champion" (1890s)

Serial Number 8928

2018-10-29 00:37:26 +0000 UTC View Post

S.S. Stewart "Champion" Banjo (1890s)

Here is the first of a new batch of 13 banjos I have acquired from two private collections. If you are in the market for quality, vintage banjos contact me at clifhicks(at)gmail(dot)com and we find something for you in the future.

Identifying SS Stewart Banjos:  

"Samuel S. Stewart first made banjos in 1878. His adoption of the 'silver wrapped rim' (for which, in a speech and later in...

Virgil Anderson at Berea College Celebration of Traditional Music 1984

Unidentified banjo song by Virgil Anderson at the Berea College Celebration of Traditional Music 11/03/84.

Tune number 01 on AC-OR-005-289  in the Appalachian Center Collection, Berea College Southern Appalachian Archives.

https://dla.acaweb.org/digital/collection/berea/id/3001

Q&A | Banjo Trance?

"Clifton, you mentioned that some songs will put you in a 'trance' when played. You mentioned this happened to you while playing ‘German War’ recently… and other songs like ‘Pretty Polly,' and ‘East Virginia’ also have this affect. I notice that while listening to you play these songs 2-finger style, with that repetitive drone sound, it creates a much different (trance-like) mood th...

"Pretty Polly" | Revisited

(fCFA#C one step below gDGCD aka "Modal Tuning," "G Modal" or "Pretty Polly Tuning.")

I know I've uploaded this song before, but a recent question from Justin H. prompted me to take another go at it:

"Clifton, you mentioned that some songs will put you in a 'trance' when played. You mentioned this happened to you while playing ‘German War’ recently… and other songs like ‘Pretty Pol...

John Harrod | History Of Women in Kentucky Traditional Music

I met John Harrod this summer at the Swannonoa Gathering on the campus of Warren Wilson College in North Carolina. Besides being one of the best living traditional fiddlers he is an extremely knowledgeable and prolific teacher.

This presentation was given in 2013 and is a good example of his lectures in which he usually incorporates film and/or recordings of tradition-bearers to help his audienc...

October 25th: George Gibson @ Blue Ridge Comm. College

I will be assisting Gibson on Thursday, October 25th at 7 p.m. in the Bo Thomas Auditorium at Blue Ridge Community College (Flat Rock, NC). Registration is $5 per person. 

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The Center for Cultural Preservation, WNC’s cultural history and documentary film center, launches the 2018-19 Keeping the Fires Burning cultural history series with...

Evidence for Five-String Banjo in the early 1700s!?

In 1985 a bridge and tuning peg were recovered from an early 18th century stratum at the bottom of a well. The bridge appears to have five slots, indicating that it may have been used on an early 5-stringed banjo.

"The bridge appears to be hand carved with irregularly spaced notches of varying depths. The bridge has four clear notches for strings with a possible fifth notch barely visible where ...