Steve Sutton Memorial Festival
There will be a special concert in memory of late Haywood County banjo great Steve Sutton kicking off at 2 p.m. Sunday, May 19, on the big outdoor stage at Silverados in Black Mountain.
Fingers like lightning: A Haywood County banjo retrospective
Editor’s Note: Since first rolling into Haywood County in August 2012 to start work as the arts and entertainment editor for The Smoky Mountain News, Garret K. Woodward has been extensively documenting banjo players around our backyard.
Tell it from the mountain: ‘Uncle Ted’ White on bluegrass, the late Steve Sutton
What defines bluegrass music would have to be the banjo played “The Earl Scruggs Way” with the three-finger roll. If it’s played clawhammer style, it would have to be classified “Old Time.” Now, bluegrass music, as a genre, grew out of this. As to musicianship, the chief — Bill Monroe — said if you could play bluegrass music right you could play anything else. What I’ve found is that bluegrass music, like jazz, is built around tight timing. It’s not loose. If you understand that, you can apply it to other types of music.
