Bill Blackburn moved to Arizona years ago, was playing banjo in a band called Sagegrass. He might still be in Sagegrass. I last saw him in Arizona in 2011 at the Benson BG festival, used to see him some years at IBMA. He was a high school friend of John Duffey. Together, they played with Lucky Chapman and the Ozark Mountain Boys, out of Frederick MD. I still have the 45 rpm record they made about 1956. The songs are "I've Waited So Long" and "Blue Grass", an instrumental written by John Duffey.
Tom Gray
On Monday, August 31, 2015 at 11:21:29 AM UTC-4, Ed Schaeffer wrote:
25 years ago I happened to meet a banjo picker named Bill Blackburn;
we picked some, and he happened to mention that actually he was a
"notable" figure in the early DC bluegrass scene. I haven't seen him since.
I recently re-read the liner notes (9 pages!) in Buzz Busby's CD
"Going Home", and, sure enough, there was Bill Blackburn playing
bass on a cut (or two).
Anyone know what happened to banjoist Bill Blackburn?
Ed Schaeffer
Musician and Raconteur
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Last I heard Bill lived in Prescitt, AZ and was the president of a bluegrass organization. Bill played banjo along my father, JD Brant in Sagegrass in Las Vegas.
ReplyDeleteBill played banjo in a band my father, JD Brant founded. Our family enjoyed many years of listening to him and Sagegrass. Last I heard Bill was living in Prescott, AZ and the president of the local Bluegrass Society. My dad (today 11-1-16 is his birthday) passed away in 1989, at the young age of 52 years old. Missed dearly! Here's a YT video of Bill, JD and Sagegrass from 1988. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fM7mp5o5QnI
ReplyDelete