Folk music -- Kentucky.

Abstract Born in Wolfe County, KY, in 1922, Blanche (Hurt) Coldiron moved with her family to Powell County when she was 6 years old.   At nine years old, after listening to Uncle Dave Macon play banjo on the Grand Old Opry radio show, Blanche taught herself to play the banjo. She played the banjo using five different picking styles including, her customary style, the “claw hammer.”  In addition to the banjo, Coldiron played the bass, guitar, fiddle, and mandolin.  Beginning her music career during...

Abstract One hundred seventy-four (174) audio field recordings (1970s-1990s) of interviews and performances that document the repertoire and playing styles of several dozen Kentucky fiddlers, mainly from the state's southern and southeastern regions.Listen To Selected Performances in the Digital Library of...

Abstract Kazee was born August 29, 1900 in the quite rural Burton Fork area of Magoffin County, Kentucky. Baptist Christianity, home made music, and classical commercial recordings were important influences in Kazee’s upbringing. He was singing and playing banjo by age 5 and was ordained to preach at age 17. After finishing high school at Magoffin Baptist Institute, he went on to Georgetown College to major in English, Greek, and Latin, and study voice. There he came to a stronger appreciation of...

Abstract Dewey Shepherd (b. 1905) was a singer and fiddler from Floyd County, Kentucky where he lived for many years in the David community. The recordings in this collection include self-made ones by Mr. Shepherd and those made by Steve Green, including interviews of Shepherd, in 1990. His music combines elements drawn from eastern Kentucky religious music, blues, traditional ballad singing, and instrumental folk music. His repertoire includes old fiddle and banjo songs like "Rocky...

Abstract Gilbert R. Combs (1886-1966) compiled his collection of songs and ballads in part from those he heard growing up in Eastern Kentucky, and also from his acquaintance with gospel music and spirituals from several southern states. The collection includes some biographical notes covering Combs' early life, and his own recollections of his early childhood and description of traditional songs in mountain settings. The Rev. Gilbert Reynolds Combs, according to his own account, was born in a cabin...

Abstract Raine was born (1869) in Scotland and immigrated to the United States with his family when he was 12 years old.  The family lived in West Virginia and, later, in Arkansas. Raine was educated at Oberlin College and Union Seminary in New York.  Ordained to the ministry, he held pastorates in Ohio and New York. Married twice, first to Harriett May (who died one year after their marriage) and to Clara Martz.  Raine had six children. In 1906, Raine became an English instructor at Berea...

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The recordings preserve the singing and playing of several dozen musicians mostly from the eastern half of the state. Many of them have since passed on and in several instances the tunes and playing styles documented date well back into the 1800s. Predominant tune sources for the fiddlers recorded include minstrel stage music and the dance music of Britain, Ireland, France, Germany, and in some instances, African American traditions.

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Audio and video recorded interviews and performances with Kentucky traditional musicians and singers some of whom had radio performing careers mainly during the 1930s and 1940s. The interviews were conducted at various times over the period 1969-2008, by Reubein Powell, Ray Nemec, Loyal Jones, Stephen Green, Susan Eacker, and Harry Rice.

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This collection contains correspondence, business records, photographs, news clippings, songbooks, and sheet music from radio ballad singer Bradley Kincaid. Collection sound recordings include interviews of Kincaid and his associates, a 1974 Kincaid performance at the Renfro Valley Traditional Music Festival, a 1974 recording of the song "Who Is Bradley Kincaid" composed and performed by Vince Matthews and Glen Sherley and copies of Kincaid's commercial 78 rpm discs (1928-1947).

Abstract The McLain Family Band came to be as the result of an interest in Bluegrass music developed by Raymond K. McLain (1928-2003) while Director of Hindman Settlement School in Knott County, Kentucky where he had moved in 1954 with his wife, Betty.  This interest owed much to both family influence and formal academic training.  McLain’s mother had been director of Southern Folk Life Studies at the University of Alabama. He had majored in music theory at Denison University and done graduate work...