Huber Banjos has announced that Russ Carson, the crackerjack banjo player with Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder, is the latest endorser of the banjos, with the introduction of the new gold-plated Russ Carson Signature model Huber.
Russ joins Sammy Shelor and Ron Block as endorsing artists with their own signature model banjo.
It’s part of Huber’s Truetone series, incorporating the very latest in prewar replica components, including the latest iteration of the HR-30 tone ring, made no-hole style for Russ’s preference, along with a fat Engineered Rim. Carson wanted a maple banjo, so Steve Huber chose to use a wider AAAA-grade curly maple neck, with a sunburst maple resonator. The headstock is a double cut, with a Flying Eagle pattern, and Hearts & Flowers in the fingerboard.
Russ says that he loves the banjo, and is leaving it with Huber during SPBGMA so that others can check it out this weekend.
“I will be taking this banjo on the road very soon, but first you can check this beast out for yourself in the Huber Banjo suite in room 4094 at SPBGMA 2025. After that, be sure and come to a Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder show near you and hear the quality for yourself!”
The Huber Russ Carson model Truetone banjo will sell for $6,950. It’s not up yet on the Huber web site, but anyone interested in ordering one can contact them online.
In addition to picking with Ricky, Russ is the proprietor of the 81 Crowe YouTube and Instagram channels on social media, where he demonstrates tunes, techniques, and gear for his more than 26,000 subscribers. No doubt you’ll be seeing a test drive of his new Huber there soon!
If you’ve followed any news today you’ve probably seen or heard that veteran CBS television broadcaster Charles Osgood died yesterday at 91 years of age. The effusive praise being shared in response is thoroughly deserved, as Osgood was a welcome and homey presence on our TVs and radios for more than 50 years.
Known as a nearly two decade host of CBS Sunday Morning, his calm demeanor and reassuring voice were equally well known for his long running radio commentaries, The Osgood File, both of which he continued on the air until finally retiring at 84 in 2016.
He also wrote his commentaries and the pieces he hosted on CBS Sunday Morning, something many of today’s glowing remembrances have noted. Honors came his way throughout a long career, including the Walter Cronkite Excellence in Journalism Award from Arizona State University, the George Foster Peabody Award, the National Association of Broadcasters Distinguished Service Award, the International Radio and Television Society Foundation Award, and a Paul White Award from the Radio-Television News Directors Association. Oh, and five Emmys, including a lifetime achievement award.
But here at Bluegrass Today, we want to ensure that people also remember Charles Osgood as a banjo player, and a lover of traditional music forms, a passion he pursued for many years. Eagle-eyed and regular viewers of Sunday Morning might have caught him with his banjo a time or two, in addition to occasional appearances playing piano and singing.
In 2015 he brought Béla Fleck and Abigail Washburn on the show to perform, and he conducted a very nice interview with them during the segment.
And back in 1994 the show featured a piece on Alison Krauss, before she became an international household name.
Charles took banjo lessons for many years from fellow New Yorker Tony Trischka, with whom Fleck had also studied, and though less publicly, was a friend to the banjo world wherever possible.
For example, when Huber Banjos was creating a video catalog in 2002, they approached Osgood to ask if he might be willing to voice it, fearing that even if he agreed, their budget might not allow them to afford him. But he readily accepted, recorded the narration at his home studio, and didn’t charge a thing. The fact that it likely took him only a few minutes doesn’t diminish the kindness he showed to what was then an upstart new business.
He also provided a narration for one of the tracks on Trischka’s Glory Shone Around album in 1995.
Charles Osgood will long be remembered for his serious journalism, and as a family friend to folks who saw him every week on television.
We choose to recall his benevolence and support of the banjo and bluegrass communities, in many ways seen and unseen.
Jim Rae, a former research scientist and faculty member at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, who contributed mightily to the groundwork and experimentation that led to the Truetone line offered by Huber Banjos, died on Christmas day. He was 83 years of age.
Dr. Rae, a lifelong Minnesotan, developed his interest in the banjo during graduate school at Michigan State University, when his brother introduced him to bluegrass music. He had played guitar previously, with a focus on rock and jazz, but once he found the five string, he never looked back.
Jim also had a strong athletic background, attending Graceland College for his Biology degree on a basketball scholarship. He was on the golf team as well, and his wife, Joan, recalls that he once exchanged banjo lessons for golf lessons in grad school.
Following a Ph.D. in Physiology from Michigan State, career became the top priority, but banjo was still prominent in his life, with his son eventually learning to play, becoming a fine player himself. Joan further recalls when Jim had to buy a second banjo when his son made off with his.
At Mayo Clinic, Rae served as a Professor of Physiology and a Professor of Ophthalmology, and operated a lab which served to “identify and characterize at a molecular level the transporters that are involved in disease processes in ocular tissues and to understand how the transporters are regulated.”
Then in 1983, Jim received a diagnosis of stage IV non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and underwent multiple rounds of chemotherapy until a stem cell transplant in 2000 gave him a break from the chemo. His cancer resurfaced in 2010, and treatment with a new medication left him cancer free for the rest of his life.
At this point, the banjo became a prime focus again. Jim had recently retired from Mayo, and had been able to bring some of the early testing equipment he designed from the lab home with him. This was put to use in a personal search into the characteristics that set the vaunted prewar Mastertone banjos apart from the rest. His work at Mayo over the years involved techniques quite similar to studies of the acoustic properties of other musical instruments.
Similar study had been done on violin and guitar, but not yet for banjo. Jim contacted Dr. Thomas Rossing, a noted expert in musical instrument acoustics, who became interested in Jim’s research. Together they published a number of scientific papers on the subject, and Jim’s personal library grew with books on the physics of musical instruments, the properties of different woods and metals, and papers on the science of sound.
Rae had been acquainted with Steve Huber for a number of years, having met and bonded over their shared interest in the acoustical elements of banjos. Jim had been studying Huber’s Vintage Flathead tone ring in his home lab, and comparing its qualities as opposed to some rings from prewar banjos. Huber had long been doing metallurgical testing of his components, and after a few meetings to compare notes, a decision was made to have Jim bring his test gear to Nashville, where Huber would arrange to have some of the finest prewar Mastertone banjos on hand for analysis.
Where Steve had made his study primarily of the alloys used in these older instruments, Jim came ready to test the ways the different tone rings vibrated in response to an input signal. Using more than two dozen vintage Mastertones, and comparing their vibrational characteristics to a number of newer tone rings, including Huber’s, which had matched the alloy of the older rings, Rae found that all of the vintage rings vibrated in a narrow range that was quite different from that of the newer models.
Of course, most any banjo picker’s ear could have told us much the same, but now there was analysis that identified just how these vintage tone rings differed. Using this information, Huber went to work on creating a new tone ring that would respond precisely as the prewars did in Jim’s testing. Before long, Huber introduced a new tone ring, which he named for Rae as the HR-30 tone ring, H for Huber and R for Rae.
As Jim had also been applying his research methods to different woods and construction types, his testing was likewise used in developing Huber’s Engineered Rim. They examined the rims of the assembled prewar Mastertones as well, and after detecting the range within which these vibrated, used that data to look at different types of woods, wood treatments, grain direction, and construction techniques that would deliver a similar vibrational pattern. Huber credits master woodworker Bryan Sims for the success of this project as well.
Steve Huber remembers him quite fondly.
“Jim was instrumental in the vibration analysis of prewar rims and tone rings. We used the information to develop the HR -30 (Huber Rae) tone ring and our engineered rim. Jim designed the machine to do this. He was a real genius, and a lot of fun to be around. I kept telling him, ‘Jim, explain it so a banjo player (me) can understand!'”
Though Jim Rae never became the banjo player he always dreamed of being, his research and depth of knowledge allowed him to make a major contribution to the banjo community. He never sought recognition for his groundbreaking research on banjos, but remained quite proud of the work he had done, and of Huber’s Truetone line of instruments built based on his work, as much as the multiple awards and recognition he received in the field of ophthalmology.
Jim died at the Mayo Clinic Charter House in Rochester, MI, surrounded by family, with banjo music playing softly in the background.
The family will be hosting a memorial gathering at some point in the near future.
Damage at the building that houses Huber Banjos and Cumberland Acoustic after tornados (12/11/23)
The series of tornados that hit near Nashville this past Saturday evening caused a huge amount of property damage, and cost the lives of six people. It also wreaked havoc on the building that houses Huber Banjos and Cumberland Acoustics in Hendersonville.
With his shop in the middle of this industrial building, Huber’s unit didn’t suffer much damage. All the inventory and equipment he and his staff use to fabricate, machine, finish, and assemble their pre war replica banjos remains intact, though they haven’t had power since Saturday, and don’t expect to have it back on until this weekend.
But as Huber owns this building, and therefore is landlord for several other units, the headaches are just becoming clear. Steve tells us that the end units both endured significant damage, and it has taken several days to clear away enough debris to get inside and see just how extensive the devastation actually is.
Who wasn’t so lucky is Steve Smith and his Cumberland Acoustic company, maker of high quality mandolin bridges and accessories, plus their own Redline mandolins and reso-guitars. Their shop, one of the end units, was nearly flattened. The roof is gone in multiple places, and both wind and water damage to the facility makes it uncertain just when they can get back to work.
Smith tells us that, while it is bad, it could have been worse.
“I was able to get all the finished instruments out (over 30, counting mine, Recording King instruments, and some consignments). Fortunately, they were in a room that was not hit.
We probably lost a fair amount of wood, but most of the ebony and rosewood is fine. Machine surfaces have rusted already. There is water on the floor in some places, and lots of roof damage, so hoping for no rain for a while.
I have no idea how long it will take to be operational again. It depends a lot on how soon the building can be repaired, if it can. The damage is extensive. Huber was lucky. Many other parts of the building are trashed.”
Huber is looking for contractors now, first to estimate damage costs for his insurer, then to begin reconstruction. Of course, following a major storm, contractors and trades people will have backups that can last weeks.
This is a serious blow for two manufacturers who have long supported the needs of bluegrass musicians.
On May 20, The IBMA Foundation drew a winner in their 2nd annual Strings for Dreams Bluegrass Raffle to raise funds for their various charitable and educational efforts on behalf of bluegrass music.
This year’s raffle was for a 2010 Huber Banjos Truetone VRB-3 model, donated by longtime Foundation supporter Richard Spratt. Chances were sold for $20 and the Foundation raised over $22,000 through the raffle.
The winner is Kenyon (David) Young of Las Vegas, a pilot with Southwest Airlines and a banjo player of five years tenure, currently studying with Tony Trischka via ArtistWorks. He is absolutely thrilled with his new banjo and says that it will definitely be played.
Nancy Cardwell, IBMA Foundation executive director, tells us that, “We’re grateful to everyone who purchased a ticket, and also to all the VIP banjo players who posed for a photo or made a promo video to help get the word out.”
Kenyon also shared this video he made of his new acquisition.
Congratulations to Mr. Young, and to the IBMA Foundation for the success of their Strings for Dreams Bluegrass Raffle. For more information about the Foundation and their many programs to preserve and grow bluegrass music, visit them online.
This year’s raffle offers chances to win a 2010 Huber Banjos Truetone VRB-3 model, donated by longtime Foundation supporter Richard Spratt. Valued by the donor at $4,100 as a used instrument, its new replacement value would be $5,485. All of the Truetone model Hubers are made with their prewar replica HR-30 tone ring and Engineered Rim, developed over years of detailed examination of the properties of rims and rings from prewar Mastertone banjos.
Raffle tickets are being offered from April 1 through May 19, and only 5,000 will be sold. Single chances are $20 each, or 6 for $100, and tickets can be purchased online.
The VRB-3 Huber is a precise reproduction of the style 3 banjos made prior to WWII. Made with a mahogany neck and resonator, double cut headstock, one-piece flange pot design, and a wreath inlay in the rosewood fingerboard.
The winner will receive the banjo with its original hard shell case, plus a Reunion Blues gig bag, a strap, and several accessories.
A winner will be selected during a drawing on Facebook Live, May 20, streamed from the IBMA Foundation Facebook page.
While direct donations to the Foundation are tax-deductible, raffle chances are not. See full details online.
On last weekend’s Huckabee show, which airs on the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN), TV news anchor Doug McKelway joined host Mike Huckabee to talk about Centerpoint, a news program launching next week on TBN.
For years McKelway’s was a familiar face to viewers in the Washington, DC and greater capitol area market, where he hosted news programs on WRC-TV and WJLA-TV for nearly a decade. In 2010 he went national, as a DC correspondent for the Fox News network, and serving as a frequent guest host for their flagship Special Report at 6:00 p.m. (eastern).
Earlier this year, Doug retired from Fox News, he and his wife moved from DC to Florida, and began the life of leisure on the beach. But they weren’t footloose and fancy free for long, as TBN reached out to gauge his interest in co-hosting a new national news program. In the end, they decided that the offer was too good to turn down, so he will be commuting each work week from he and his wife Susan’s retirement dream home on Amelia Island, FL, to Dallas, TX where the show is produced.
McKelway was invited on to the Huckabee show to discuss the new gig on Centerpoint, and his long career as a journalist. Doug and Mike had been colleagues when both worked at Fox, and as Huckabee is a musician himself, he was aware of Doug’s secret and special talent as a banjo picker. So they contacted Steve Huber with Huber Banjos, whose shop is located in Hendersonville, TN quite near the studio which produces the Huckabee show, and he brought a banjo over for Doug to play.
Steve and Doug have been friends for years as well, and he came to the taping with a brand new Truetone VRB-G model banjo, Huber’s replica of the vintage, prewar Granada.
You can watch the segment below. The first part of the video finds Huckabee and McKelway talking shop, discussing Doug’s family’s historic relationship with journalism and the DC region, and closes with a performance of Groundspeed with the show’s staff band. Doug does a fine job not only with the original Earl Scruggs version of the tune, but also Scott Vestal’s re-arrangement which has troubled banjo players for years.
Have a look…
Centerpoint will air beginning Monday, March 28, at 7:30 p.m. (EDT) each weekday evening on TBN, available on most cable and satellite packages, or live online from the TBN web site.
Huber builds professional and collectors grade five string banjos based on the design of the classic instruments made in the US prior to WWII, and used on recordings by the foundational players of bluegrass music. You can see and hear more about them by visiting the Huber Banjos web site online.
As we all prepare for New Year’s Eve festivities this evening, here’s Steve Huber from Huber Banjos with a banjo arrangement of Auld Lang Syne.
There have been many versions of this classic song for banjo, and Steve has created a new one in the key of C. He is playing on a prized prewar flathead, an RB-75 Mastertone from 1939, the very sort his new Huber models are fashioned on.
When young Riley Gilbreath first came to the attention of the Bluegrass Heritage Foundation, he was just a 12 year old kid from Fort Worth, TX. He had applied for a starter banjo loaner through the Foundation’s Play It Forward program, designed specifically to get decent student instruments into the hands of interested young pickers.
A year later, Riley was doing so well that he was awarded the BHF’s Vincent Memorial Scholarship Program so that he could attend the 2017 Acoustic Music Camp in Dallas.
The progress continued, so later that year the Foundation, along with Gilbreath’s parents and Steve Huber of Huber Banjos, arranged to present Riley with a new Huber Workhorse banjo at the 2017 Bloomin’ Bluegrass Festival.
Skip ahead two more years, and Riley has become a truly formidable banjo picker. Just 15 years old, he took first place in the Texas State Banjo Championship, and will represent Texas at the National Banjo Championship in Winfield, KS in September.
And all because the Bluegrass Heritage Foundation was there to lend Riley a starter banjo when the inkling first came to him. Remember that when you hear appeals from organizations like the Foundation or other groups working to help spread bluegrass into the next generation. It is your donations that make programs like Play It Forward possible.
Many congratulations to Riley and his parents, and to Alan Tompkins, Steve Huber, and the Bluegrass Heritage Foundation for playing a part in this rising young picker’ development!
Here’s a video from 2017 when Gilbreath first got his Huber banjo.
Funds for the program come from generous donors who want to see more youngsters playing bluegrass, both of cash and instruments. Such donations are always welcome and details can be found online.
Over the years they have helped many teens learn to play, with both instruction and guitars, banjos, and what have you, some even moving into professional music careers. One such success story played out this past October during the Festival in Farmers Branch, TX.
Young Riley Gilbreath, a 13 year old banjo picker from Fort Worth, had been given a student model banjo in 2016 to help him get started. When festival staff saw him this year, the improvement he had made was so dramatic that it caught the attention of Foundation President Alan Tompkins and Steve Huber of Huber Banjos. Steve and Alan perform together as members of Texas and Tennessee, and both were impressed with what Riley could do a year later.
So a decision was made by the two of them that they wanted to get him one of Huber’s Workhorse model banjos. These are professional grade instruments selling for more than $3000, but Huber agreed to let one go for a price that the Play It Forward Program and Riley’s parents could jointly afford.
Talk about an excited young man! His father says that for days after he was presented with the banjo at the festival he would say, “how can something this good be happening to me?”
Here’s a video of the presentation, with Riley picking a bit for the crowd.
Congratulations, Riley, and hats off to Huber Banjos and the Bluegrass Heritage Foundation.
