OLD TIME MUSIC MUSINGS

Aunt Emma Ree & Uncle Grover 

John Salver Tunes

For years I've been looking for a photo of my grandma with a banjo. Finally one surfaced from Aunt Edith's shoe box of old photos. This is Mammie with a banjo that Grover originally bought Mammie. It the 70's Grover had the banjo restored and she hated that banjo after that. I think you can read that on her face. Grover's restorer put decorative concrete on the resonator and on the peghead and basically made it unplayable.

I've heard my grandma, a keen banjo picker, recite this poem, Maude Mueller, probably a hundred times. I always wondered if it had some special meaning for her.

Everyone played music in my grandma's family. Her eldest brother Fred had several sons that Mammie would play with every Friday night in the back parlor. These are tunes played by my grandma's nephews Berlin and Birch in Salyersville, Kentucky, probably in the early 1970's. These tunes were recorded by Bruce Green and my family will be eternally grateful to him for preserving this music. This is a photo of Mammie's family in about 1910.

One of Mammie's favorite fiddlers to play at the dances with was Fiddlin' John Salyers. He became part of our family when his eldest son, Grover, married my Aunt Emma Ree. This is a photo of the cabin where Fiddlin' John raised his family in Magoffin County Kentucky.  The cabin now stands on private property near Salyersville. John Salyer's Home Fiddlin' John's Tunes that were recorded by my Uncle Grover, probably in the late 1940's or early 1950's. A very special thanks to my cousin John Salyer who has sent recordings from Grover and to cousin Don Salyer who passed on Mammie's banjo to me. I really appreciate your help and encouragement! Lastly, I should mention that these John Salyer tunes might not have been preserved if it hadn't been for the perseverance and hard work of Bruce Green.  He and Grover became good friends and Bruce was instrumental in placing these in the Berea Sound Archives  John Salyer Fiddle Tunes .  Bruce also di...

Maggie Patrick Isaac was my grandmother. She was born May the 11th, 1892 in Bloomington, Kentucky, in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. She played the banjo her whole life and she told me she didn't even remember who taught her to play. Here are some of her tunes. Mammie's tunes Mammie Plays the Banjo