Rick Good-the Human Banjo Player

I've been playing the banjo for almost fifty years and earning a living at it my entire adult life. No joke. The banjos I play on this recording are: 1974 Ome, custom-made (not for me) maple banjo with engraved, gold-plated hardware, a Mastertone-style tone ring and a busted resonator A. A. Farland Concert Grand beveled-top, wood rim banjo, 11.5'' rim, circa 1902 Vega openback with a 1918 Whyte Ladye 10.25'' rim and a 1910 Regent neck Gibson banjo-guitar, 11'' rim, circa 1910, with brass tone ring and resonator gourd banjo with 4 strings (the lowest string being the missing one) made by Mike Martin of Sunhearth Folk Instruments around 1983, designed after a well known painting from the late 1700s by John Rose entitled, The Old Plantation. 1. DURHAM'S NINTH (traditional) The fiddling of Van Buren Kidwell was a significant, early influence on my banjo playing. Originally from central Kentucky, Van retired from farming to Miamisburg, Ohio where he picked up his fiddle and played like he never wanted to put it down again. He made me bleed. The second tune in this opening medley, Durham's Reel, is one of his. The first tune, Ninth of January, came to us from Jeff Goehring. This cut comes first because playing in a getdown, moonshine lit session is the purest of musical joy for me. For the last six years, Ben Cooper and I have been hosting a Wednesday night session at the Trolley Stop in Dayton. In true Fiddlin' Van tradition, the ShoeFly quartet takes no prisoners here. Rick: clawhammer banjo (aDADE) Ben Cooper: fiddle Paul Kovac: guitar Sharon Leahy: bass 2. ALWAYS LIFT HIM UP AND NEVER KNOCK HIM DOWN (Alfred Reed) West Virginia fiddler and songwriter, Blind Alfred Reed was the voice of conscience in the early days of country music. His lyrics were often words to live by, especially in this fine song. Rick: three-fingered banjo (gCGBD), guitar, vocal 3. TROUBLE ON THE BRANDYWINE (traditional) I learned this tune from the playing of Jim Morrison, one of the many Kentuckians from down around Renfro Valley who came up to settle in Dayton. Jim brought his banjo to the Living Arts Center where, for a couple of years in the mid-seventies, the Hotmud Family hosted jam sessions on Tuesday nights and a country music jamboree every Wednesday night which broadcast live on WYSO Radio. I particularly like the way the parts progress from a simple two-fingered style, to old time three-fingered, all the way to a quasi-Scruggs pattern. Jim is the only one I ever heard play this tune and I tried to learn it just the way he played it. Rick: two & three-fingered banjo (gDGBD) 4. BOTTLED AND SOLD (Tommy Thompson) Banjo player, composer and playwright Tommy Thompson was a founding member of the Red Clay Ramblers. His play, The Last Song of John Proffit-from whence comes this song-is the story of American music's dark beginnings. I've had the honor of performing this powerful piece of theater myself and hope to again someday. It's some of Tommy's finest work and that's saying a lot. It was for this play that my gourd banjo was built and, coming from the same gourd, it is a twin to Tommy's. Rick: clawhammer fretless gourd banjo (eEG#B), vocal 5. TUFF BUCK (Rick Good) The dancers of Maggie Valley, North Carolina have made their mark on Southern clogging. Years ago, I met two of the best-Burton and Caroline Edwards-at Ashokan Fiddle and Dance Camp. That's where my daughter, Emma first saw their Tuff Buck style of dancing. A few years later, she choreographed a dance for Rhythm in Shoes in this style and I used this breakdown to go with it. Rick: bluegrass banjo (aEAC#E) Rayna Gellert: fiddle Ben Cooper: guitar, bass Kevin Anderson: drums 6. CAT'S GOT THE MEASLES (traditional) I first heard this whimsical song played by Mike Seeger and Tracy Schwarz on a New Lost City Ramblers record. They performed it in an oldtime stringband style. A recording from the early 1920s by Papa Charlie Jackson featured his six-string banjo and sounded more like a Vaudeville song. Here is a bit of both. Rick: banjo-guitar, vocal Jack Herrick: virtual tuba Kevin