Clifton Hicks - Swannanoa Tunnel (Asheville Junction) Clawhammer Banjo

Banjo Heritage 👉   / cliftonhicks  
I learned "Swannanoa Tunnel" from a recording of Retta Spradlin titled "The Pea Fowl." Roscoe Holcomb, who learned his version directly from western Carolina railroad workers, recorded it as "Swanno Mountain." Several more recordings exist under the title "Swannanoa Town." While Merle Travis' "Nine Pound Hammer," and Doc Watson's "Roll On Buddy" are the most well-known versions, the oldest known recording was made in 1939 by Will "Shorty" Love under the title "Asheville Junction." You can listen to that recording here: https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4ff3...

Filmed & directed in Polk County, Tennessee by Jayce Hill:   / jaycemichaelhill  

My instrument is an 1890s Thompson & Odell "Luscomb" banjo tuned fB♭FB♭B♭. Aquila Nylgut strings; 1960s vintage Remo frosted head; bridge by Joel Hooks: https://www.banjothimble.com/

When you hear my
Pistol firing,
Another man's gone, honey
Another man's gone.

When you hear
That pea fowl calling,
Somebody died, honey
Somebody died.

Little girl
Lost forty-one dollars,
All in gold, honey
All in gold!

Asheville Junction
Swannanoa Tunnel,
All caved in, babe
All caved in.

Last December,
I remember,
Wind blowed cold, babe
Wind blowed cold.

When you hear my
Watchdog howling,
Somebody’s ‘round, babe
Somebody’s ‘round.

When you hear that
Hoot owl squawling,
Somebody died, babe
Somebody’s dead.

I’m going back to
Swannanoa Tunnel,
That’s my home, babe
That’s my home.

Hammer falling
From my shoulder,
All day long, babe
All day long.

This old hammer
Killed John Henry,
It won't kill me, babe
It won't kill me!

This old hammer
rings like silver,
Shines like gold, babe
Shines like gold.

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Clifton Hicks banjo heritage, Bascam Lamar Lunsford, somebody died, outlaw old-time music, overhand, clawhammer banjo tablature, two finger tab, thumb lead, 2 finger tableture, frailing and stroke styles plus Appalachian mountain murder ballad hoedown and early minstrel show techniques. History, anthropology, folklore, research and musicology including breakdowns, The Bitter Southerner, bittersoutherner.com Oldtime banjo old time close ups demonstrations blues, waltz, skiffle, tin pan alley, Afro-Caribbean and West African, Cajun zydeco, Métis, Creole, Melungeon indigenous native American music traditions. Folk art, asmr, relaxation, calming, meditation, chill, trance. Mountain music official music video, James William Love was born in 1876, southern culture, dark folk, murder ballad. George Gibson, Ernie Williams, Buell Kazee, Cousin Emmy, Dock Boggs, Rufus Crisp, Virgil Anderson, Lily May Ledford, Roscoe Holcomb, Steve Martin, Unknown Henson, Tab Ward, Frank Proffitt, Riley Baugus, Tommy Jarrell, Kyle Creed, Lee Sexton, Morgan Sexton, Lead Belly, Pete Steele, Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie, Leroy Troy, JD Crowe, Rising Appalachia, Clarence Ashley, Fred Cockerham, Dwight Diller, Gaither Carlton, John Snipes, Dink Roberts, Clifford Essex, Joe Sweeney, Archibald Ferguson, Dan Emmett, John Hartford, Picayune Butler, Gus Cannon, Art Rosenbaum, Coon Creek Girls, Grandpa Jones, Snuffy Jenkins, Buell Kazee, Bascam Lamar Lunsford, Uncle Dave Macon, Tommy Makem, Luke Kelly, Charlie Poole, Ola Belle Reed, BF Shelton, Rhiannon Giddens, Billy Whitlock, Hobart Smith, Samantha Bumgarner, Peggy Seeger, Mike Seeger, Jean Ritchie, Dom Flemons, Ralph Stanley, music tutorial, Odell Thompson, Wade Ward, Hedy West, Fred McDowell, poor white trash, Steve Earle, Benjamin Tod, Del McCoury Band, Clifton Hicks, Stanley Hicks, Dee Hicks, Dirk Powell, Enoch Rutherford, dirk powell, Swannanoa Mountain Tunnel. Ray Hicks, Mabel Cawthorn, Florie Stewart, Maybelle Carter Family, Uncle Homer Walker, Mississippi John Hurt old time, folk, Riley Baugus, Gillian Welch, Somebody Died, Babe: A Musical Cover-Up of Racism, Violence, and Greed, The bitter southerner trad roots picker redneck songster troubadour minstrel medicine show tent revival hoedown, Americana, Morgan Sexton, David Akeman Stringbean, Lee Sexton, Clyde Troxell, Blanche Coldiron, Black Banjo Songsters, Banjo Bill Cornett, clawhammer banjo heritage music.