Heroes - Dock Boggs

Initially, what got me into banjo was the idea of the bluegrass picker blazing away on those intricate rolls, but as I started to look at the history of the instrument more closely I came to feel that there was lot more to the story, and that the different styles of playing that evolved reflect the history and politics of America as it developed a unique and vibrant culture of its own through the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries.

For me, one musician represents what I love about both banjo and American music - Dock Boggs. He's virtually unknown in the UK but his music has a fascinating hybrid quality which sets him apart. His recordings from the 1920s are a combination of old-time folk songs and early blues and have a driving rhythm which feels distinctive and unique. Boggs only recorded about twenty tracks in the 1920s before the Great Depression finished his recording career and sent back to the mines, where he stayed until he was rediscovered by Mike Seeger in the 1960s. He rerecorded a lot of his old songs and a load of folk standards for Folkways Records and you can download both his old and new stuff from Smithsonian Folkways - see the links.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dock_Boggs
http://www.folkways.si.edu/albumdetails.aspx?itemid=313
http://www.oldtimeherald.org/archive/back_issues/volume-6/6-5/dock-boggs.html

This is Jim Pankey playing a great clawhammer version of Country Blues