This remembrance of banjo player Reed Martin, who died on September 30 in Potomac, MD after a long stint with Alzheimer’s Disease, is a contribution from his friends and family. He was 78 years of age.
Reed Martin was one of a kind, a rare breed of human that was beloved by untold people around the globe. Perhaps he described himself the best, so as he put it, Reed was “the last known translator of Kentucky and Hoosier,” who “majored in bicycling, banjo, fishing, hanging out, and talking to older people who would stand still long enough.” He collected things (vintage banjos, Model A and earlier vintage cars, antique spark plugs, circus giant rings, life-sized fiberglass bulls, tether cars and miniature model gasoline engines), but especially poignant were the stories and tales that went with each beloved object.
Reed was a masterful clawhammer banjo player who had an intricate, driving playing style, winning contests and inspiring generations of players to take up the instrument at numerous banjo camps and workshops across the country. Banjo players such as Jeremy Stevens, Russ Carson, Ned Luberecki, and Chris Coole count among those influenced by Reed in their formative years.
His self-released project, Old Time Banjo, consisting of 37 tunes recorded in Reed’s living room in 1996 by Don Anderson, was considered a musical master work by many of his peers. Reed was also featured on various projects which include The Old Time Banjo in America (1979), The Young Fogies (1985), and more recently, Tom Mindte’s The Patuxent Banjo Project (2014).
While still in his early 20s, Reed was recruited by Ralph Rinzler to be the MC for the banjo workshops held at the Washington Folklife Festival, which he did for five years, featuring great players such as Dock Boggs, Don Stover, Buell Kazee, Kyle Creed, Fred Cockerham, Earl Scruggs, Wade Ward, and Libba Cotton, among many others.
Reed was a model maker working at the Smithsonian for a time. He and his buddies could, and did, make anything. In 1990, Reed shipped his single cylinder 1900 Knox three wheeler to England, where and he and his wife Barbara completed the 57 mile London to Brighton Veteran Car Run. First held in 1896, the London to Brighton Run is the world’s oldest motoring event, open only to pre-1905 cars.
His favorite things were hanging out and playing tunes, working on antique cars and engines, going to yard sales, thrift shops and swap meets, canoeing and bicycling, and talking to anyone and everyone he met. He rode the 185 mile C&O Rail trail from Cumberland, MD to Georgetown, DC a dozen times just for fun.
Reed’s beloved wife, Barbara Martin, died before him. He is survived by Barbara’s children Mat and Andy, and their wives, Rory and Becky, and his grandchildren, Lindsey, Miranda, Shane, Tye, Har Rai, Guru, Huddy, Neil, Keith, and Marian. His loss is felt by many friends from around the world, including the communities of old time banjo music, the Fairfax, VA Model A Club, FARTS (Friends of Antique Road Transportation), Cabin John Association, CAMS (Chesapeake Area Metalworking Society), Smithsonian Folklore Society, and collectors and curmudgeons of all stripes.
Family and friends will be hosting a musical celebration of Reed at Glen Echo Park in Glen Echo, MD in the spring of 2025.
