Banjos from Dave Stacey; Diversity and the EFDSS

The news blog of FOAOTMAD, the UK old-time music and dance organisation, has several new items of interest, among which are the two unique banjos for sale (see ad above), made by the highly regarded UK luthier Dave Stacey; and a major event this coming Saturday (13 Nov.) at Cecil Sharp House in London, home of the English Folk Dance and Song Society (EFDSS).

The annual Library Conference will this year be devoted to the theme 'Diversity in Folk', with papers being delivered both in person and online, and ranging over a very wide area, as can be seen from the detailed programme. Of special interest to old-time enthusiasts are a talk by Rose Ardron on the Southern Folk Cultural Revival Project - 'an ambitious and controversial initiative in the 1960s to bring black and white musicians together in tours of the South', and a presentation by Brian Peters on 'Racial crosscurrents in Appalachian folk music'.

© Richard Hawkins