Forum - Banjo Ben Clark

Who are your favorite artists to listen to on the mandolin?

Are you talking about David Grisman? aka “The Dawg”? I saw him last night with Tommy Emmanuel in Ithaca, NY. Tommy did a set and David joined him for a set. Incredible!

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Chris Henry, Jesse Brock, Don Rigsby, Darrel Franchier (friend/ex-bandmate), Steffe, Bush, Compton, Mike Marshall, the list goes on…

I like different players for different reasons…

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I’m a fan of Ricky Skaggs, met him at a show a couple of years ago. A heck of a player, band leader, and a real nice guy. I haven’t seen Dry Branch Fire Squad for a half dozen years, but I always liked Ron Thomason’s playing. He can really be hilarious too. Saw Sam Bush last year. Obviously, he is a great picker. Recently on PBS they had a tv show called “The TransAtlantic Sessions.” It was a who’s who of folk, bluegrass, and acoustic music. I only saw part of it but it included Sam Bush and Tim O’Brien on mandolin. Check your listings, it was pretty good.

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I’ll second the recommendation for watching “The Trans-Atlantic Sessions.” well worth the time, and some awful good picking.

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Seems as though nobody gave any props or respect for Mr. Marty Stuart.

I went though the list of responses and his name didn’t jump out at me.

I also like Paul Hoffman (Greensky Bluegrass) and Jacob Burleson from Volume Five.

I can’t WAIT to go back and read all these replies!

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To me, Marty Stuart lands in the top 5 most talented guys to ever walk into Nashville. The dude can do everything. I don’t get star struck but when I’m around Marty, I get a bit nervous.

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Ben, have you heard his latest Album, “Way Out West”? It is a fascinating collage of the sounds of the evolution of sound - inspired by the west.

Not as traditional - but sooooo cool!

This was my FIRST album from Marty… but now, I am discovering others from him and the Fabulous Superlatives!

It is awesomeness that you MET him? :sunglasses:

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Yeah, I’ve played with artists that shared the bill with him at various shows and several times at the Opry, where he hosts segments often. He and Connie are very sweet people. He’s confident and cocky, but not conceited, if that makes sense.

One time I was playing a country festival with him up north somewhere…one of those big 3 day events. I couldn’t believe that had Marty booked, and he was early in the day. It was a real shame, especially since the patrons there had no clue what kind of talent was on stage. Marty recognized this as well and started mouthing to the folks, really going off about how country music sucks nowadays. After a while he essentially said screw it and stopped playing since no one was listening, walked off stage, then yelled that he didn’t really care cause they had already paid him. It was classic!

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What a STORY! Thanks for sharing that, Ben.

Frankly, I think I know exactly what you mean regarding the confidence. The thing to consider is that he has the skill and the capability to back it up. So when you have somebody who is confident in their skill and they deliver and demonstrate that skill regularly, that person has every right to be cocky. Then, to NOT be conceited but just be a regular person is the best combination of traits. YOU strike me this way but I digress…

As for the story about that show, it is a real shame that people take Kellen for granted… Especially regarding the performing arts.

It saddens me and I am disappointed regarding the reception Marty received up here in my neck of the woods on that day.

To turn a positive spin on that, I am glad that we have Banjo Ben Clark to EJAMAKAIT us in all things Banjo and Bluegrass.

You are an early riser, aren’t you? :thinking:

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3:20AM every morning, yep.

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Wow… does life exist at that hour? :sleeping:

On the other hand, if your workday is anything like mine, having those quiet moments is when you can really get work done… Or have time to check the forum. :+1:

Actually, I had little room to joke about your waking hour. I think that is awesome, By the way. I was up until 2:30am working - then up at 6:00am - so I can confirm life exists THAT early - or maybe I should say late?

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Check out Emory Lester and Mark Johnson. Emory plays mandolin, guitar and bass, and Mark plays clawhammer banjo like I’ve never heard anyone else play. I first heard Big Sciota by them on the satellite bluegrass channel and subsequently bought every cd they’ve got out. I love the sound of the mandolin, especially a nice tremelo and Emory’s playing inspired me to take up the mandolin again (I’d tinkered with it years ago). I ended up buying 2 Gibsons, and after listening more and more to Mark’s banjo decided I didn’t need 2 mandolins and did some dealing on ebay and basically traded my newer Gibson for a Deering Sierra. I played clawhammer for a few years and then got interested in Scruggs style which has been my main playing interest for a few years now. Ben’s site has been a real blessing in this endeavor. I too always like hearing new music and have been checking out some of the stuff that’s been mentioned on this site. There’s so much great music out there! And to get back to the original question of this thread-----I’d have a hard time picking out a favorite player on any instrument.

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Up here in the Pacific Northwest when we are not chasing the elk around, we are blessed to see a lot of great pickers at festivals. I’ve seen many great players, but I always walk away from a John Reischman show thinking that what it’s supposed to sound like!

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The real question is when will you let this picker help you chase elk around?

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I guess the bigger names that come to mind would include Bill Monroe of course, along with Ricky Skaggs and Marty Stuart. On the bluegrass circuit I sure like Wayne Benson and Alan Bibey. There are so many good lesser known mandolin players out there that I’ve come across looking around on the internet. My favorite is a guy named Chad Fadely from up around Montana I think. There are a lot of clips of him on youtube and he has a few CD’s out notably one titled “iMando”. If you like good bluegrass instrumentals do yourself a favor and check him out.

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By the way Ben, if I were gfausset I’d sure swap you out an elk hunt for a few private mandolin and guitar lessons! Sadly all we’re famous for down here in south Arkansas are ducks (but plenty of 'em!).

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Ducks for pickin’ sounds pretty promising, too :wink:

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How about Alan Bibey? He does a great job on the grasstowne IV album. One of my favorites

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He is incredible!

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Incredible Player!

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