J.D. CROWE

J.D. Crowe
I've long been an admirer of J.D. Crowe's music. I don't mean just his banjo playing, even though I've spent my share of evenings in various venues practicing three-finger rolls on the side of a beer bottle while my mouth hung open at a hot lick. I mean music in the larger sense, in his ability to assemble a band and hone performances that define and redefine what bluegrass should be. Working on the discography brought home to me the range of music J.D. has been involved in--pure traditional with Jimmy Martin, progressive and country with the New South, and a fresh look at tradition with the Bluegrass Album Band. This page attempts to document J.D.'s career with a discography and references to articles and published tablatures for further study of his banjo style.

Bluegrass has always been an oral/aural tradition--its history mainly consists of stories told around a picking circle and old records on obscure labels. Documenting that history requires chasing a thousand different threads, and you still can't be sure you have all of them. For this reason, I would appreciate hearing from anyone who has information on additional recordings, articles relevant to J.D.'s career, or who has photographs I could scan. I have a list of specific questions that I'm currently working on--any help you can offer will be appreciated! I'm also interested in any live audio or video tapes you might have.




JD now has an official web page!


Booking information
News, performance schedule
Discography
Tablature
References to published tabs.
Articles
Published articles and interviews.
Photos
Sources
Where to get articles, tabs, recordings.


This page last updated May 27, 1999.
Chris McGlone, jcm@cs.cmu.edu