My Favorite Crowe Lick Archives

My Favorite J.D. Crowe lick – Ron Block

This series is a feature we are running to memorialize the creative and musical legacy of the late J.D. Crowe, who we lost just before Christmas. We are calling it My Favorite Crowe Lick, and each episode will include a prominent bluegrass banjo player sharing both their thoughts about Crowe and his influence, and showing us a lick they learned from his playing that sticks with them.

Today we hear from Ron Block, not only among the most highly-regarded banjo pickers on the current scene, but as serious a student of the music and playing of J.D. Crowe as we have in bluegrass. We all know Ron from his many years playing banjo and guitar with Alison Krauss & Union Station, his many solo projects, and as a banjo player at large performing with a wide variety of artists in bluegrass and acoustic music in general.

Ron gives us a two for one here, a tag lick from Sugar Coated Love, and another from Honey You Don’t Know My Mind, both great examples of the way Crowe would fill up the end of a solo with his trademark phrases.

Take a look…

Keep an eye out for future installments of My Favorite J.D. Crowe Lick here at Bluegrass Today. You can watch all of them by following this link.

My Favorite J.D. Crowe lick – Casey Henry

Today’s example comes from Casey Henry, popular banjo instructor and heir apparent to the Murphy Method legacy. Casey is the daughter of Murphy Henry, originator of the aforementioned method, known for decades for teaching people to play bluegrass instruments without the use of tablature. A number of titles in the Murphy Method video catalog are taught by Casey, and she is regularly a featured faculty members at the various Murphy Method camps.

Her example comes from a song on Ronnie Bowman solo project, The Man I’m Trying To Be, from 1998.

Keep an eye out for future installments of My Favorite J.D. Crowe Lick here at Bluegrass Today. You can watch all of them by following this link.

My Favorite J.D. Crowe lick – Kristin Scott Benson

This is a feature we are running to memorialize the creative and musical legacy of the late J.D. Crowe, who we lost just before Christmas. We are calling it My Favorite Crowe Lick, and each episode will include a prominent bluegrass banjo player sharing both their thoughts about Crowe and his influence, and showing us a lick they learned from his playing that sticks with them.

Today we have a contribution from Kristin Scott Benson, banjo player with The Grascals, and five time winner of the IBMA’s Banjo Player of the Year award. She is also the 2018 recipient of the Steve Martin Banjo Prize. Before her time with The Grascals, Kristin spent time touring with The Larry Stephenson Band and Larry Cordle & Lonesome Standard Time.

In addition to being a stellar banjo picker, Benson is also among the brightest lights in our industry, deeply involved with teaching the next generations of bluegrass artists, and in the music community where she lives in South Carolina with her husband, Wayne Benson of Russell Moore & IIIrd Tyme Out, and their son, Hogan.

Keep an eye out for future installments of My Favorite J.D. Crowe Lick here at Bluegrass Today. You can watch all of them by following this link.

My Favorite J.D. Crowe lick – Bill Evans

Today we meet with Bill Evans, popular west coast picker and noted banjo instructor. Bill stays busy with a stable of students, both in his New Mexico home studio, via virtual lessons, and through his offerings at Peghead Nation. He is also a featured faculty member at banjo camps all over the country each year. With a number of recordings of his original instrumental music available, Bill is also recognized for his annual California Banjo Extravaganza tour, which brings well known banjo players from out east to the California coast for a series of shows and workshops, and his Banjo In America show which demonstrates the history of the instrument in this country through music.

Ever the teacher, Bill goes into lesson mode here, and demonstrates an ending lick where Crowe used a backward rake to close out a Flatt & Scruggs number.

Keep an eye out for future installments of My Favorite J.D. Crowe Lick here at Bluegrass Today. You can watch all of them by following this link.

My Favorite J.D. Crowe Lick – Daniel Grindstaff

This is a feature we are running to memorialize the creative and musical legacy of the late J.D. Crowe, who we lost just before Christmas. We are calling it My Favorite Crowe Lick, and each episode will feature a prominent bluegrass banjo player sharing both their thoughts about Crowe and his influence, and showing us a lick they learned from his playing that sticks with them.

Daniel Grindstaff is up next, an east Tennessee banjo picker who has quite a resume for a still young musician. He has played with legends like Jim & Jesse, Marty Raybon, Rhonda Vincent, and more recently with Tim Raybon in Merle Monroe and The Tim Raybon Band. Daniel even had the honor to be asked to play banjo with The Osborne Brothers on The Grand Ole Opry after Sonny was unable to perform.

Though his entire youth was dedicated to the banjo, including recording with David Davis, Tim Graves, and others, these days he is primarily a family man, running his own insurance agency in Elizabethton, TN and touring with Tim Raybon when he is able.

Daniel was only too pleased to take a few moments to honor the great J.D. Crowe.

Keep an eye out for future installments of My Favorite J.D. Crowe Lick here at Bluegrass Today. You can watch all of them by following this link.

My Favorite J.D. Crowe lick – Jason Burleson

This is a feature we are running to memorialize the creative and musical legacy of the late J.D. Crowe, who we lost just before Christmas. We are calling it My Favorite Crowe Lick, and each episode will feature a prominent bluegrass banjo player sharing both their thoughts about Crowe and his influence, and showing us a lick they learned from his playing that sticks with them.

This time we have Jason Burleson, banjo man with Blue Highway, a true disciple of the ways of Crowe. You may not hear it specifically in his playing, as Jason has developed his own distinct style, perfectly suited to the Blue Highway sound, but he studied J.D.’s music like it was a science.

“Here’s one of my favorite Crowe licks from Tony Rice’s first solo album. This is J.D. at his improvising best. I always loved the way he started in the first position C chord and walked it up to the higher C7 to make it bluesy. His playing on this whole record is maybe my favorite he ever did.

As much as I loved Earl’s playing, I’ll have to say that J.D. has always been my favorite. The first record I ever bought was The Bluegrass Album. His opening pinch and kickoff to Blue Ridge Cabin Home and his playing on that whole record is what made me want to play. I can still go back and listen to that and just marvel at how great it is. He had a way of taking what Earl did, and adding his own personality and Crowe-isms to it and making it his own. His influence on me and my generation of banjo players is immeasurable.

I’ll never forget how nice he was to me every time I got to be around him. He treated me like an old friend the first time I met him, and it really meant the world to me.

Rest easy J.D. Your playing will be studied and enjoyed for generations to come.”

Keep an eye out for future installments of My Favorite J.D. Crowe Lick here at Bluegrass Today. You can watch all of them by following this link.

My Favorite J.D. Crowe lick – Terry Baucom

This is a feature we are running to memorialize the creative and musical legacy of the late J.D. Crowe, who we lost just before Christmas. We are calling it My Favorite Crowe Lick, and each episode will feature a prominent bluegrass banjo player sharing both their thoughts about Crowe and his influence, and showing us a lick they learned from his playing that sticks with them.

Today we hear from Terry Baucom, a highly significant banjo stylist in his own right, who dedicated a lot of time to learning from Crowe’s music. Having been a part of groundbreaking groups like Boone Creek and the original Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, Baucom went on to serve as a founding member of IIIrd Tyme Out and now his own group, Terry Baucom’s Dukes of Drive. And drive is the word that comes to mind in describing his picking.

In addition to a video, Baucom shared these comments about his acquaintance with J.D.

“I can’t begin to tell you what an influence J.D. Crowe was on my music. His style and technique just really clicked with me. But as a friend, he meant even more.

I first met Crowe in the early 1970s while I was playing fiddle with Charlie Moore. Over the years we became better acquainted, as we would be working the same venues and hang out. In the early ’80s I played many of the Bluegrass Album Band shows, playing fiddle, because Bobby Hicks was really busy with Skaggs at that time.

I treasure those memories and the opportunity to be on stage with him. I will miss hearing him play, but most of all, I’ll miss getting to have fun conversations with him. He was awesome, all the way around.”

Keep an eye out for future installments of My Favorite J.D. Crowe Lick here at Bluegrass Today. You can watch all of them by following this link.

Terry also shared these photos of he and Crowe from his personal collection. Thanks Bauc!

My Favorite J.D. Crowe lick – Mike Munford

Mike Munford with Dirty Kitchen at Bluegrass Island in 2018 – photo by My Grass Is Blue

This is a feature we are running to memorialize the creative and musical legacy of the late J.D. Crowe, who we lost just before Christmas. We are calling it My Favorite Crowe Lick, and each episode will feature a prominent bluegrass banjo player sharing both their thoughts about Crowe and his influence, and showing us a lick they learned from his playing that sticks with them.

Popular east coast banjoist Mike Munford provides this remembrance. From his home in Baltimore, Mike has had his finger on the pulse of bluegrass banjo for the past 40 years. Currently touring with Frank Solivan & Dirty Kitchen, he is the 2013 recipient of the IBMA Banjo Player of the Year award, and has been noted as an instructor in the style for decades. From roughly 1976 until 2000, Munford taught at the long running Baltimore Bluegrass music store, where he also served as general manager and banjo set up expert. Instructional camps and workshops all over the country have utilized his experience and skill, and fans of contemporary banjo music line up to hear him play.

Mike’s playing style is an interesting hybrid, based primarily on a firm grip on the Scruggs/Crowe template, but with an adventurous side that brings in elements of blues and jazz, and a willingness to take chances with modern material. As a result, he is respected by musicians and fans across the wide spectrum of today’s bluegrass genre.

He continues to offer private lessons and set up and repair services when not on the road with Frank.

Keep an eye out for future installments of My Favorite J.D. Crowe Lick here at Bluegrass Today. You can watch all of them by following this link.

My Favorite J.D. Crowe lick – Ned Luberecki

This is a feature we are running to memorialize the creative and musical legacy of the late J.D. Crowe, who we lost just before Christmas. We are calling it My Favorite Crowe Lick, and each episode will feature a prominent bluegrass banjo player sharing both their thoughts about Crowe and his influence, and showing us a lick they learned from his playing that sticks with them.

Today’s installment comes from Ned Luberecki, familiar to bluegrass fans not only for his work as banjo picker with the Becky Buller Band, but also for his broadcast work on SiriusXM’s Bluegrass Junction, channel 62. He was chosen as Banjo Player of the Year in 2018 by the voting members of the IBMA, and is an in-demand banjo instructor at workshops all over the world. You can find his banjo instructional videos at TrueFire.

Prior to joining Becky’s band in 2016, he toured as a member of Chris Jones & The Night Drivers for 13 years. There he had the chance to express himself banjoistically, and as a humorist and all around character, which he has continued to the present.

Ned’s most recent solo project was Take Five in 2017 where he showed off his banjo chops on a wide range of bluegrass and jazz music, both classic and original.

Keep an eye out for future installments of My Favorite J.D. Crowe Lick here at Bluegrass Today. You can watch all of them by following this link.

My Favorite J.D. Crowe lick – Haley Stiltner

Haley Stiltner with Country Current at Lake Havisu (right) – photo by Senior Chief Musician Stephen Hassay

This is a new feature we are running to memorialize the creative and musical legacy of the late J.D. Crowe, who we lost just before Christmas. We are calling it My Favorite Crowe Lick, and each episode will feature a prominent bluegrass banjo player sharing both their thoughts about Crowe and his influence, and showing us a lick they learned from his playing that sticks with them.

Today’s contribution comes from Haley Stiltner, banjo player with the US Navy Band Country Current. Haley was something as a prodigy as a teen, playing at a very high level while still in high school. She completed her degree at ETSU in the bluegrass program, and auditioned for the job with Country Current when Keith Arnseon announced his retirement. She was accepted into the band in 2018 and joined the US Navy as a Musician First Class (E6), and has been with the group ever since.

Haley is only the third banjo player to serve with Country Current in its 48 year history. The band launched in 1973 with Bill Emerson at the helm, and Areneson stepped in when Bill retired. Stiltner is filling those big shows well, and she shares her thoughts about J.D. Crowe below.

Keep an eye out for future installments of My Favorite J.D. Crowe Lick here at Bluegrass Today.