cornfed - Posted - 12/10/2014:  07:32:17

I am a fiddler with a great appreciation for OT banjo players. My observation is that most of the responses here have been of professional or semi professional musicians. Some I have never heard of. Dan Levenson is a good entertainer and a gas to jam with. Adam hurt is representative of the young Turks in the field and I love his playing, Mark Olitsky is a category unto himself,
and I really like that.

I'd like to put a plug in for the (mostly) unsung guys who play banjo all over the country who have a certain level of competence and flexibility that makes them an easy choice to jam with. (I'd like to think that my approach is much the same). So, how about three members here who meet my criteria... 1. John Walkenbach is always a pleasure to play with. He is a driving, no nonsense, "shut up and paly a tune" kind of a guy. 2. Tom Faux is definitely NOT an OT purist, but he does things with the claw hammer style that I have never heard of before, but he does it subtly and tastefully. He is a complete musician who adds to the music. 3. Peter Fagan is a fairly humble player who just plays the music, and parenthetically gives it a lift and bounce that is delightful. There are many others around. just go to your local OT or fiddler's gathering to hear them. I'd say that odds are on if you're reading this thread, you are probably one. JoJo from Wisconsin comes to mind.

Support the professional as you can, but treasure the locals.

Joe Newberry - Posted - 12/10/2014:  08:24:30

It is a near-impossible task set here, but... Paul Brown, Reed Martin, Jim Ruth. 

maryzcox - Posted - 12/10/2014:  15:04:00

Wow--it is so hard to pick just 3 favorite banjos--there are sooo many good ones that I love--but right now I think my favorites are:

1. Deering GDL custom  open back with the mermaid inlay--it is made of English Walnut & has a really warm tone

2. Deering John Hartford 22 fret open back--very lightweight--but cool old time sound with its wooden grenadilla tone ring

3. John Bowlin 1865 fretless--love the low booming voice

I love my other banjos too--but since we can only pick 3 :)

maryzcox.com

maryz cox with banjos

gailg64 - Posted - 12/10/2014:  15:06:45

Fun topic & many excellent suggestions, but since clawhammer is well represented, I'm going to mention several banjo players who are masters of some of the endangered  "everything except clawhammer styles." (to paraphrase the title of a workshop Mike Seeger once gave.)

Since some people might not have heard some of these top notch tradition-based players, I'll list more than 3. 

They're banjo players people on the Hangout either might not have heard of or have not heard all the ways they are capable of playing. At least one person on the list does not play clawhammer at all, yet is an awesome old-time banjo player. All "jar down" with joy & abandon, underpinned by deep knowledge of traditional styles.

To better known players Kirk Sutphin, Paul Brown, Mac Traynham, Dan Gellert & Brad Leftwich, I would add:

Kinney Rorrer, Bill Schmidt, Tom Mylet, Todd Woerner, Marsha Bowman Todd, Brett Riggs, Jeremy Stephens, Clarke Buehling, Chip Arnold & Pete Peterson

quote:

---

Originally posted by ramblin

I was recently thinking about this - just because...  and posted one tune from each on youtube...  in no particular order:

Walt Koken

Dan Gellert

Pat Conte

I did post about it on my website, which you can read if you like: donegone.net/?p=363 , and you can read a little bit about why I like them, or you can just talk about who your three are and why (something I actually like hearing about). I do like a lot more than three, but long lists can be such a drag! :)

---

Edited by - gailg64 on 12/10/2014 15:08:24

banjo bill-e - Posted - 12/10/2014:  15:37:04

My list would change on any given day but the one constant is the Dan Gellert would always be on it, and I see the same is true for many others in this thread. Because I have one requirement for banjo music, regardless of it's other charms, it must make me want to boogie, and Mr. Gellert delivers on that one, every time.

GSCarson - Posted - 12/10/2014:  16:47:18

I sure have to agree with Reed Martin and Dan Gellert. Both were big time early banjo heros and continue to be inspiring to me. 

But I can't limit it to three so that last name could be almost anyone of many of those named so far and others.....  Adam Hurt (got me thinking about how I play), Jeremy Stephens (love his playing and especially that old finger style playing), Tim Bing (energy and more), Jimmy McCown (just plain fun), Bob Buckingham (my oldest music bud, the guy that got me going and continues to be a lot of fun to play with), Mac Benford & Walt Koken,(both big early inspirations), Chris Coole, John Balch,  and a lot of the new young players, round peak style players (they've got the groove), and a bunch of others...  Seems everywhere I turn I hear great clawhammer these days.

ceemonster - Posted - 12/10/2014:  21:38:00

well, it's a parlor game. because the favorites pool is much larger... so, on a parlor game level only....guess i'd say dwight diller, riley baugus, dan gellert.

Winged Words - Posted - 12/10/2014:  22:31:01

Can anyone list 3 UK based players they'd recommend? OK or European then? I know Hunter Robertson is based this side and Rob Mackillop can do great things on anything with strings, but who else to look for?

Serious question.

Love these threads - they give me hours of enjoyment trawling Youtube. Thanks all.

maxmax - Posted - 12/11/2014:  02:02:20

quote:

---

Originally posted by Winged Words

Can anyone list 3 UK based players they'd recommend? OK or European then? I know Hunter Robertson is based this side and Rob Mackillop can do great things on anything with strings, but who else to look for?



Serious question.



Love these threads - they give me hours of enjoyment trawling Youtube. Thanks all.

---

There are quite a few. But one that immediately come to mind is Kristian Herner, son of Johannes Bonefaas and married to Rachel Eddy. Great combination of melody and rhythm. 

hangnail - Posted - 12/11/2014:  05:21:12

Frank Lee

Joe Newberry

David Holt

Jim Yates - Posted - 12/11/2014:  05:49:51

Cathy Fink

Howie Burson

Chris Coole

Can I also add Arnie Naiman, please?

JanetB - Posted - 12/11/2014:  06:30:11

Dwight Diller

black flag - Posted - 12/11/2014:  07:30:41

This is like pulling names out of a hat, but...

Adam Hurt

John Herrmann

Nancy Sluys

Dock Jekel - Posted - 12/11/2014:  08:36:33

Not mentioned yet?  Is another favorite player of mine, high on my list of clawhammerists...

Franklin George

pernicketylad - Posted - 12/11/2014:  09:20:41

Dan Gellert, Bob Smakula and Mark Olitsky are my three.

JeroenJ - Posted - 12/11/2014:  10:36:48

Most top threes above are either looking back or sort of stuck in the mud of festival neotradition. No offense, but I'll add three of my favorites for old time future's sake:
-Cahalen Morrison
-Ariel Winnick
-Rob Stenson

banjoike - Posted - 12/11/2014:  10:42:40

Mark Johnson

Dwight Diller

​Cathy Barton

orangikan - Posted - 12/11/2014:  12:35:12

Just because these three haven't yet been mentioned:

• Steve Baughman: a banjo bodhisatva.


• Ron Mullennex: His solo album, Sugar In My Coffee, as well as his albums with Gandydancer all get regular play on road trips. Clean, driving clawhammer.


• JanetB: I can't count the number of times her postings here on the BHO have brightened my day and opened my ears to tunes new and old.

And one more for good luck:

• Bob Thornburg: his slow groove on Liza Jane is what I aspire to.

ZEPP - Posted - 12/11/2014:  13:25:11

Yep--this is about impossible.  "Favorite" is such a shifting thing.  

There are many banjo players whom I love dearly as human beings who could well be called my "favorites."  

Then, there are those living banjo players who are doing such an admirable job of keeping OT music true to its traditions--some of these are my truly my favorites.

And yet, there are those who keep the process moving forward through their imaginative interpretations of OT standards and their own modern compositions that are based on those OT traditions--yep, they're some of my very favorites, too.

It is that last group which most appeals to me the most, so among them (and in no particular order) are my three current "favorites":

Howie Bursen.  His banjo pyrotechnics still dazzle and amaze me.

Kansas City Mark "Bluehammer" Johnson: His creativity and masterful use of varied tunings is always a delight for me to hear.

Adam Hurt: His outstanding tastefulness and precision combine with an exquisite musicianship to produce that which is for me a clawhammer style that is about as perfect as I can ask for.

BTW, young Victor Furtado falls into this same group, and he has been doing some fascinating things with tunes lately (have you listened to his latest CD?). I shall be keeping an ear on him!

Cheers,

ZEPP

 

Edited by - ZEPP on 12/11/2014 13:25:50

Don Huber - Posted - 12/11/2014:  14:09:09

@ Dock: I hope Franklin lives forever. His music will.
@ WW: I mentioned Swedish ex-pat Lena Ullman who last I heard lives in Galway. An Irish BHO member saw her at a session in Galway once with her 5-string. She made a great album a few years back that was never released here called Moonshine: First Run featuring her along with Johnny Moynihan and Indiana ex-pat Frank Hall. An Irish friend burned me a copy.

There's also those Rough Deal guys in Dublin. Their banjo player is great, but I don't remember his name. R. D. may know.

Joe Newberry - Posted - 12/11/2014:  14:27:14

Bill Whelen is the Rough Deal banjo player. He is just great.

pernicketylad - Posted - 12/11/2014:  14:38:16

Here's a nice video of Bill Whelan playing his Bonefass...

youtube.com/watch?v=hKajPWTanmA

Edited by - pernicketylad on 12/11/2014 14:38:57

Julian44_4 - Posted - 12/11/2014:  15:03:55

Can anyone list 3 UK based players they'd recommend?

Stompin Dave

Edward Bennett

Dan Walsh

frailaway - Posted - 12/11/2014:  15:39:09

Banjo player I could  listen to 12 hours a day if I could... me .... unfortunately I have to earn a living.

Current favorites:

Walt Koken,

John Herrmann 

and

Jerron "Blind Boy" Paxton

youtube.com/watch?v=2Qbd8dC7a3c

Bill Rogers - Posted - 12/11/2014:  17:00:32

I noticed Joe Newberry and I were the only ones who mentioned Jim Ruth of Columbia, MO--an exquisite player little known outside his home state.  This video, recently posted, is the only one I know of Jim's solo playing.  youtube.com/watch?v=9uWY9KQoF6A

banjoike - Posted - 12/11/2014:  19:52:17

Yes...Ron Mullenix......fantastic player

jbjo - Posted - 12/12/2014:  03:23:05

Today I would say: Richie Stearns, Bob Carlin, Stefan Senders.

BadWolf - Posted - 12/12/2014:  06:04:27

Clifton Hicks
Guy Wolff

those are my favorite 2. A third would be to hard a choice!

pastorharry - Posted - 12/13/2014:  00:29:09

3 that I have played with some, so I know how good they really are, John Balch, Dan Knowles, Jim Holland

cnoe - Posted - 12/14/2014:  03:37:38

Chris Coole, Adam Hurt and Richie Stearns 

Thank you for this thread and your answers. It turns me to so many players I have missed so far. :-)

chip arnold - Posted - 12/14/2014:  10:47:52

Will Keys, Don Borchelt, Pete Peterson.

Don Huber - Posted - 12/14/2014:  17:36:11

@Bill Rogers...Yes Jim Ruth is an incredibly fine banjo player indeed. He's one of the best at catching tunes on the fly, a sign of a superb listener. You might find him at a festival in the Midwest playing with an equally excellent fiddler like Pete Howard. If so, keep your banjo in the case and just listen.

Somebody needs to get Jim to make a proper recording. He gets overlooked because he's in central Missouri, so he's geographically removed from both the South Missouri Ozark crowd and the STL scene which has top notch banjo players like Dave Landreth, Jeff Miller, and S.(mojo) Barth.

pete hobbie - Posted - 12/15/2014:  15:13:07

Mark Olitsky
Richie Stearns
Mark Olitsky.......did I mention Mark Olitsky

J-Walk - Posted - 12/15/2014:  18:20:41

quote:

---

Originally posted by cornfed

1. John Walkenbach is always a pleasure to play with. He is a driving, no nonsense, "shut up and paly a tune" kind of a guy. 

---

Ha! Thanks for the great compliment, Wayne. You got me. I'd rather play than gab.

J-Walk - Posted - 12/15/2014:  18:34:37

Here's the tabulation so far. I just counted the first three players mentioned, and tried to eliminate multiple posts by the same person. These are the players that got two or more mentions. 

frailin - Posted - 12/16/2014:  04:41:57

Nice. 

GerryH - Posted - 12/16/2014:  07:18:34

Selecting three is so constricting but here goes:

Adam Hurt
Laura Boosinger
Chip Arnold

J.Romero Banjos - Posted - 12/16/2014:  10:24:15

 First off I am shocked to see my name anywhere on this list. I've always consider myself an average player who works  hard at improving and spending most of my time listening. With that though my list below is because they have been the most influential on my playing and helping me to decide what I think is "good taste" ......... this elusive lifetime goal of us all.

Dirk Powell

Dan Gellert

Tom Sauber

if I can be allowed to squeeze in another it's the most amazing Gabby Macrea from Portland they really don't get any better..... her claw playing freaks me out!

Chadbanjo - Posted - 12/16/2014:  11:27:02

I've found some agreed and new good listening from the listed favorites here. Looking at the complied list, surprised no one mention Hunter Robertson, one of my favorites.

Thats one!

quote:

---

Originally posted by J-Walk

Here's the tabulation so far. I just counted the first three players mentioned, and tried to eliminate multiple posts by the same person. These are the players that got two or more mentions. 

---

Marc Nerenberg - Posted - 12/16/2014:  13:06:35

quote:

---

Originally posted by Chadbanjo

I've found some agreed and new good listening from the listed favorites here. Looking at the complied list, surprised no one mention Hunter Robertson, one of my favorites.

Thats one!

quote:

---

Originally posted by J-Walk

Here's the tabulation so far. I just counted the first three players mentioned, and tried to eliminate multiple posts by the same person. These are the players that got two or more mentions. 

---

 

---

Actually, Winged Words mentioned Hunter Robertson on page 3.

This list is of players who got 2 or more mentions. Now that you have mentioned Hunter as well, I would say he belongs on the list.

(I notice that no one except me has mentioned either Taj Mahal or Stephen Wade. It doesn't diminish my admiration for their playing one bit.)

ramblin - Posted - 12/16/2014:  13:38:58

Frankly, that list, expressed as such, makes me wish I hadn't posted at all...

sonnyboy83 - Posted - 12/17/2014:  09:28:14

Clifton Hicks

trapdoor2 - Posted - 12/17/2014:  10:58:35

Difficult to pare it down to 3 but here goes:

Bob Flesher, because I love the way he sets a tune and his ability to play cleanly, clearly and with drive. Stylistically, Bob defines what I think clawhammer banjo ought to be.

Walt Koken, because I similarly enjoy his settings and his ability to use every inch of the neck. I cannot help but smile when I hear him rip up a banjo.

Adam Hurt, because of his prodigious capabilities, his feel for the music, his touch and where he takes each tune. Adam's playing is where I would place the current peak of clawhammer's evolution.

Marc Nerenberg - Posted - 12/17/2014:  11:25:37

quote:

---

Originally posted by ramblin

Frankly, that list, expressed as such, makes me wish I hadn't posted at all...

---

What I do notice that is interesting on that list though is that the two most named players seem to me to fall at absolutely opposite ends of the stylistic spectrum, which i think is a kind of healthy result.

Chadbanjo - Posted - 12/17/2014:  11:50:42

quote:

---

Originally posted by Marc Nerenberg

quote:

---

Originally posted by Chadbanjo

I've found some agreed and new good listening from the listed favorites here. Looking at the complied list, surprised no one mention Hunter Robertson, one of my favorites.

Thats one!

quote:

---

Originally posted by J-Walk

Here's the tabulation so far. I just counted the first three players mentioned, and tried to eliminate multiple posts by the same person. These are the players that got two or more mentions. 

---

 

---

Actually, Winged Words mentioned Hunter Robertson on page 3.

This list is of players who got 2 or more mentions. Now that you have mentioned Hunter as well, I would say he belongs on the list.

(I notice that no one except me has mentioned either Taj Mahal or Stephen Wade. It doesn't diminish my admiration for their playing one bit.)

Holy smokn jesus, you can't step a foot without a 10cm ruler. Saying that,  i'll add Stephen Wade for my second and another for Dan Gellert. Since I didn't play by three. The list is a good look at what you haven't heard.

pernicketylad - Posted - 12/18/2014:  03:20:05

quote:

---

Originally posted by ramblin

Frankly, that list, expressed as such, makes me wish I hadn't posted at all...

---

Yeah, I'd prefer no list.

Redmanc - Posted - 12/18/2014:  17:08:12

I'm happy Frank Lee has been mentioned.  He is an amazing player.  He also has a huge repretoire of old deep southern tunes that you rarely hear.  It also appears that Frank has been chugging away a longggg time.  Freight Hoppers are a great string band, especially with David Bass fiddling.  I think he's been playing with some form of his Freight Hopper band on the railroad attraction in  North Carolina for like 15 years.  His compositions are amazing.  His action is like 2 inches from the twelfth fret too :).  He has a great attack.

youtube.com/watch?v=OYMmN6yhw4c

youtube.com/watch?v=6AHvwT8fd18​

2. Kirk Stumphin

​3. Riley Baugus

Edited by - Redmanc on 12/18/2014 17:18:27

1fiddle2play - Posted - 12/18/2014:  17:31:18

Clifton Hicks
Donald Zepp
Cathy Fink

maxmax - Posted - 12/19/2014:  02:30:44

Many of My favorites have already been listed, but two I really like that I don't think have been mentioned yet, are Michael J. Miles and Roy Andrade.