This month we are running Richard Burkett’s slightly modified article from the SDBS Newsletter about Black history and bluegrass.
“The question shouldn’t be how do we get diversity into bluegrass, but how do we get diversity back into bluegrass?” —Rhiannon Giddens
February was Black History Month, so for the Troubadour we decided to take a look at Black musicians in bluegrass and old-time string bands. It’s well known that the banjo has its roots in Africa. Bela Fleck’s travels in Africa looking at those roots is the subject of a fascinating documentary Throw Down Your Heart (2008) that’s available for free on YouTube (1 hour 37minutes of great video and music).
Bela Fleck’s early band, the Flecktones, included black bassist Victor Wooten (also known as Futureman), although their music rarely included bluegrass standards.
And, certainly, bluegrass would not be what it is without Kentucky fiddler Rosine and blues guitarist Arnold Shultz’ influence on the father of bluegrass music, Bill Monroe. Schulz reportedly also gave a young Bill Monroe his first professional job as a musician.
Rhiannon Giddens, along with Dom Flemmons and Justin Robinson, formed the Carolina Chocolate Drops in 2005 at the first Black Banjo Gathering and brought Black string-band music to the ears of millions of new listeners. Giddens addressed the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) Business Conference in 2017 with an insightful talk that’s on the IBMA website and is highly recommended reading:
Here are Rhiannon Giddens and Justin Robinson performing Marching Jaybird:
IBMA Foundation trustee and excellent mandolinist who learned directly from Bill Monroe, Dr. Richard Brown, plays “New Camptown Races” with the Gibson Brothers in this video. Brown was a key part of the Reunion Bluegrass band for many years.
Also, Richard Brown with Don Flemmons play “Going Down the Road Feeling Bad.”
Black San Diegan Nick Nicholson (mandolin) plays “Freeborn Man” with his band High Mountain Road (John-Michael Brooks, Chris Adkins, Tad Van Allen, and Jack Lohman) at the Summergrass bluegrass festival in Vista in 2015:
The Ebony Hillbillies, “the finest (and last) African-American String Band,” who hail from New York City play both original tunes and classic old-time and bluegrass tunes. Check them out on their website: https://www.ebonyhillbillies.com/music
Blake Atkins is the fine young banjoist for JustUs Bluegrass Band and plays “California Cotton Fields” here:
Chris Jones andthe Night Drivers features amazing bassist Nelson Williams; you can hear his first concert with the Night Drivers in 2023 here:
Otis Taylor plays blues with an old-time music feel on the banjo with his band in this Tiny Desk Concert on NPR:
A powerfully gifted musician and a scholar of Black American music, Jake Blount speaks ardently about the African roots of the banjo and the subtle, yet profound ways African-Americans have shaped and defined the amorphous categories of roots music and Americana. He was a recipient of the Steve Martin Banjo Prize in 2020 and plays banjo, fiddle, electric guitar, and synthesizer. Jake Blount performed at the California Bluegrass Association’s Father’s Day Bluegrass Festival in 2023. Here you can see Jake perform Reuben’s Train/Raleigh and spencer.
Take some time to do a deep dive and look for more musical connections by the likes of Taj Mahal, Gangstagrass, Alwyn Robinson with Leftover Salmon, Joelle Tambe-ebot with Cisco and the Racecars, banjo picker Greg Donlan, Cedric Watson and Leyla McCalla, and finally one last link to The Birch Mountain Boys playing “The Girl I Left in Sunny Tennessee” with Brent Williams on fiddle somewhere in rural Nova Scotia in the 1960s. Williams is credited as “the man who introduced bluegrass to Canada.”
