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Bob Carlin - In The Tradition | Introduction to Irish Banjo
WARNING – COULD BE HAZARDOUS TO YOUR HEALTH!

Bob Carlin - In The Tradition

by D. Lee Thomas

Bob Carlin is one of the best known performers of southern traditional music. His interest in preserving the heritage of Appalachian music is matched only by his outstanding ability to perform and teach the banjo styles and techniques he learned first hand from such influential players as Fred Cocherham and Tommy Jarrell. Bob who played and traveled with John Hartford during the late 1990's until John's death in 2001, has returned to playing solo performances, teaching and making appearances with other musicians such as the eighty-four year old, African- American fiddler, Joe Thompson. He has done extensive fieldwork studying the origin, traditions, and history of the banjo as well as African-American, minstrel and southern "old-time" banjo styles.

The following excerpts are from conversations with Bob in Weatherford, Texas on the fourth and fifth of March 2004 during a trip of workshops and performances in Texas.

In discussing his performance goals and the roles he envisions for his playing in solo performances and with other musicians Bob related the following:

"I've always been a support person. I started as a guitarist and bass player and I've always looked at the interactive and supportive role a banjo can play. It's not necessarily a lead instrument. I've always been involved with people that are either tradition bearers, people from the tradition who I think deserve the attention, not me, or with somebody like John Hartford, an established personality and performer. It is those musicians I want to bring to the forefront. I want people to go away from one of my performances knowing where the music comes from and appreciate the people who taught me the music. Of course, I like people to recognize my work, but my primary objective is to draw attention to the musicians I've played with and learned from. That's been the role I've taken on in all the things I've done, whether continued on next page it's been radio or record production, books or performances. I like for people to know about the tradition and the music."

While discussing the time he spent traveling to the homes of traditional players and how he learned their music Bob described the following:

"Sometimes, you'd be surprised at how hard it is for people to understand how you learned the music…that you learned the music sitting with somebody. Now we learn music from books and videos and dvds and then go jam with our friends. I got to drive nine or ten hours, sleep on the couch or the floor, then go over and sit with a musician and talk and play music. I would try to get them to slow the tunes down.

When I went, I never recorded a lot of these people. I learned a lot from the old recordings, but when I would go see Tommy Jarrell at his home in North Carolina, I figured plenty of people were recording his playing. There were plenty of places where you could hear his versions of things. So, why should I put something between him and me that I would always have to be fussing with? As a result, I tried to learn fewer tunes and just play music and be in the environment."

When asked if he classified his playing as traditional, the reply was:

"I feel my music is better if I know the history of it. I want to reference the tradition in the way I play and I want it to also sound like me. I try not to parrot. I don't know how you would classify my music. I'll have to leave it to my audience to draw the definitions as to what my music is. I'm driven by the desire to alert people to this wonderful gem of a music tradition that I have been lucky enough to be introduced to through a variety of people.

Ultimately, although I want to alert people to the music, I do it for myself because I like it and the music has a deep import for me. There are certainly more lucrative ways to make a living, but I feel strongly enough about the tradition that I want to devote myself to it."

You can learn more about Bob and how to contact him at his website www.cartunesrecordings.com

The following tab of Eminence Breakdown performed by Bob on John Hartford's "Hamilton Ironworks" is furnished courtesy of Banjo Newsletter.