Breakin' Up Winter
Encyclopedia
Breakin' Up Winter is an old-time music 'retreat', a gathering of old-time string band musicians, which is celebrating its 15th year March 5–7, 2010, eschews the contest approach common to the larger festivals. It brings together hundreds of old-time musicians in a state park setting where the first focus is on educational programs and presentations by scholars and icons of the old-time music worlds. And, of course, jamming. It is presented by the Nashville Old-Time String Band Association, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that began as an offshoot of a community education class in Nashville, Tennessee.
Noted traditional music researcher/author/folklorist Charles Wolfe was a mainstay until his untimely death in 2006.
In addition to Charlie Acuff and Charles Wolfe, presenters and performers have included:
A flurry of interest in "old-time" music in the 1940s, and the folk music revival of the 1960s and 70's, brought millions of new listeners to this traditional music.
But in the hills and hollows of Appalachia and many communities beyond, it didn't need reviving. It remained the music that people learned to play knee-to-knee with musicians who learned it the same way. There remain many players whose introduction to the music came (and still comes) not from radio or recordings, but through family and friends who themselves who were passing it down directly through the generations.
It is to those roots of old-time music that this retreat reaches and which is the focus of the first day of the event.
Two years ago, NOTSBA began presenting its Heritage Award to musicians. The first went to Charlie Acuff, the second to Clyde Davenport. The third will be presented March 5, 2010, at the 15th annual Breakin' Up Winter.
History
The first Breakin' Up Winter retreat was just that - an informal gathering of friends who shared an interest in and love for old-time string band music. Fresh from another small old-time gathering in Athens, Alabama, they wanted to create that same atmosphere in Middle Tennessee. The first gathering was held in the Cedar Forest Lodge of the Cedars of Lebanon State Park near Lebanon, Tennessee, about 30 miles outside Nashville. The retreat continues at Cedars of Lebanon, but now encompasses the entire state park. Legendary old-time fiddler Charlie Acuff was a guest of honor at that first even and has been a central "artist" ever since.Scholars and Artists
Charlie Acuff was the first in a long line of widely respected "heritage artists" - icons of old-time music - to headline Breakin' Up Winter. There developed a theme for the first day of the event - 'Roots of Old-Time Music' - that brings in noted researchers, authors, and performers.Noted traditional music researcher/author/folklorist Charles Wolfe was a mainstay until his untimely death in 2006.
In addition to Charlie Acuff and Charles Wolfe, presenters and performers have included:
- Alan JabbourAlan Jabbour-Biography:Jabbour was born in Jacksonville, Florida. His grandfather had immigrated to the United States from Syria, and his father later joined him. He was educated in the Jacksonville public schools and at the Bolles School, where he graduated from high school in 1959. He graduated magna cum...
- Bill Mansfield
- Bruce Greene
- Clyde Davenport
- Dan Gellert
- Don Pedi
- Evan Hatch
- Franklin George
- Gerry Milnes
- George GruhnGeorge GruhnGeorge Gruhn is a writer and businessman. He is an expert on vintage American guitars and related instruments. He opened Gruhn Guitars in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1970 and has sold guitars to musicians such as Eric Clapton, Lyle Lovett, Emmylou Harris, Billy Gibbons, Rick Nielsen, John Hiatt, and...
- J.P. Fraley
- James Bryan
- Jim Griffith
- John Harrod
- Joyce Cauthen
- Mike SeegerMike SeegerMike Seeger was an American folk musician and folklorist. He was a distinctive singer and an accomplished musician who played autoharp, banjo, fiddle, dulcimer, guitar, mouth harp, mandolin, dobro, jaw harp, and pan pipes. Seeger, a half-brother of Pete Seeger, produced more than 30 documentary...
- Kerry Blech
- Paul Wells
- Ralph Blizard
- Ron Pen
- Will Keys
- Walt Haden
The Focus: Old-time String Band Music
Some call it "mountain music" or "old-timey" or "fiddle tunes." It's the heart of this retreat and the mission of the Nashville Old-Time String Band Association: ". . . to preserve, promote, and perform old-time string band music."A flurry of interest in "old-time" music in the 1940s, and the folk music revival of the 1960s and 70's, brought millions of new listeners to this traditional music.
But in the hills and hollows of Appalachia and many communities beyond, it didn't need reviving. It remained the music that people learned to play knee-to-knee with musicians who learned it the same way. There remain many players whose introduction to the music came (and still comes) not from radio or recordings, but through family and friends who themselves who were passing it down directly through the generations.
It is to those roots of old-time music that this retreat reaches and which is the focus of the first day of the event.
Two years ago, NOTSBA began presenting its Heritage Award to musicians. The first went to Charlie Acuff, the second to Clyde Davenport. The third will be presented March 5, 2010, at the 15th annual Breakin' Up Winter.
Old-time String Band Music links
- Nashville Old-Time String Band Association
- Field Recorders Collective Detailed stories of many old time musicians on the notes page.
- Old-Time Banjo and music of Rural America
- Old Time Fiddlers Hall of Fame
- Appalachian Traditional Music: A Short History
- Old-Time Herald Magazine
- Old-Time Music in Portland, Oregon
- Old Time Music Source list
- Sheet music, lyrics & midis for 200+ traditional old-time songs