Clifton Hicks

Prodigal Son | Performance

f#DGAD (relative) AKA "Dock Boggs" or "Southern Texas" tuning. 

This is another song I learned from the famous recording of Dock Boggs of Wise County, Virginia. Boggs was a three-finger picker, but as a child I learned to emulate some of his sound using my own two-finger style. Played ...

Coke Oven March | Performance

f#DF#AD (relative) AKA "Dock Boggs" or "Southern Texas" tuning. 

I learned this tune from the recording of Dock Boggs of Wise County, Virginia. Boggs was a three-finger picker, but as a child I learned to emulate some of his sound using my own two-finger style. Played on a 1930s Gibson...

1930s Gibson "Kalamazoo" Banjo (RARE!)

The Gibson Guitar Corporation produced very few banjos of any kind prior to the 2nd World War, making this "Kalamazoo" resonator banjo a fairly rare find. The fingerboard is fine rosewood; the rest of the wood appears to be maple. At one point someone had modern geared tuners installed on this in...

Q&A: Old Chattanooga, Ola Belle Reed, Down-Tuning & Matt Kinman?

(Intro music is "Shortening Bread" gDGBD from Lewis 'Big Sweet' Hairston.)

"Clifton, I’ve been trying to figure out the picking pattern for Old Chattanooga, especially the B section of the tune, by watching your hands but for the life of me I can’t get it. Would you mind posting a littl...

1880s Fairbanks & Cole (short 24" scale and 10" pot)

This little 24" scale banjo was made during the 1880s in Boston, Massachusetts by Fairbanks & Cole. Walnut neck, ebony fingerboard, 10" maple hoop spun-over with sheet metal. The heel cap and peg head overlay appear to be a faux ebony made from walnut stained black.

From Hank Schwartz's...

Q&A: Percussive Techniques for Traditional Banjo?

 "I was thinking a good tutorial would be on the way you hit the drum of the banjo in a particular pattern. I've noticed that in some of your performances (Rocky Island, for example),you don't hit the drum in the natural pattern that clawhammer produces--but you're choosing to hit the drum a...

Boucher-style Minstrel Banjo by Bob Flesher

This fine Boucher-style minstrel banjo was made by master musician and luthier Bob Flesher of Peachtree City, Georgia. It is easy to play, light as a feather and LOUD!  Purchased in the late 1990s it shows very little wear (in other words: this was not used in the field by an historical reen...

"Old Coon Dog" | Performance

gCGCD (relative) AKA "Double C" or "One-Finger C."

I learned this song from the a field recording of J.M. Mullins available from the Alan Lomax Kentucky Recordings website: https://lomaxky.omeka.net/items/show/120...

Farewell, My Bonnie Blues Eyes | Performance

gCGCD (relative) AKA "Hook & Line" tuning, "Double C" or (as Eddie Haggard called it) "One-Finger C."

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FINE c. 1880 Buckbee(?)

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http://cliftonhicks.bandcamp.com

I know I say it all the time, folks, but I absolutely _love_ this banjo! ...

I've Always Been a Rambler | Performance

f#DF#AD (relative) AKA "Reuben Tuning" or "Drop D" when playing with a guitarist.

I learned this song from Josh Hayes of Watauga County, North Carolina. Josh knows about a million songs and is a fantastic banjoist, singer and performer. When singing this (or similarly themed songs) he'll of...

Rare Historic Banjo Photos

Detail of banjo player near Petersburg, Virginia, circa 1870 (R. H. Sayers Collection).

&nbs...

"Hustling Gamblers" (Country Blues) | Close-Up

eCFGC actual (f[sharp]DGAD relative) aka "Dock Boggs tuning" or "Southern Texas" tuning.

In this video I demonstrate how I play Hustling Gamblers/Country Blues/False-Hearted Lovers Blues using the overhand "clawhammer" technique, then two-finger "thumb-lead" and finally a more complicated u...

"Hustling Gambers" (Country Blues) Lesson & Tab

eCFGC actual (f#DGAD relative) aka "Dock Boggs tuning" or "Southern Texas" tuning.

In this video I discuss the song Hustling Gamblers/Country Blues/False-Hearted Lovers Blues which I learned from recordings of Dock Boggs of Wise County, Virginia. This, and several other worthy pieces, hinge...

"Hustling Gamblers" (Country Blues) | Performance

f#DGAD relative (aka "Dock Boggs" or "Southern Texas" Tuning).

I learned this song from two recordings of Dock Boggs of Wise County, Virginia: "Hustling Gamblers/Country Blues" and "False-Hearted Lovers Blues." 

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Fine Antique Fretless Banjo (1870-1890)

Here's an elegant c. 1870-1890 banjo with federal eagle brackets and a finely-carved curly maple neck. When "rediscovered" it was just a dusty old pile of parts and, for that reason, was restored to its current condition.

2019-01-01 23:25:23 +0000 UTC View Post

For SALE $1000 (shipped) | 1890s Luscomb "Banjeaurine!"

1890s Luscomb banjeurine with 13" solid brass rim and hardwood tone ring--all original hooks & shoes--original patent tuners freshly cleaned and in good working order. Mahogany neck, ebony fingerboard; this is a fine antique instrument designed for playing guitar-style "classical banjo" piece...

1930s Gretsch "Broadkaster"

This was the same model played in later years by world-famous Mississippi banjoist Gus Cannon. Tony Thomas has a great article about Cannon in the new book Banjo Roots and Branches available here: 2018-12-28 18:26:44 +0000 UTC View Post

Cluck Old Hen | Lesson

fCFB♭C actual (gDGCD relative) aka "G Modal" or "Pretty Polly Tuning."

In this video I discuss how to play the classic Appalachian dance piece "Cluck Old Hen" using two traditional banjo methods: overhand (clawhammer) and two-finger (thumb-lead).

I learned this piece from George R. ...

Cluck Old Hen | Close-Up (Overhand & Two-Finger)

fCFB♭C

I apologize for the washed-out right hand view in this video (hazards of working with natural light). Please let me know in the comments if you'd like to see a different angle or different style.

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Cluck Old Hen | Performance

 gDGCD, relative (fCFB♭C, actual) aka "Pretty Polly" or "G Modal" tuning. I learned this tune from George R. Gibson of Knott County, Kentucky.   

This is one of the only pieces that I've never heard George sing with. He always plays it very fast with heavy rhythmic brushing (what ...

East Virginia | Close-Up

gDGCD, relative (fCFB♭C, actual) aka "Pretty Polly" or "G Modal" tuning. 

 2018-12-15 15:29:42 +0000 UTC View Post

East Virginia | Lesson & Discussion

 gDGCD, relative (fCFB♭C, actual) aka "Pretty Polly" or "G Modal" tuning. 

Alternate tunings to experiment with:

fFGCD aka "East Virginia" tuning (from George Gibson)

fDGCD aka "F" tuning

In this video I explain one of the ways that I learned to play the early banjo s...

RARE Early English Banjo (1870s?)

This is one of the coolest banjos I've seen. The wooden, top-tension design and the fact that it was converted from 6- to 5-string suggest the instrument was made in Britain. The label on the back side of the apparently original head reads: "A. & N. C.S.L." This stands for "Army & Navy St...

Taylor's Banjo Completed!

This banjo's neck came from a black walnut tree on Taylor's family land up in Virginia. Since the block he sent me was good and long I decided to make this neck slightly longer than standard (as is often seen with early "minstrel" banjos). The hoop is a maple snare drum shell, submerged cherry bridg...

East Virginia | Performance

 fDGCD, relative (aka "East Virginia" or "F" tuning.) 

This early banjo song is an oral history record of the mass migration of west African and Scots-Irish people from the Chesapeake Bay region into the frontiers of Carolina and Kentucky. I learned it from George R. Gibson of Knott Coun...

Progress Report! |Banjo #17

A friend mailed me this piece of black walnut, apparently cut down and milled by he and his father on their land in Virginia. It turned out to be a very pretty piece of wood and with a near-perfect banjo neck grain! It has been a few months since I carved a neck from black walnut and doing ...

"Cold Icy Mountain" | Close-Up

gDGBD, relative (fCFAC, actual) aka "standard tuning" or "Cripple Creek tuning."

In this video I demonstrate the chorus and verse parts to Cold Icy Mountain, first using overhand technique and then two-finger.

https://patre...

Cold Icy Mountain | Lesson/Discussion

 
Banjo is tuned gDGBD, relative (fCFAC, actual) aka "standard" or "Cripple Creek" tuning. Lookout for a close-up of this piece and please comment below with any suggestions.

Daw Henson | "Old Piney Mountain" (Cold Icy Mountain)

I wanted to share this video with y'all now as I am about to film close-ups and a lesson/discussion on Cold Icy Mountain. I think this is a very early banjo song, perhaps going back to the 18th century when blacks and whites first traveled "over mountain" into Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia. ...