In most fields of endeavor, we can point to landmarks in progress – and to the people who create them through their contributions. This week on Across the Blue Ridge, we focus on banjoist Adam Hurt, an innovator who's met the challenge of playing complex melodies beautifully on banjo in the old clawhammer style without sacrificing the banjo's characteristics as a rhythm and drone instrument. He's done this by taking traditional banjo and fiddle players including Kyle Creed and Ed Haley as inspirations, and building on their legacies to create his own trademark sound. We hear Adam Hurt and the band for his latest album, Artifacts, in concert at Muddy Creek Music Hall in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. We hear cuts from the album itself and from Hurt's earlier albums, plus recordings of older players Kyle Creed, Nathan Frazier and Earl Scruggs to provide context for what Adam Hurt is achieving. Hurt's interview segments with ATBR host Paul Brown illuminate the elements of chance, inspiration, focus and discipline involved in creating something genuinely new that also manages to respect traditions.

Playlist

  1. Cumberland Gap/Bluegrass Meadows
    Adam Hurt
    Artifacts
     
  2. Old Cow Died
    Nathan Frazier & Frank Patterson
    Southern Journey Vol. 1
     
  3. Frankie Baker
    Fred Cockerham
    High Atmosphere
     
  4. Randy Lynn Rag
    Earl Scruggs
     Flatt & Scruggs Vol. 3
     
  5. Big Liza
    Kyle Creed & Emily Spencer
    Liberty
     
  6. Catlettsburg
    Adam Hurt
    Insight
     
  7. Break 1 - Rebel Raid
    Adam Hurt
    Artifacts
     
  8. Wake Up Susan
    Adam Hurt
    ATBR recording
     
  9. Black Jack Grove
    Adam Hurt
    Earth Tones
     
  10. Say Old Man, I Want Your Daughter
    Adam Hurt & Stephanie Coleman
    Perspective
     
  11. Old Joe Clark
    Kyle Creed & Emily Spencer
    Liberty
     
  12. Break 2 - Liberty
    Kyle Creed & Emily Spencer
    Liberty
     
  13. Georgia Railroad
    Adam Hurt
    ATBR recording
     
  14. Maysville
    Adam Hurt
    ATBR recording
     
  15. Lizzie In The Lowground
    Adam Hurt
    ATBR recording

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