Raw & Real Old Time Bluegrass Fiddler. Lucky Me To Have Filmed Him In 1965

American homegrown bluegrass music. Country music. Mountain music. Old time music. Appalachian music at its best. I can't say enough about it except I love it and have since I was a young filmmaker back a long time ago. In this scene you are watching Lost John- the fiddlin man from Wilkes County, NC

The time was 1965. I was a 23-year-old filmmaker making my first documentary for television. I had never been to the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina but I knew that the music was great from hearing it on the radio where I grew up in Levittown, Long Island. I wrote to 80 year old Bascom Lamar Lunsford after I read an article in Time magazine and asked him if I could come down and make a "movie" with him.

I took my 1st plane ride and rushed to Bascom's home. He and his wife Freda took me around those mountains and introduced me to fantastic musicians, storytellers, singers, and dancers. This is one of the places Bascom first took me. A sweet and beautiful scene developed and I tried to film it all. I spent weeks filming with Bascom and his wife Freda, filming with a 16 mm sound camera and a friend carrying a Nagra audio recorder.

In the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina clog dancing had an important part of social gatherings, community events and local celebrations. It was historically a way for communities to come together, share stories, and pass down traditions through generations.

Clog dancing has deep roots in the region. This energetic and rhythmic dance style is a blend of several European and African-American influences, including English, Scottish, Irish, and African dance forms. Clog dancing typically involves intricate footwork, heel-and-toe tapping, and syncopated rhythms, making it visually and aurally engaging.

My one hour film ran in the primetime in 1965 and got the cover i've TV Guide with a fabulous review. Today it is considered a classic and I am proud that so many subscribers and others have chosen to watch it – many more than once. Thank you Bascom Lamar Lunsford and all those who appeared with him in my film.

Some of my subscribers make the comment that they have heard better. Of course this is a matter of personal taste but to me, great bluegrass country mountain fiddling has to be gritty and raw – just like the way Lost John plays it in this sequence. And, respecting Bascom Lunsford who had spent 60 years going around the mountains looking for the best (and he considered Lost John the best) even if I didn't feel the absolute brilliance in this man, Bascom did.

These days some commentators have also described feeling sad that this era is over. Even if they had never been to the mountains to see it, they saw what this film showed as American at a simpler time with teenagers were decent. They Feel badly that this is all gone. I have written some commentators in my responses, just how active clog dancing and all the elements of bluegrass and mountain and old-time music from Appalachia are these days. There are probably more clog dancers who are young today than were active way back when this film was made.

I loved the people of Appalachia who treated me so kindly when I was a young filmmaker and showed me a bit of their ways. I love their music, their dance, their storytelling, their guitar, banjo, fiddle, ukulele, just as I did back when I first heard it as a 16-year-old on late night Long Island NY radio.

I could not be presenting this and other clips without support from my advertisers and I want to thank each of them. Live music Winston-Salem NC. Music in Brevard NC. Bluegrass music Asheville. Biltmore Village Asheville NC. Biltmore estate Asheville. Biltmore house Asheville. Biltmore Village shops. Lazoom Asheville. Folk Center Asheville. North Carolina Asheville Arboretum. Asheville Arboretum. Bascom. Clogging shoes. Clogging. Shania Twain Asheville. Live music Charlotte. Live music Greensboro. Bascom Lunsford Festival.
David Hoffman Filmmaker