What Earl Scruggs Heard: String Music Along the North Carolina-South Carolina Border

This book explores the musical environment of the western Carolinas that influenced Earl Scruggs, including country music recording pioneers, fiddlers' conventions, and radio barn dances, and reveals the story of his mentors and the development of the three-finger picking style.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 277 pages
Publication date: 30 July 2022
Publisher: McFarland & Co Inc

When the tale of banjo virtuoso Earl Scruggs is recounted, the rich musical milieu that nurtured him is frequently overlooked. Scruggs created a fabrication about his playing throughout his lifetime, persuading many that he was the sole inventor of a three-finger, up-picking, banjo technique. For the first time, this book tells the complete story of the music and musicians of the western Carolinas that influenced Earl Scruggs. This book, based on more than 15 years of in-depth research, includes the story of country music recording pioneers Parker and Woolbright, Fisher Hendley and the Martin Melody Boys; rare images of local music makers; and the history and development of fiddlers' conventions and radio barn dances. Together, these stories are woven into the biographies of Earl's mentors to reveal the musical atmosphere in which they developed the three-finger picking style that so enchanted a young Earl Scruggs.

Weight: 175g
Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781476686677