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Artist
Hobart Smith
12+ albums
folkcountrybluegrassbanjoold timey
about
Hobart Smith (May 10, 1897—January 11, 1965) was an American old-time musician. He was most notable for his appearance with his sister, Texas Gladden, on a series of Library of Congress recordings in the 1940s and his later appearances at various festivals during the folk music revival of the 1960s. Smith is often remembered for his virtuosic performances on the banjo, and had also mastered various other instruments, including the fiddle, guitar, piano, harmonica, accordion, and organ. Hobart Smith was born near Saltville, Virginia in 1897, the oldest son of eight children born to Louvine and Alexander King Smith. Hobart believed the ballad-singing tradition in his family dated back at least seven generations to when the Smiths immigrated from England. Both of Hobart's grandfathers were fiddle players, and his parents were banjo players. When Alan Lomax traveled to Saltville to record Hobart in 1942, he also recorded Hobart's father playing a version of "Old Joe Clark". Hobart recalled his family staying up late at night singing hymns and ballads around the fireplace in their home just outside of Saltville. Hobart's parents bought him his first banjo when was seven, and he learned piano by playing at church revivals in the area. In 1911, an African-American fiddle player named Jim Spencer began lodging at the Smith house, and taught Hobart how to play the fiddle. Impressed with the African-American style, Hobart and his cousin, John Galliher, began sneaking over to the segr
top songs
albums
Southern Journey Vol. 5: Bad Man Ballads - Songs of Outlaws and Desperadoes
Southern Journey Vol. 2: Ballads and Breakdowns
Blue Ridge Legacy
Hobart Smith of Saltville, Virginia
Traditional Appalachian Songs And Tunes
In Sacred Trust: The 1963 Fleming Brown Tapes
Portraits: Hobart Smith: Blue Ridge Legacy
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I'll Meet You On That Other Shore: Alan Lomax’s "Southern Journey," 1959–1960
Classic Folk Music from Smithsonian Folkways Recordings
Sounds Of The South
Instrumental Music Of The Southern Appalachians
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Alan Lomax Collection: Southern Journey: Bad Man Ballads, Vol. 5