...traditional musicians, too, often try to "get it down just like" an admired player picks a particular tune. This is not slavish imitation for its own sake but rather a passionate desire to get at the very sinews of the style, based on the realization that the impact of traditional music depends on detail and an evocative context... - Art Rosenbaum, Old-Time Mountain Banjo
Art Rosenbaum's radio show Backroads and Banjos is available online here: http://1690wmlb.com/?cat=10. Quite a number of archived episodes. While, yes, there are banjos, there are also shows on Leadbelly, black string bands, Scrapper Blackwell and Shirley Griffith, Rev. Gary Davis, Elizabeth Cotten, as well as Cajun, country, and other traditional music.
As someone with history working in radio, there are two things I find really interesting about these programs. First, it's streaming from an AM station. As we all know, AM sounds like hell when you're listening on an AM radio, but when it's streaming it's right tolerable to listen to. It's hard for me to imagine people tuning in to an AM station to listen to music anymore, but someone must be doing so.
Second is the short format. I listened to the "Music of the Bahamas" program just now (always good to start the day with a little Joseph Spence and the Pindar Family), and it was just under 13 minutes. I don't have an iPod or other device for listening to podcasts, so many of you are probably used to that format by now, but it's new for me.
Check out the list of programs he's put together, seems like a great way to take a 15 minute break in the middle of your day.
It's hard for me to imagine people tuning in to an AM station to listen to music anymore, but someone must be doing so.
AM is so far off my radar I'd pretty much forgotten it still existed. I figured the frequencies had mostly been turned over to garage door openers and right-wing talkshow hosts a long time ago.
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Second is the short format. I listened to the "Music of the Bahamas" program just now (always good to start the day with a little Joseph Spence and the Pindar Family), and it was just under 13 minutes. I don't have an iPod or other device for listening to podcasts, so many of you are probably used to that format by now, but it's new for me.
Check out the list of programs he's put together, seems like a great way to take a 15 minute break in the middle of your day.
I agree, the short and sweet format is very appealing. Of course, given how much work Art Rosenbaum has done in research, field recording and such, I could just as easily handle 3 hours.