Clifton Hicks

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Clifton Hicks

CliftonHicks

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I learned "Cacklin' Hen" (Hen Cackle) from George Gibson of Knott County, Kentucky. The first instrument shown is an early style gourd banjo handmade by myself. That tuning is several frets below gGCE. The 5-string banjo is an 1888 Luscomb tuned below gCGCE.

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"De Boatmen's Dance" or "Boatman's Dance" by Dan Emmett (1843)
My instrument is an 1867 custom Dobson banjo tuned ~ eBEG♯B

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I learned "Tom Dooley" from Josh Hayes of Watauga County, North Carolina. My instrument is an early 2000s minstrel banjo reproduction by Terry Bell, tuned ~ eBEG♯B.

Hang your head Tom Dooley hang your head and cry
You killed poor Laura Foster poor boy you're bound to die,
You took her on the hillside to make her your wife
You took her on the hillside and stabbed her with your knife

You took her on the hillside where you begged to be excused
You took her on the hillside where you hid her clothes and shoes...
About this time tomorrow where do you reckon I'll be?
If it hadn't been for Grayson I'd been in Tennessee...

You cut the grave two feet wide and you dug it three feet deep
You rolled the cold clay over her and tromped it with your feet...

About this time tomorrow where do you reckin I'll be?
Down in a lonesome valley hanging on a white oak tree...

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I've taught banjo setup for over twenty years; during that time my understanding of musical instrument organology has developed considerably. In this discussion I delve more deeply into the subject than I have in previous videos, examining in detail the use and maintenance of friction pegs, tying gut strings, different types of bridges and tailpieces--their histories, strengths, and weaknesses--different approaches to banjo head material and tensioning, etc.

00:47 place the bridge
01:13 check the intonation
02:01 tie nylon strings
02:24 place strings in nut slots
03:00 nylon strings vs steel strings
03:36 more on tying nylon strings
04:40 melt the ends of nylon or gut strings
05:14 tie the thumb string
05:26 tailpiece discussion
09:07 bridge discussion
13:09 banjo head discussion
16:04 clean the banjo
18:04 maintain friction pegs
19:14 tie gut strings
20:28 using friction pegs

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My instrument is an early 2000s copy of an 1840s William Boucher "minstrel" banjo tuned ~ dGDGA (A = 432 Hz). I learned the first two verses of "Sundown" from Art Rosenbaum. My third verse and insturmental arrangement are original.

When you see me coming hoist your window high
When you see me leaving hang your head and cry,
At sundown at sundown the sun is nearly down
I'm going to see my true love before the sun goes down!

Low down woman what makes you treat me so?
I'm going away to leave this place ain't coming back no more...

First time I saw you no shoes upon your feet
Last time I saw you walking down the street...

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I learned "Don't Go Riding Down That Old Texas Trail" (gDGBD) from a recording of Lawrence Eller (banjo & vocals), Vaughn Eller (guitar), and Ross Brown (fiddle) of Towns County, Georgia.

My instrument is an 1888 E.J. Cubley banjo tuned fCFAC ~ gDGBD.

These nights are getting mighty long (x2)
These nights are getting long I'm singing you this song
Don't go riding down that old Texas Trail!

Don't go riding down that old Texas Trail (x2)
Don't go riding down that trail I weep and I wail
Don't go riding down that old Texas Trail!

Honey babe you know you done me wrong (x2)
You know you done me wrong I'm singing you this song
Don't go riding down that old Texas Trail!

Don't go riding down that old Texas Road (x2)
Don't go riding down that road carrying such a heavy load
Don't go riding down that old Texas Road!

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In this video I compare two of my mountain banjo builds: a rare hexagonal type that emerged in Kentucky before World War 1, and a similar West Virginia type dating to the Great Depression.

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Clifton Hicks of Copperhill, Tennessee, plays and songs "Rocky Island" on a 1950s Kay resonator #banjo that won't stay in tune (about two frets below eCGCD). Filmed by @wovoka9967

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#americana #america #cliftonhicks #bluegrass #countrymusic #oldleatherstocking Old Leatherstocking #clawhammerbanjo #acousticmusic #oldtimemusic #appalachiantrail #dog #doglover #dogs #fireplace #cozy #ambiance #ambient

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I learned "The Spring of 65" from a field recording of J.D. Cornett. My instrument is a minstrel style fretless banjo by Terry Bell. My strings are Aquila "New Nylgut" tuned cGCFG (A=432 Hz).

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I learned "Sally Ann" from Josh Hayes of Watauga County, North Carolina. Josh always used a straight hoedown picking style to play this one. My instrument is an 1888 Thompson & Odell "The Luscomb" banjo tuned e♭ G♯ E♭ G♯ B♭

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Clifton Hicks performs the traditional WW1 banjo ballad, "German War," and reflects on his own experiences in the Iraq War, 2003-2004.

Roscoe Holcomb LIVE at The Old Church in Portland, Oregon (1972) -- previously unreleased:
"Single Girl" / "Black Eyed Suzie"

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#Corrido #KyleRittenhouse #banjo #oldtimemusic #bluegrass #folkmusic #countrymusic #blacklivesmatter #tradmusic #worldmusic #Celtic #Irish #rootsmusic #appalachia #americana #antifa #clawhammerbanjo #oldtimebanjo #antiracist #antifascist #OldLeatherstocking #2A #outlawcountry

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I learned "You Shall Be Free" from a 1920s recording of Bill and Belle Reed. Little is known of the duo beyond their stage names, yet they were libeled by the owners of Dust-to-Digital in a recent The New York Times interview.

Original 1928 recording: https://youtu.be/oKrRTTTTcsM

While the song does contain racial epithets, it does not contain any reference to lynching, as was falsely claimed by April and Lance Ledbetter. I contacted the Ledbetters and NYT to explain their error and request a correction, to no avail.

The verse in question is used twice:
"Some folks say a ****** won't steal
But I caught three in my corn field,
One had a bushel the other had a peck
One had a ROASTING EAR around his neck."

"... One had a CRIB TIED around his neck."

This was misquoted by the Ledbetters as:
"... One had a ROPE TIED around his neck."

The Reeds never "jubilantly harmonized about a lynching," as the Ledbetters maintain. In truth, the verse references traditional maize agriculture. Red roasting ears were a prize shown off during corn-shucking parties, and a "crib" is a small manger used to feed livestock.

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Clifton Hicks on the banjo's surprising popularity before 1800, plus Old Leatherstocking, Joe Sweeney, and the rise of blackface minstrelsy.

The earliest accounts of what can be positively identified as a "banjo" come from the Caribbean during the 17th century. Recent organological studies of early gourd banjos indicate that they are a hybrid instrument, borrowing heavily from both African and European lutes.* By 1740 the gourd banjo had spread across the east coast of what would become the United States, and by 1780 it occupied a central role in both black and white folk culture--especially in the South. However, it wasn't until the 1830s that blackface minstrels began utilizing it on the commercial stage, and this happened mostly in the urban North. In the South, banjo culture remained relatively uncommercialized until after the American Civil War.

* Banjo Roots and Branches (ed. Winans, 2018)

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I composed this song in November of 2004 after learning that one of my closest friends had been killed in Ramadi, Iraq. He was 21 years old.

"PFC Dennis J. Miller, 21, was killed Wednesday in Ramadi when a rocket propelled grenade hit his M1A1 Abrams tank, the Pentagon said. Miller was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 72nd Armor Regiment, which deployed from Camp Casey, South Korea."
----------------------------------
ERIE, Michigan — Soldier and Young Husband Deployed Overseas in September was killed in Iraq.

Family members of Pfc. Dennis Miller Jr., 21, were notified of the death Thursday morning. “He just felt honored he could serve our country, especially during war,” his wife of 13 months, Kimberly, told The Monroe Evening News.

Miller was a 2001 graduate of Mason High School and studied history at Monroe Community College. His mother said her son loved hunting with his father and uncles. “He was a great kid,” Kathy Miller said. “He never was in any trouble.”

Miller was the 33rd member of the military from Michigan to die in Iraq.

He graduated from basic training and completed M1 Abrams tank training in September, 2003 at Fort Knox, Kentucky, and was stationed in Korea. He was home on leave for two weeks in June and reported to Iraq on Sept. 8.

Laura Imhoff, owner of Capt. Harry’s Storehouse Pizza in LaSalle, said Miller had worked for about a year at her business. “He was a wonderful, wonderful kid,” she said. “You couldn’t ask for anyone better. He’d do anything for anyone."
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When I was a boy my momma used to say
Don't you the ever let them see you run away
I tried to obey the words she said that day
But now I'm running and I just can't get away

My father drifted away my mother's dead and gone
My sister died of shame my brother never came home
I've been running so long I just can't run no more
Lord I've been running since the day that I was born.

I know that thieves can steal I know that liars can lie
I guess that I'll be a fool until the day I die
I've seen more hard times than I would care to count
I know that nobody knows you when you're down and out

Lord I never thought that I would live this long
And I never thought that I would be this strong
I hear the voice of an angel singing my last song
Lord I never thought that I would live this long

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