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...