David Bromberg Archives - Bluegrass Today

David Bromberg donates papers to Library of Congress

The US Library of Congress has announced a major gift, a donation of personal papers from folk, bluegrass and old time musician David Bromberg to their American Folklife Center.

Bromberg has been a prominent guitarist, fiddler, and vocalist in acoustic music since the 1960s. A native of Philadelphia, he studied and mastered many styles of American roots music, and found himself moving in circles that included icons like Bob Dylan, Doc Watson, Pete Seeger, Jerry Garcia, and George Harrison.

In more recent years his focus has turned to violin building and repair, and David is now highly-regarded both for his luthiery and his expertise on the history of violins and violin makers.

The papers he has shared with the Folklife Center includes notes, letters, photographs, show posters and programs, plus his private collection of audio and video recordings from his performances.

The American Folklife Center is a relatively new venture for the Library of Congress, created in 1976 by the US Congress to preserve and archive American Folklife in its various forms.

Along with the announcement of their acquisition of Bromberg’s papers, the Center has released this hour long video of a discussion he had with Carol Lynn Ward Bamford from the Library’s Music Center, and AFC’s Nancy Groce, recorded March 31, 2014.

Mike Auldridge tribute at The Birchmere

An all-star collaboration concert has been scheduled for February 12 to celebrate the life and music of Mike Auldridge, who died after a lengthy illness on Dec 28, 2012.

Mike’s influence on the worlds of bluegrass and resonator guitar can scarcely be overstated. No one playing the instrument today is untouched by his brilliance, and precious few in the acoustic music scene failed to call him friend.

A big bunch of those friends will descend on The Birchmere in Alexandria, VA for this tribute show, which is planned not as a wake but a joyous gathering. Already scheduled to play are members of the many groups in which Auldridge participated, including current and former members of Seldom Scene, plus fellow slidemeisters Jerry Douglas, Rob Ickes and Sally Van Meter.

Mike’s long time friend, Emmylou Harris, is confirmed for the show plus Tom Gray and John Starling, the two surviving original members of the Scene other than founding and current banjo picker, Ben Eldridge. Former Scenesters Moondi Klein and T. Michael Coleman will be on hand, as well as Jimmy Gaudreau, who played with Auldridge, Klein and Coleman as Chesapeake.

Additionally, David Bromberg will perform, along with Frank Solivan & Dirty Kitchen, Mike Munford, Rickie Simpkins, Jimmy Gaudreau, Eric Brace, Peter Cooper, and Darren Beachley.

The $45 tickets go on sale today – and they won’t last long.

Crowdsourcing for David Bromberg documentary

Beth Kruvant and Good Footage Productions are at work completing a documentary film on the life and artistic career of David Bromberg. And like so many independent films in the online era, they are using crowdsourcing site indiegogo to attract the necessary investors.

The project is entitled David Bromberg: Musical Maverick, and it covers what the producers describe as the untold story of this icon of the folk, bluegrass and acoustic music scene in the 1970s. Bromberg was a fixture on the festival circuit in his day, headlining shows and sharing the stage with fellow ’70s music figures Doc Watson, Norman Blake, Mike Cross and others.

He was known for his skill on multiple instruments, including fiddle and mandolin, but it was as a guitarist that he is most particularly remembered. He excels at both finger and flatpick styles, and brought a unique, rootsy voice to the table on his signature mix of blues, bluegrass, and old time music.

After an active performing and recording career, David largely disappeared in the 1980s when he undertook a serious study of violinmaking, only to reappear in 2007 with a new album, a new band, and a renewed passion for live music.

Kruvant’s film follows Bromberg through the process of recording his newest CD, Use Me, and looks back over his life in acoustic music through a series of interviews with David, and his many contemporary artists. The record has David in collaboration with John Hiatt, Levon Helm, Los Lobos, Tim O’Brien, Dr. John, Keb’ Mo’ and others.

The Good Footage folks have come up with an interesting twist on the crowdsourcing formula. Instead of just offering artist recordings and copies of the final product as premiums for online donors, they are entering all their small investors into a raffle to win a Martin D-16 guitar, autographed by David.

Here’s a look at the trailer…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ur7nouooOFQ

Anyone wishing to become involved as a fanvestor can check out the indiegogo site.

Mountain Heart and David Bromberg on WDVX

Mountain Heart has a big show tomorrow (1/16) in Knoxville with Tony Rice, and they’ll be doing a live radio show on WDVX at noon while they’re in town.

Tony won’t be able to make the radio show (Blue Plate Special), but guitar monster David Bromberg is also on the bill, and a Mountain Heart/Bromberg jam is expected towards the end of the program.

Blue Plate Special airs live, in-studio performances at noon on weekdays, and on Fridays moves to The Square Room, with a capacity to seat 400 people. Tickets are free to the public, so if you are near Knoxville, check it out.

If not, the show airs at 102.9 FM, and can also be heard worldwide via live streaming online.

Mountain Heart has been doing shows with Rice since last summer, and have performances set up throughout 2009 including major festivals like Merlefest. Of course, with Tony unable to sing, MH vocalists Josh Shilling and Barry Abernathy handle the vocal chores on the classic Rice repertoire.

Here’s an amateur video shot at the 2008 IBMA Fan Fest of Tony and Mountain Heart doing Free Born Man.

You can check their full tour schedule online.

Fretboard Journal #7 – Earl Scruggs

The fall 2007 edition of Fretboard Journal is in the mail to subscribers and will soon be available at music dealers and Barnes & Noble. This edition features a cover story on banjo master Earl Scruggs.

The story is appropriately titled “The Banjo That Changed The World.” The article weighs in at a hefty 18 pages. For those of you who aren’t keen on a lot of reading, don’t worry, fully 8 of those pages are dedicated to high quality photographs. If you’ve ever held a copy of Fretboard Journal in your hand, you’ll understand when I say the photographs are spectacular.

The ten pages of text are well worth reading though, so don’t skip them just to look at the pictures! With lots of history, stories told in the first person by Earl himself, and remembrances from other players and historians, the writing is just as good as the photography. This article is a must read for all fans of Earl Scruggs.

Scruggs isn’t the only bluegrass personality featured in the issue though. Another article of interest is a lengthy piece on guitar player, and fiddle expert, David Bromberg. Again, this article is complete with stunning photos, first hand interviews, and lots of history.

A shorter, but equally interesting, article about Old Growth Rims (built by Sullivan Banjo) devotes plenty of discussion to the hardships of trying to work the old hard-rock maple, from the floor of an 1870 factory, into banjo rims. These rims are available for after market purchase, but also come standard in Sullivan Banjo models such as the new Terry Baucom model.

David Bromberg solo project in February

Eclectic folk/blues artist David Bromberg is due for a new CD. Though he has released some band projects, a retrospective and some live sets, he has not had a new studio project as a solo artist since 1990.

Appleseed Records has announced that a new Bromberg project is set for a February 2007 release. Entitled Try Me One More Time, it will be a solo project in the truest sense, featuring only David and his guitar. The material will be a mixed bag of roots music styles, including bluegrass, blues, ragtime and folk.

Many followers of acoustic music will recall David from his high profile work as a sideman in the 1970s, touring and recording with artists like Bob Dylan, Tom Paxton, Kris Kristofferson, John Prine and others, and from his popular solo performances at folk festivals all over the world.

Appleseed’s site offers this capsule overview of his life since that time.

After touring and recording extensively throughout the ’70s, a somewhat burned-out Bromberg stepped off the music industry merry-go-round in 1980, moving from San Francisco to Chicago to study violin making. Lured back to his native East Coast two decades later by an invitation to serve as an artist-in-residence in Wilmington, Del., Bromberg has been operating David Bromberg Fine Violins, a retail shop, in recent years and playing an increasing number of concerts, most frequently as a solo performer.

The photo of David above shows him with his signature series Martin guitar, the David Bromberg M-42 model, introduced earlier this year.