CDS NOW AVAILABLE $15.00
S&H $5.25
The Galax Way
Once I had a Fortune
Tribute to the past
Old Green Truck
IT'S HERE! TAKE ME BACK BY EDDIE BOND
PICTURES OF CDS ARE IN PICTURE ALBUM
About me: The New Ballard's Branch Bogtrotters' name comes from the original Bogtrotters, the famous Galax-area band of the 1930s. From the musically rich region surrounding Galax, Virginia, and known for playing high-energy dance tunes, the group has won the prestigious first place old-time band prize at the Old Fiddlers' Convention in Galax eight different years. The Bogtrotters have played at several notable festivals including the Chicago Folk Festival, Merlefest, and Smithsonian Folklife Festival. Eddie Bond, the band's fiddler, is also a fine vocalist, and he knows many of the old mountain ballads that date back to previous generations. Bond is also a member of the The Round Knob Singers, an a cappella gospel quartet from the Round Knob Church of Christ, located in Austinville, a few miles north of the Crooked Road in Carroll County.
The originial Bogtrotters
A beloved band during the 1930s, this group was recorded by Alan Lomax for the Library of Congress, and was for a generation a favorite at the Old Fiddler’s Convention. From Ballard Branch, Virginia came a talented group of musicians that became known as the Bogtrotters.The group was managed by Dr. W.P. Davis,the Ward's family doctor,suggested the band name in reference to being "bogged-down" in the mud on the rough road to the Wards, and neighbors Davy Crockett Ward and Alexander “Eck” Dunford were the fiddlers.
Fields Ward, Crockett's son, played the guitar and did most of the singing, and Crockett's brother Wade Ward usually was the banjo player. Wade usually played a three finger style to complement the singing in the band but he was to become one of the greatest clawhammer players, and his renditions of many classics are still cherished.
The amiable and eccentric Uncle Eck Dunford, as he was known, fiddled in a slow, deliberate sophisticated style that contrasted with the more vigorous mountain breakdown pace of Crockett Ward.The droll-voiced Dunford told humorous stories, and gave the group its self-deprecating name. (A “bogtrotter” was once a term for an Ulster Irish immigrant, and Dunford was of that ancestry.) Dunford was earlier a glass-plate photographer, and became a fine oral historian of the area, as well as a beloved figure.After the many years of playing together however, they achieved a wonderful balance and complemented each other remarkably well. Both men were important influences on the younger Fields Ward, and he heeded their advice well, such as never singing faster than you can talk and enunciating each word carefully.
The Library of Congress preserved close to 200 recordings of these men. Crockett played in an earlier band known as Crockett Ward and His Boys, and Eck fiddled and sang on many of the Blue Ridge Cornshuckers' recordings.
Galax old-timers recall them with great affection. A contemporary old-time band from Galax, The New Ballard’s Branch Bogtrotters, honor them by using their name and some of their tunes and songs.
If you would like a CD conact me by email
bogtrotters@embarqmail.com
CDs are $15.oo each plus %5.25 for shipping.
Thanks, You have always been a favorite. I bought all of your CDs through County Records. I went to High School with Bobby Taylor. My MYSPACE page is dedicated to musicians like you. You are now on my "TOP FRIENDS" list and may I say it is an honored addition.
