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Across The Blue Ridge - Episode 4 (A Senior Virginia Fiddler Tells His Story)

Paul Brown
Fiddler John Lewis, age 92, at his southwest Virginia home. He tells Across the Blue Ridge host Paul Brown about his early life, taking up music, and his career as a farmer, factory worker and fiddler.

This week on Across the Blue Ridge, we take a field trip to see a senior fiddler, John “Johnny” Lewis, in southwest Virginia.  He's played music since early childhood, and now, at age 92, he's in a good position to recall and reflect.  Join host Paul Brown for this heartwarming visit and for lots of great music from John Lewis and the people who influenced him as a youngster. Also on the show, some wonderful songs performed by master artists Ralph Stanley, Peter Rowan, and Bill Monroe – songs that bring home the connections between gospel music, blues, and bluegrass.  And there's a segment on new recordings from some of today's acoustic bluegrass and old-time music artists.

Episode 4 Playlist

  1. I'm Lonesome Without You – Ralph Stanley & the Clinch Mountain Boys
    Album: Great High Mountain

  2. Wild Geese Cry Again – Ralph Stanley & the Clinch Mountain Boys
    Album: Great High Mountain

  3. Let Me Walk Lord By Your Side – Peter Rowan Bluegrass Band
    Album: Peter Rowan Bluegrass Band: Legacy

  4. New Mule Skinner Blues – Bill Monroe and His Blue Grass Boys
    Album: Bill Monroe: In the Pines

  5. The Brakeman's Blues – Jimmie Rodgers
    Album: Essential Jimmie Rodgers

  6. Walking Blues – Robert Johnson
    Album: The Complete Robert Johnson

  7. Natural Bridge Blues – John Lewis & the Rockbridge Pickers
    Album: Rockbridge Pickers – Tunes Tested by Time

  8. Honeysucle Rag – Blue Ridge Mountain Entertainers
    Album --  In the Pines: Tar Heel Folk Songs and Fiddle Tunes

  9. Take Me Back to Tennessee – Fiddlin' Arthur Smith & His Dixieliners
    Album: Fiddlin' Arthur Smith & His Dixieliners

  10. Tom and Jerry – Uncle Dave Macon
    Album: Go Long Mule

  11. Mac's Hoedown – Reno & Smiley
    Album:  30 Fiddler's Greatest Hits by the World's Greatest Fiddlers

  12. The Wreck of the Old 97 – John Lewis and the Rockbridge Pickers
    Album:  Rockbridge Pickers – Tunes Tested by Time

  13. Roxanne Waltz – John Lewis and the Rockbridge Pickers
    Album:  Rockbridge Pickers – Tunes Tested by Time

  14. Lost Indian – Seth Swingle
    Album: Seth Swingle – Solo 5 And 6 String Banjo

  15. If I Needed You – Kay Justice
    Album:  Kay Justice – Hickory Wind

  16. Stripped Gears – Alan Kaufman & Don Stratton
    Album: Alan Kaufman & Don Stratton – All in Good Time

  17. Saranac – Alan Kaufman & Don Stratton
    Album: Alan Kaufman & Don Stratton – All in Good Time

  18. Big Bend Gal – Sunny Mountain Serenaders
    Album: Sunny Mountain Serenaders – Big Bend Gal

  19. Foggy Mountain Special – Earl Scruggs
    Album: Flatt & Scruggs – Foggy Mountain Jamboree

Former 88.5 WFDD News Director Paul Brown founded Across the Blue Ridge at WFDD in the late 1980s. It was an instant hit, and was broadcast on WFDD for more than a decade until Paul left to become an executive editor, producer, reporter, and world newscaster at NPR in Washington, DC. Now Paul is back in his beloved Blue Ridge region, his journalism and storytelling skills honed better than ever. He's ready to present more music, share discussion with more interesting characters, and be your friend and guide in discovery. Paul is actively involved in today's acoustic music scene, crisscrossing the region and the country as a teacher, performer, and interviewer.

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