Our new playlist of the best new Americana we’ve heard over the last month is out later today exclusively for AUK supporters including new tracks by Bonny Light Horseman, Charley Crockett, Beth Nielsen Chapman, Morgan Wade and Dan Petrich among others – it’s our regular curated compilation where we weed out the, er, weeds and give you a basket of blooming americana roses. And if you are a supporter, we also have a great exclusive giveaway for one of you this month which is a brand spanking new copy of the new book by Max Wareham about near-forgotten legend Rudy Lyle.
“I began this project as a way to root my own playing more firmly in the tradition,” explains banjoist and author Max Wareham, “but quickly came to realize that despite Rudy’s tremendous influence on the development of bluegrass music, he’s been nearly forgotten.” The Rudy he speaks of? That’s Rudy Lyle, legendary five-stringer and Bill Monroe bandmate, and Wareham made it his mission to keep Lyle and his playing in the forefront with a new book of banjo instruction and insiders’ guides to the man himself: Rudy Lyle: The Unsung Hero of the Five-String Banjo.
Out now, Rudy Lyle: The Unsung Hero of the Five-String Banjo paints a vivid picture of the life and musical significance of the early bluegrass giant. The book features exhaustive and largely never-before-published transcriptions and analyses of every break Lyle recorded with Bill Monroe, the “father of bluegrass.” Lyle’s historical significance is explored in the final interviews given by late banjo legends Sonny Osborne and Bill Emerson, as well as interviews with several other prominent banjo players and members of Lyle’s family. Beautiful portraits of each interviewee are included alongside several never-before-published photos of Lyle himself.
In addition to the 19 main transcriptions, the book features chapters on Rudy’s style and its historical importance, his approach to backup playing, a thorough comparison of his breaks on every alternate take of Monroe’s classic “Raw Hide,” and several live transcriptions from before and after his time as a Blue Grass Boy.
In our review, we said of the book: ” the background biography and the interviews are fascinating reading for anyone who cares about Bluegrass and the banjo. However it is still the Tablature which, deservedly, will sell this book. Max Wareham is to be congratulated for casting such a clear light on a distinctive and influential style of playing.”
Fans of bluegrass music, banjo players, and curious readers can purchase Rudy Lyle: The Unsung Hero of the Five-String Banjo now at this link.
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