African American Links

The Unity Bluegrass Band

African American Bluegrass

Being of the African American persuasion I had found myself in the minority a lot when in the world of Bluegrass. To my knowledge there were not any others African Americans involved in Bluegrass Music. In the field of Country Music there was always Charlie Pride, but not much else. I guess in the realm I was a bit of a trial blazer though getting involved with Unity had nothing to do with that. It was more of a "Steve is quitting, do you want to learn Bass and replace him?" So I did and that was my introduction to Bluegrass Music.

Of course I had heard of Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs... Had listened to the music in "Bonnie and Clyde" and even watched an episode or thousands of "Beverly Hillbillies" so Bluegrass wasn't completely foreign to me. In fact, the first "non-traditional" instrument I took up was banjo. Previous to that I knew how to play baritone, trombone and tuba so I was no stranger to performing music and I was becoming more familiar with this style of music.

The place I studied banjo was the Old Town School of Folk Music on Armitage in Chicago. There I socialized with many who had a love of music, both domestic and foreign and learned a great deal about our traditions. Especially the influences people of color had on these art forms which presently are mostly Caucasian. But again there were not many people of color here who knew or supported this.

But with time comes change, and when I look I am finding more people of color coming and being involved in our long lost traditions and that is why I wish to try to accumulate links of organizations and people who are recapturing our African American Heritage.

The Links

I found this interesting reference in the Jerry Douglas Bulletin Board Archives. Several years ago when searching The Internet I ran across this posting made by the guy I bought my upright bass from. Since that time I lost track of the posting but a little while ago I re-discovered it. It follows here:

Subject: RE: Black Banjo Conference-very cool!
Poster: Daver
date: 30-Jan-05 08:32 PM

Thanks, Derka. I don't know all the reasons, but it's sad that there are virtually no African-Americans in professional Country Music (to my knowledge, only Charley Pride and bass players for Mary Chapin Carpenter and Russ Taff), and zero that I'm aware of in bluegrass. Please fill in the blanks if I'm missing someone obvious... A Chicago area bluegrass group in the 70's (the Unity Bluegrass Band - all members of the Bahá'í Faith) had an African-American bass player (I sold him my old Kay upright for the $80 I paid for it). Up until IBMA when I ran into the Ebony Hillbillies, he was the only African-American BG musician I had ever seen.

Guess I'm really unique. *G*
The Carolina Chocolate Drops are a group of young African-American stringband musicians that have come to together to play the rich tradition of fiddle and banjo music in Carolinas’ piedmont.
Deford Bailey was the first black star of the Grand Ole Opry, for 15 years (1926-1941), he was one of the most popular performers and one of the most influential harmonica players in Country music. Here is a link from PBS.org that has a biography (as well as samples of his early recordings) and references to what Deford refers to as "black hillbilly music".
In the spirit of independent, community-based music comes Sankofa Strings, a trio of African American artists in love with self-made music. Armed with fiddles and ‘jos, bones and drums, Sankofa Strings is taking that “Old Time” sound and using it to bring the people together again. Young and old love this music—it is deep in our collective memory. Come back, and let’s go forward together.
Lesley Riddle never became a professional musician; however, it is his contribution to country music for which he is most remembered. Maybelle Carter credited Riddle with teaching her the "bottleneck" style of guitar picking, in which the index finger plays the melody while the thumb keeps the rhythm on the bass strings. Riddle taught the Carter Family such songs as "The Cannon Ball," "1 Know What It Means To Be Lonesome," and "Let the Church Roll On."
Joe Thompson is an 87 year-old Old-time traditional black string band musician from Cedar Grove, North Carolina in the Piedmont region near the Virginia border. Joe plays fiddle and sings in his Granddaddy's style of music that can be traced in America to the 1700's, and even earlier to origins in Africa. Joe is one of the last of the black musicians of his generation who play this style of music. His music builds community by crossing boundaries of generations, races, and cultures.
Danny "SlapJazz" Barber slaps “jazz” (more widely known as hambone or body percussion) and plays jaw harp, while Leland beats those spoons together...each with such flair and style, it's indescribable.
Laura Love Bluegrass Band
Laura Love is an African-American funk bassist with an astonishing voice, who is equally influenced by blues and bluegrass, jazz, folk, gospel, reggae and country. Laura sometimes refers to her style as “folk-funk”, “Afro-Celtic” or “hip-Alachian.”
True Life Blues Mark Vaughan looks at the influence of African-American music in bluegrass history.
Richard (Richie) Brown has been a part-time bluegrass musician in the Boston area since the mid-sixties. Richard has played with several prominent New England bands and occasionally filled in with nationally known bluegrass artists, as well. He has done mandolin workshops with Ron Thomason, Dave McLaughlin, and Lou Martin at the Joe Val Memorial Bluegrass Festival and other events for the Boston Bluegrass Union, and with Mike Holmes at the New England Folk Festival. Richard's playing is heavily influenced by Bill Monroe's style and "old style" mandolin players. He currently plays mandolin and sings in the Boston-based Reunion Band with Dave Dillon, Lauck Benson, Margaret Gerteis and Art Schatz.
The Ebony Hillbillies are not only one of the last black string bands in AMERICA, but they are the only string band based in NYC. Consisting of fiddle, banjo, washboard and bass fiddle, They have successfully created a following that has crossed over to audiences in pop, country, bluegrass, folk, jazz and beyond while maintaining their grassroots credibility.
. . . These days the old-time music and dance scene is predominantly white. It is rare to see an African-American musician or dancer at Mt. Airy, Clifftop, or other music festivals where old-time or bluegrass music is being played. There are a few, such as fiddler Earl White, who was an early member of the Green Grass Cloggers, but how many other black old-time musicians or dancers do you know? That is why I remember the day, a number of years ago, when I first saw Arthur Grimes. He was clogging in cowboy boots at a square dance I was calling at Merlefest in Wilkes County, North Carolina. Since that time, we have become friends, and we have shared the dance floor many times. But it wasn’t until last December, when I interviewed him at the Boone Drug Store in Boone, that I learned how he got involved in old-time dancing.
Why Black Folks Don't Fiddle is an article posted on Bluegrass West Website. It was written by Tony Thomas who is the list owner of Black Banjo Then and Now (on Yahoo at http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/BlackBanjo/ ). He was convenor of the Black Banjo Gathering at Appalachian State College in Boone, NC in April 2005. He plays old time music , blues, and folk music on the guitar, five-string banjo, and fiddle. His articles have appeared in the Old Time Herald and The Black Scholar.
The Berea College's Celebration of Traditional Music page has several profiles of African American musicians.
Black String Revival --- "Before the Blues--and the phonograph-- revolutionized popular music, African-American string bands featuring banjo and fiddle played for “frolics” (square dances), parades, house parties, corn shuckings, funerals, and baby christenings. Largely forgotten, this vital musical tradition survived into the 1950s. Now a new generation of blacks is rediscovering and reinvigorating the string band tradition. Black and white scholars are documenting the African origins of the banjo and how African-Americans adapted it. At the same time, young African-American string bands like The Carolina Chocolate Drops, The Ebony Hillbillies, Sankofa Strings, and Don Vappie and His Creole Jazz Serenaders are reinventing traditional banjo and fiddle music. Black String Revival, an hour-long documentary, will tell the story of the rise and fall and the rise again of the Black string band tradition."
The name of Joe Thompson is hardly well known in music circles and yet in some ways he should be regarded as one of the most historically important American traditional performers active today. For, since his re-emergence in the Seventies and introduction to a wider audience, Joe has upheld and represented a tradition of Afro-American country fiddling now all but vanished.
The name Arnold Shultz is one we need to become better aware of. Arnold was a wandering fiddler/guitarist in Kentucky who had a wide range of influence. It is documented that he was a major influence for Bill Monroe, Merle Travis and Ike Everly (father to the Everly Brothers). He lived from 1886-1931 and unfortunately, was never recorded.
The Archie Edwards Blues Heritage Foundation is keeping East coast acoustic folk blues alive. Through weekly Saturday jams, performances, workshops, exhibits, and lectures, AEBHF carries on the educational tradition of celebrated Piedmont blues artist Archie Edwards.