Adam Hurt - clawhammer gourd banjo - Brushy Fork of John's Creek

Adam Hurt's new solo gourd banjo CD - "Earth Tones" - is now available from
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/adamhurt3

"What may appear to be rather basic melodies can in fact express unspeakable emotions and evoke the experiences of generations past. Music on the gourd banjo offers a glimpse into another time." Adam Hurt

This video was taken at a solo concert I produced for Adam Hurt in Pagosa Springs, Colorado in April of 2009. It was a great honor to record and co-produce "Earth Tones," with Adam Hurt, one of today's premier banjo stylists.

Adam Hurt has released a groundbreaking CD, entitled "Earth Tones." The celebrated banjo virtuoso's first solo album is a daring foray into the mysterious world of the gourd banjo - a little known and extremely difficult to play instrument.

The artistic level to which Adam Hurt takes the gourd banjo, on "Earth Tones," is - putting it mildly -- stunning. To reach such a degree of refinement and mellifluousness on such a primitive instrument is very difficult to imagine.

Gourd banjos were brought to the colonies by African slaves hundreds of years ago. The African gourd banjo is the prototype for what we now think of as the American banjo -- an important element of American musical history that is only recently becoming more widely known.

The gourd banjo that Adam is playing, on "Earth Tones," was made by the man perhaps most responsible for re-introducing gourd banjos into the modern world, David G. Hyatt. Hyatt's seminal work in educating modern banjo players and banjo makers about the gourd banjo has been a central influence in the emerging awareness of the actual history of the banjo. Besides having an unrelated job as dean at the University of Arkansas, Hyatt has a mission, vis-à-vis gourd banjos: to teach people about their place in banjo history and to teach instrument builders how to make them so musicians will keep the history alive.

Paul Roberts http://www.banjocrazy.com/

Category:

Music

Tags:

• banjo
• old-time
• Appalachian

[strumstering]

Adam is tuned low - dBEAB - equivalent to Sandy River Belle tuning, gEADE.

Tunings and information about all the tunes on his gourd banjo CD is available on Adam's website "Adam Hurt dot com" under Earth Tones. It's certainly one of the greatest solo banjo CD's of all time.

PauL

banjocrazydotcom

[QRS666]

Fantastic!! Is it sawmill tuning? Found this version by recomendation from "Silasbanjo" and I'm just as hooked about this tune as he is now!!

[JamesHunterRoss]

I love this so much. Man that's a great sound, and the playing is so musical and alive.

[moonshineV]

this us awesome. I never heard Adam on gourd and its perfect for this tune. thanks for posting.

[steve1banjo]

lovely trance-inducing sound. Thank you.