Wade Ward

Wade Ward (1892 – 1971) was an American old-time music banjo player and fiddler from Independence, Virginia.[1] He was especially renowned for his clawhammer banjo playing. He was a frequent winner at the Galax, Virginia Old Time Fiddler's Convention.[2] His instrument, a Gibson RB-11 5-string banjo, is now housed in the Smithsonian Institution. Along with Kyle Creed, Wade Ward is thought by many to embody the 'Galax' style of clawhammer banjo playing.

Wade Ward
Wade Ward in 1937
Background information
Birth nameBenjamin Wade Ward
Also known asUncle Wade
Born(1892-10-15)October 15, 1892
Independence, Virginia, U.S.
DiedMay 29, 1971(1971-05-29) (aged 78)
Independence, Virginia, U.S.
GenresOld-time
Occupation(s)Farmer
InstrumentsBanjo, fiddle
Years active1919 - late 1960s
LabelsOkeh, Folkways, Biograph, FRC
Associated actsBuck Mountain Band, Bog Trotters Band

Biography

Ward began performing in public in 1919, at age 26. His first group, the Buck Mountain Band, included Van Edwards on fiddle and Van's son Earl on guitar.[3] In 1925, Ward recorded four solo tunes (unreleased) for the Okeh label during a field recording session in Asheville, North Carolina.[4] In October 1929 he and the Buck Mountain Band recorded four more tunes for Okeh in Richmond, Virginia, two of which were released.[5] In the early 1930s, Ward joined a band called the Ballard Branch[6] Bogtrotters, formed by his older brother Crockett, who was twenty years his senior. Ward played banjo, Crockett and his neighbor Alec "Uncle Eck" Dunford played fiddles, Crockett's son Fields played guitar and sang, and the Wards' family doctor W. P. Davis managed the group and occasionally played autoharp.[7] Folklorist John A. Lomax discovered the group in 1937 at the Galax Fiddlers' Convention and recorded them for the Library of Congress. John's son Alan Lomax recorded Wade in 1939, 1941, and again in 1959; nearly 200 recordings of Ward are archived at the Library of Congress' American Folklife Center.[7] Other folklorists including Mike Seeger and Peter Hoover made additional field recordings in the 1950s and 1960s.[8] The Bogtrotters appeared at festivals during the folk revivals of the 40s and 50s.

Despite his musical gifts, Ward made his living as a farmer.[9] He died in 1971 in Independence, Virginia, and is buried in the Saddle Creek Primitive Baptist Church Cemetery a few miles west of town.[10]

Discography

Year Title Label Number Notes
1929"Don't Let the Blues Get You Down" / "Yodeling Blues"Okeh4542878 rpm
1962Music of Roscoe Holcomb and Wade WardSmithsonian FolkwaysF-2363
1968Fields and Wade Ward: Country MusicBiographRC-6002
The Original Bog TrottersBiographRC-6003
1972Uncle Wade - A Memorial To Wade Ward: Old Time Virginia Banjo Picker, 1892-1971Smithsonian FolkwaysF-2380
2004Uncle Charlie Higgins, Wade Ward & Dale Poe Field Recorders' CollectiveFRC-501recorded 1959
2007Wade Ward: Banjo & FiddleField Recorders' CollectiveFRC-507recorded 1959-1961

See also

References

  1. Poole, Steve (November 10, 2003). "Poole & Mason Family". Rootsweb. Retrieved May 10, 2009.
  2. "Winners". Old Fiddler's Convention, Galax, Virginia. Retrieved May 10, 2009.
  3. Baycu, Ahmet. "Amazing Facts from the Roots of American Fiddle Music". HeaHeah. Retrieved May 10, 2009.
  4. Laird, Ross; Brian Rust (2004). Discography of OKeh Records, 1918-1934. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers. pp. 141, 584. doi:10.1336/0313311420. ISBN 978-0-313-31142-0.
  5. Huber, Patrick (2008). Linthead Stomp: The Creation of Country Music in the Piedmont South. Chapel Hill: UNC Press. pp. 297. ISBN 0-8078-3225-1. wade ward born 1892.
  6. "Google Maps". Google.com. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
  7. Baycu, Ahmet. "The Bogtrotters". HeaHeah. Retrieved May 10, 2009.
  8. Hoffman, John. "The Peter Hoover Collection". The Field Recorders' Collective. Retrieved May 17, 2009.
  9. "Banjoist Wade Ward To Be Remembered". The Roanoke Star. October 8, 2013. Retrieved October 11, 2016.
  10. Weaver, Jeffrey (April 2008). "Saddle Creek Primitive Baptist Church Cemetery". New River Notes. Retrieved May 17, 2009.

Further reading

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