First, before we get started I should point out a few quick things about this (overly) long post:

1. There are a lot of YouTube links included. In the rare instances where there are videos to watch I have formatted in viewable frames, but otherwise I just gave the YouTube link.
2. I have titled this TOTW "Chilly Winds, Wade Ward's" because Wade Ward's Chilly Winds was unique to him and not to be confused with the Chilly Winds tune with its origin in the Round Peak, NC area (and elsewhere?).
3. I tried as best I could to encapsulate some information on Wade Ward, mostly framed around the tune Chilly Winds.  Even with this particular focus I found that I had a lot of tangents.  Lately, I've found that AI mines the hangout for information about banjos and banjo-related topics.  That's logical enough.  So if you find something I've written that is wrong, please note this in the thread.  At least that way if AI leads someone to this post from the prompt: "Tell me about the banjo player Wade Ward", further down in the thread there will be corrections to what I've written.

The Goods

1958 (recorded by Eric Davidson at Ward’s house) Released as the LP “Uncle Wade”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9rYoWZgVMI

Liner Notes at https://folkways-media.si.edu/docs/folkways/artwork/FW02380.pdf

1959 (June, recorded by Peter Hoover at Ward’s house)

https://fieldrecorder.bandcamp.com/track/chilly-winds-2

1959 (Aug. 31, recorded by Alan Lomax at Ward’s house)

Three recordings of Chilly Winds at: https://archive.culturalequity.org/solr-search/content/grid?search_api_fulltext=Chilly%20Winds   (ID yourself as human for the three takes).

1966 (Aug. 12-13, recorded at the 30^th Annual Galax Old-Time Fiddler’s Convention)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWijzeSel1U&list=RDbWijzeSel1U

Jan. 18, 2018 (a 12-13 year old Nora Brown at the Jalopy Roots and Ruckus, Brooklyn, NY)

“Fred Cockerham’s” Chilly Winds (originally from Carlie Holder via Tommy Jarrell)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uZkES3RKPo&list=RD8uZkES3RKPo

Tommy Jarrell’s Chilly Winds (Mike Seeger on guitar)

https://www.slippery-hill.com/content/chilly-winds-0

The Tune

There have occasionally been Wade Ward TOTWs (notably, the 31^st TOTW [2/20/09] was “John Lovers Gone”), but “Chilly Winds”, Ward’s iconic tune, has never made the list.  The usual source for information on a tune is at: tunearch.org, but this time around the information on Chilly Winds does not tell a very accurate story.  It conflates Wade Ward’s “Chilly Winds” with a different version (different tune?) often referred to as “Fred Cockerham’s version.”  According to Tommy Jarrell, Jarrell learned this version from Carie Holder, an earlier generation Round Peak fiddler who was never recorded. My rather uneducated guess is that this was Charles Franklin Holder (1885-1941) who was from Mount Airy and whose mother was a Cockerham.   From Jarrell the tune was picked up within the Round Peak domain, and consequently widely spread across the US.  tunearch.org also states that Chilly Winds is “a version of "Lonesome Road Blues," recorded by Ward on a 78 RPM for OKeh records, but not released.”  So far as I can tell, Ward never recorded “Lonesome Road Blues,” although Henry Whitter (of Grayson and Whitter fame) did record “Lonesome Road Blues” in 1924 which was released as OKeh 40015-A (and sounds nothing like anyone’s Chilly Winds).  The correct story about an unreleased recording of Ward’s Chilly Winds is the (ca.) Sept. 1, 2025 OKeh Records recording of Chilly Winds (along with three other of his tunes) made in Asheville, NC.  None of those recordings were released, although one was released a century later as part of a compendium.  There is a brief excerpt at track 10 of Ward playing the banjo and singing (a rarity!).  I purchased the download because there’s a lot of great stuff there, though very little string band/banjo if that’s what you are looking for.

Of the 11 *.mp3s that are at the hangout, only one  is Wade Ward’s version.  Maybe there will be some more *.mp3s of Wade Ward's version in the offing, but not coming from me (see below).  Ward learned Chilly Winds when he was 14 years old on a trip to Tennessee with his older brother Crockett (see https://musicofourmountains.com/wade-ward/ for that information and for much, much more about Wade Ward).  This means that Wade Ward would have learned this tune around 1906 when he had only been playing banjo for about three years.  Ward played Chilly Winds using bar chords (or parts thereof) at the 5^th and 12^th frets, something unusual among his banjo tunes.  With that said, there are elements to his playing of Chilly Winds that are typical for other of his tunes (such as alternate string pull-offs).  He played the tune in A major or G major if he sang, which he rarely did.  With that said, Charles Faurot on page 6 of Carlin and Levenson’s “Wade Ward: Clawhammer Banjo Master” publication wrote that:

“Wade never used a capo.  Furthermore, he never seemed to be pitched to standard A=440.  What I used to do was tune one string to the key Wade was playing in, e.g., third string up to match Wade’s third and tune the other strings to that.” 

Incidentally, Ward used gDGBD tuning if in G or aEAC#E if in A when playing Chilly Winds (we would say G tuning with capo at second fret, but no capo allowed…). 

Now for the deep dive regarding whether Ward played at more moderate tempos and then the recordings were sped up.  Also, how consistent was he in his tunings, given Faurot’s comment above?  First, for the simpler part, which is BPMs for Chilly Winds:

Uncle Wade album: 139 BPM
Lomax first recording: 132 BPM
Lomax second recording: 129 BPM
Lomax third recording: 132 BPM
Galax recording: 136 BPM
Hoover recording: 127 BPM

So, he was pretty consistent on tempo.  The tune doesn’t work well at a slower pace, which is why I will not be posting an *.mp3 (I can't play this tune at the tempo it deserves).  Beside, when a 12-13 year old Nora Brown could nail the tune (I might say better than Wade Ward!), I’m not going to attempt it.  In any event, I see no evidence that the recordings were sped up.  He really played that fast.  The BPMs are too consistent across recordings to suggest that they were all sped up.  As to the fast pace, Phil Jamison’s text states on page 23 that: “Southern dance figures are not timed to the musical phrase, the music can be fast—sometimes as fast as 140 beats per minute.”

What about the pitch?  I put my fiddle into cross-tuning (GDGD or AEAE) to match Ward’s recordings.  Then I did the Hz readings, on all four strings for the Uncle Wade album, the Lomax recordings (Ward’s tuning did not change across the three takes), Hoover’s recording, and the Galax recording.  Below are the Hz (vibrations per second) from fourth to first string.  The second string is what Faurot is referring to when he says “A=440”

Uncle Wade: 227, 336, 455, 679
Lomax: 217, 323, 433, 655
Hoover: 191, 286, 383, 577 (in “G”, so equivalent to A=430)
Galax: 222, 333, 446, 677

So, in general Ward tended to play near an A440. His “Uncle Wade” recording at A=455 is 58 cents “north” of A=440, and with 100 cents in a semitone, that means he was 58% sharp of an A=440 and 42% flat of an A#=466.  The Lomax and Hoover recordings are slightly flat.  My guess is that when he played with the Bogtrotters or Buck Mountain Band someone had the “official” tuning and then everyone else tuned to that person.  That reminds me of when I had once tuned my wife’s 36 string autoharp (consistently) a bit flat, we were at a jam, and everyone pulled out their electronic tuners.  I had to call a “time out” to tell everyone to tune to her.  That’s how I always tune my banjo and fiddle.  If she's not around, I use an A-440 tuning fork or I "mooch" a note off someone else.  Call me old-fashioned, but I prefer sweet tuning to the tyranny of equal tempered tuning that the electronic tuners provide. (but I digress...) 

The Banjo

Much has been made about the fact that Wade Ward played a Gibson RB-11 banjo in all its resonator glory.  His banjo is in the Smithsonian collection, so you can get a good look at it.  I had long pondered over the markings on that banjo’s head.  They are written on the underside of the head, so I mirrored an image and was able to see that what is written are parts of three dates: July 1935, Dec 1954, and Aug 1963.  I have “parts of” because the rest of the information is obscured by where the thumb was hitting the calfskin by the fifth string.  Roger Siminoff’s site gives a very complete history of Gibson banjos, and he notes (oops, a pun?) that the Gibson model 11 line was introduced in 1931.  The Smithsonian information indicates that Ward’s banjo was made “around 1935” which I assume was taken from the July 1935 date on the underside of the head.  Gibson RB-11s are enshrined in bluegrass/Scruggs history.  Earl’s first Gibson banjo was an RB-11.  Fortunately (?) for Earl, he and the Blue Grass Boys were caught in a rainstorm during an outdoor performance on July 4, 1945 and the RB-11 never recovered.  But the rest of that story is for those interested in the Gibson Mastertone line, which had its genesis prior to the Gibson model 11 line. 

So, back to the model 11 line of Wade Ward fame.  Why “model 11”?  This Gibson line had an 11” rim, so that part (ouch, another pun?) is easy.  The complete line included:

Gibson RB-11 (RB = “Regular banjo”, 5 string with 22 frets and 26.25" scale length)
Gibson PB-11 (PB= “Plectrum banjo”, same as RB but without 5^th string)
Gibson TB-11 (TB = “Tenor banjo,” 19 frets, 22 & 7/8”)
Gibson MB-11 (“Mandolin banjo” [banjolin])

Having been introduced near the beginning of the Great Depression, Gibson wanted a relatively cheap line that was the “flashiest five-string banjo made” (from their 1935 catalog) and that sounded (relatively) good.  The parenthetical “relatively” is because the Gibson 11 line had a simple 1/4" brass hoop rather than the heavier and more complex tone rings from the Mastertone line.  To cut down the price but go for that flashy look, Gibson used perloid (“mother-of-toilet-seat”) on the fretboard which had been silk-screened with red and black ink for position “inlays”.  For the fretboard they used maple rather than the more traditional ebony or rosewood so that the dark color of those woods would not show through the white perloid.  The peghead overlay was similarly treated with silk-screened perloid so that there was no need for inlays.  The back of the resonator also received the silk-screened perloid treatment, which was formed first and then treated so it could be applied to the convex back of the resonator.  The wood then received a dark blue treatment.  Opinions vary on whether this was to make the banjo “flashier” or to cover flaws in the wood.  The bulk of my information on the Gibson model 11 line comes from http://earnestbanjo.com/wp/gibson-style-11/, which I would recommend except that it is an http: URL rather than https:, so use at your own risk.  Incidentally, Wade Ward’s RB-11 is in remarkably good condition given how long he played it.  The dark blue finish on the Gibson model 11 line was notorious for flaking and wearing away, especially on the back of the neck.  Ward’s banjo has a tiny flake missing near the heel on the first-string side, but that's it.

The Man

Benjamin Wade Ward (Oct. 15, 1892-May 29, 1971) was the nineth of nine children of Enoch David Ward and Rosamond J. Carrico.  While Enoch Ward played fiddle, Wade Ward learned to play music from his older brother, first born David Crockett Ward (Feb. 9, 1873-Apr. 23, 1964).  Wade started playing banjo at age 11 and fiddle at age 16.  This means he started playing banjo around 1903.  What was the first banjo Wade Ward had?  There is no way to know.  While it could have been homemade, there is also the possibility that it was a mail-order banjo from Sears and Roebuck or Montgomery Ward (hmm?  Montogomery Ward banjo for the Ward family?).  Buckbee’s factory was building cheap banjos around this time that had no serial numbers, no maker’s identification, and no branding and were sold through Sears & Roebuck.  “Acme” banjos (S.S. Stewart factory built) were available even earlier if Wade Ward’s first banjo was a hand me-down from Crockett or Enoch.  Grayson Co., VA was certainly remote at this time, but mail order was still a possibility.  I bring this whole issue of Ward’s first banjo because of this quote from https://musicofourmountains.com/wade-ward/:  “When Wade was 14 he traveled to Tennessee and saw for the first time “chording” and picked up the tune “Chilly Winds” from local musicians there.”  The (partial) bar chords that Ward used at the fifth and particularly the twelfth fret would have been neigh impossible if he was playing a fretless banjo at the time, and homemade banjos at this point were by and large modelled very loosely after minstrel (fretless) banjos.  Maybe he played a fretless banjo when he started playing at age 11, was inspired in Tennessee by seeing someone play Chilly Winds with bar chords up the neck on a fretted (?) banjo, and then later acquired a fretted banjo.  We will never know for sure.  Well, I keep coming back to Chilly Winds, but this is in large measure (forgive the double entendre) because there is so much information already out there about Wade Ward (https://www.culturalequity.org/sites/default/files/2018-06/WavetheOceanBooklet.pdf , see Side 1, A1, https://country-music.fandom.com/wiki/Wade_Ward, https://folkways-media.si.edu/docs/folkways/artwork/FW02380.pdf , https://musicofourmountains.com/wade-ward/ , https://banjonews.com/2012-03/wade_ward_clawhammer_master.html, https://banjonews.com/2021-08/wade_ward.html  ).  If you want to see a video of Wade Ward playing banjo you are pretty much out of luck.  There is a brief video of him playing the RB-11 at Galax:

but the music on this advert is not what the band is actually playing.

There is an incredible amount of Wade Ward’s music out in YouTube land, much with his bandmates The Ballard Branch Bogtrotters and The Buck Mountain String Band.  Unfortunately, those band names have been used again by other groups.  If the listing is found @BBYMRLCCOTN you should be safe.  If you come across The New Ballard Branch Bogtrotters, they are the real deal with Eddie Bond on fiddle and Josh Ellish on banjo.  All of the Roscoe Holcomb and Wade Ward LP is available on YouTube. Walt Koken’s Wade Ward tribute  is definitely worth a watch.  You won’t hear Wade Ward himself, but Koken plays back performances he (and Highwoods for one song) did of Wade Ward tunes.  You can also drool over a look at Koken’s massive collection of CDs.  And all of Alan Lomax’s recordings of Wade Ward in August 1959 are available at: https://archive.culturalequity.org/solr-search/content/grid?search_api_fulltext=Galax%208/59

The Tabs

This is probably the part you’ve been waiting for.  If so, buy Carlin and Levenson’s “Wade Ward: Clawhammer Banjo Master” and look at Carlin’s tab.  It very precisely follows Ward’s playing of Chilly Winds.  The book is done in parallel so that Carlin gives tabs that follow Ward’s recordings while Levenson’s tabs are his own interpretations.  The two sets of tabs complement each other beautifully, but Levenson’s tab for Chilly Winds goes no higher than the fourth fret, so it doesn’t capture that up the neck playing that makes Wade Ward’s Chilly Winds a tune unto itself.

Now for something completely different (a Monte Python reference if you know your Monte Python).  For all the tenor banjo players out there, I’ve tried to do a couple of tenor banjo tabs of Wade Ward’s Chilly Winds.  This is rough stuff to play on a tenor banjo, because Ward’s Chilly Winds, unlike most of the TOTWs, is not a fiddle tune.  It is strictly a five-string banjo tune and is difficult to play on a tenor banjo with the strings tuned in fifths.  Anyhow, following is a tab that would match Wade Ward’s playing in pitch and then a low version that is an octave below Ward’s.  Incidentally, on both versions measures 8 and 12 have a series of notes that are very, very common in Round Peak banjo and in Galax style a la Ward (if you make the distinction).  In the high tab I’ve written measures 8 and 12 differently.  In the low version I think there’s only one way to play measures 8 and 12.  I have not included the standard (“fiddle”) notation from the tenor banjo tab because there are so many options on how to play the notes.  Doubtless, if you play tenor banjo you may find options that limit the amount of finger stretching and jumping around the fretboard.  And take solace in that fact that with a flat pick you are not limited by the picking mechanics of clawhammer banjo.

Tenor banjo tab (low version)

Tenor banjo tab (high version)

Edited by - LyleK on 07/31/2026 14:26:41