People tend to be somewhat surprised when they ask me where I picked up my "new time" stye of playing clawhammer. They expect to hear a long list of clawhammer banjoists, but the reality is that I learned to play by emulating the approach of non-clawhammer musicians such as Doc Watson, Tony Rice, Bill Keith, Norman Blake, John Hartford, David Grisman, Bela Fleck, Bill Staines, and Sam Bush. Topping this list (by far) is Doc Watson.
I'm curious to see if this is the case with other clawhammer banjoists. How many banjo pieces do you play that you adapted directly from Doc's guitar work? Here's my list:
- Big Spike Hammer
- Black Mtn Rag
- Blue Railroad Train
- Bright Sunny South
- Columbus Stockade Blues
- Deep River Blues
- Double File
- Freight Train Blues
- Going To Chicago Blues
- Honey Babe Blues
- Last Thing On My Mind
- Little Sadie
- Rising Sun Blues
- Ruben's Train
- Salt Creek
- Shady Grove
- South Bound
- Tennessee Stud
- Texas Gals
- Tom Dooley
- Walking Boss
- Way Downtown
- Windy & Warm
Mike Iverson - banjoutah.com
Thank you Doc for all you unselfishly gave us...