Category Archives: Old-Timey

It’s 1985, and The Critton Hollow String Band Are in Town!

If there is a better name for an old-timey music town than Paw Paw, West Virginia, I don’t know what it is. And that’s where The Critton Hollow String Band are from. Their core founders are Joe and Sam Herrmann, … Continue reading

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The Poodles, Live in 1986!

ANOTHER ARCHIVAL HILLBILLY AT HARVARD It’s February 22, 1986, and the four young ladies doing business as The Poodles are on a roll, heading up to Brattleboro, VT for a show tonight, and playing a double bill with Stoney Lonesome … Continue reading

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The Freight Hoppers, Live in 1998!

ANOTHER ARCHIVAL HILLBILLY AT HARVARD The weekend of September 12, 1998, featured a Folk Festival in downtown Boston, sponsored I think by WUMB. There were several artists of interest to HAH listeners, e.g. J.D. Crowe, and the fabulous Freight Hoppers, … Continue reading

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It’s the Eighth of January!

And that means it’s time for ‘The Battle of New Orleans’ with Johnny Horton (1959):     Johnny Horton of course took the song from Jimmy Driftwood (whose real name was James Morris).  From a site called the Greasespot Cafe, … Continue reading

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Extra! Fiddlin’ John Carson Played Tex’s ‘Christmas Time’ in 1927!

Well, sort of. After I played Tex Logan fiddling his composition, ‘Christmas Time’s a-Comin’’ with The Lane Brothers, followed by Bill Monroe’s classic first recording of the song, listener Paul Murphy emailed me with this news (reprinted with his permission): … Continue reading

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The 2018 Joe Val Festival

For bluegrass-country fans here in New England, Presidents’ Day weekend means Joe Val Weekend. The substitution is fine with me, as the elevation of the third weekend in February to just another Monday day off meant the nation quickly forgot … Continue reading

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Ruth Rappaport & Ben Wetherbee at the Burren, Friday 15Dec17, 7-9 PM!

If you were listening this past Saturday (the 9th), you’d have heard Ruth Rappaport and son Ben Wetherbee tearin’ up Studio BC with some fine fiddle tunes and songs.  It was a lot of fun, and since they were nice … Continue reading

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After 50 Years, the Second Stanley Brother Leaves Us

I have been reading one memorial after another, eulogies, tributes, encomia, to and for Ralph Stanley.  Most of them focus on his voice (click on the links for the full articles):   “You don’t replace a Ralph Stanley,” said Eric … Continue reading

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HA’ppenings: Surprise Old-Time Fiddling on the Show

Last Friday evening (11Mar16) I opened a brightly-colored mailer that had come in to WHRB the previous Saturday, to find a CD and a note from fiddler Matt Brown.  He said that he and guitarist Greg Reish were going to … Continue reading

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HA’ppenings: Notorious Duo Coming to HAH

Eden MacAdam Somer and Larry Unger perform as a duo (or sometimes with additional artists as a trio or quartet), styling themselves ‘Notorious’, though as far as I know they have committed no misdeeds—unless appearing on Hillbilly at Harvard this … Continue reading

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