WORKSHOPS
FEATURES
DEPARTMENTS
12 Margie Mirken
The Good Old Days
Students never had it so good.
14 Ed Schilling
Pre-shrunk Amps
Big sound in handy packages.
48 Rick Gartner
Music’s Road Signs
Can you pass your “driving test”?
49 Dan Crary
Bluegrass Brotherhood
Let’s get on with the music!
51 Chet Atkins
Left-hand ‘Rolls’
Stretching yourself for speed.
52 Alan Munde
Three-finger Exercise
Ways to master picking flexibility.
53 David Grisman
Get Abstracted
Far-out music from the LP.
54 Byron Berline
Writing Fiddle Tunes
How to unleash your creativity.
55 Mike Seeger
Summer Music Camps
Vacations for learning.
59 Rob Wasserman
New Acoustic Bassists
Buell Neidlinger, Todd Phillips.
60 George Gruhn
Nashville Cash Register
“Acoustic” is finally back in style.
62 Charles Hoffman
Slots And Dovetails
Tricks of the lutherie trade.
64 Roger H. Siminoff
Lloyd Loar On Overtones
An expert voice from the past.
18 New Acoustic Music ByJimHatlo
David Grisman and Tony Trischka, veteran movers and
shakers in today’s most eclectic string music style, talk about
how it began, what it is, where it’s going.
20 New Acoustic Music Sampler
Selections from original tunes by banjoist Bela Fleck, mando-
linist Sam Bush, and multi-instrumentalist Mark O’Connor
help you to experience the style firsthand.
22 The Family Tree
The amazingly varied heritage of New Acoustic Music
extends back to the ancient traditional music forms of four
continents. And some of the ancestry will surprise you.
25 Nashville Action By Rick Gartner
New Acoustic Music is infiltrating the country music capital
of the world, co-opting the brightest young session men.
Here’s a candid talk with four of its most influential agents.
29 Roy Clark On Stage By Roger H. Siminoff
He’s added two fiddlers to his act, acquired a recording studio,
bought into a record company, and broadened his audience since
Frets last talked with him. Now Roy dreams of building an elite
bluegrass group within his talent-laden road band.
30 Jimmy Henley
From seven-year-old banjo prodigy to touring pro, young Jimmy
Henley admits his career has been a Cinderella story. He owes his
biggest break to Roy Clark — and faith.
37 Pickups vs. Microphones By Ed Schilling
You’ll find hardcore partisans on both sides, but the real question is
which works best for your instrument. Industry pros and players
give you answers you need to make your decision.
40 Inside The JEMF By Herschel Freeman
Three decades ago a young Australian began collecting American
country records. Today the John Edwards Memorial Foundation
has thousands of historical items available to musicians.
44 Frets’ 5-Year Index
Here’s our anniversary present to you: A list of all the major articles
and feature music we’ve published since Vol.l, No. 1.
11 Letters
Buttons from Britain; feedback on
banjos; kudos for “Rock” issue.
15 Frets Looks At...
Michael Cone classical guitar.
16 Frets Looks At...
J.D. Lawrence monitor.
17 Frets Looks At...
Zeidler “Carrara” mandolin.
50 Bulletinboard
The musical mobile dome, violin
synthesis, concerts and classes.
56 On Record
What’s the latest on the New
Acoustic Music scene?
58 Questions
Tremolo signposts, promo photo
do’s/dont’s, turning the screws.
61 Bookshelf
Striding with Guy Van Duser,
charting on paper, watching TV.
63 Accessory Close-up
The Swanay instrument stand.
65 What’s New
Capo, recorder, pickup, micro-
phone, $5,500 classical guitar ...
66 Picking Tips
How to keep your nails in shape.
66 Advertiser Index
Need a product? Go to the source.
31 Frets Giveaway #17
This month you’ve got a chance to
win a new Franklin OM-1 koa body
guitar, with case — worth $900!
Cover: From a concept by violinist
Darol Anger. For the story on
why Anger went to bat to make
New Acoustic Music a household
word, turn to page 18.
W JT THEN DID IT BEGIN? HOW LONG AGO was it that
W/W/someone first turned an ear to a small group of artists and
▼ ▼bands within the world of acoustic string music and said in
surprise, “Hey — something different is going on here!” Perhaps it
was 15 years, perhaps 10; certainly, five years ago when Frets
published its debut issue, nobody questioned that a major move-
ment was doing exciting, even outlandish things to traditional
concepts of ensemble string music. Only, nobody quite knew what
to call it.
Today it has a name: “New Acoustic Music” — although even
among its leading practitioners, you won’t find agreement on what
properly comes under that umbrella. Mandolinist/bandleader
David Grisman probably is considered the archetypal New Acous-
tic musician, yet he is one of the artists least comfortable with the
label.
It is easier to be clear about where the name comes from than to
be clear about what it means. “New Acoustic Music” formalizes a
concept that has been around at least since 1979, when banjoist
Tony Trischka — writing the liner notes for the first album of his
former pupil Bela Fleck — used the term “nouveau acoustic music”
in describing the material on Fleck’s innovative Crossing The
Tracks. Three years later, Grisman opted for the variation “acous-
tic nouveau” as he penned the notes for Fleck’s sequel, Natural
Bridge.
“Nouveau” never quite caught on, but the idea stuck. It was
Grisman Quartet violinist Darol Anger, a solo recording artist in his
own right, who last year fired the first deliberate shot aimed at
making New Acoustic Music a household word.
Not only did he sanction the name, he even designed a catchy
logo to go with it — which is reflected on the cover of this issue, and
in the graphics throughout this special section. Anger’s efforts
weren’t purely art for art’s sake. Necessity — specifically, economic
neccessity — helped birth the plan.
Anger and other New Acoustic artists were keenly aware that
for years, record stores — and the industry at large — had been...