Old Time Music and Stories from Kilby Branch
Steve
Kilby and Cranor Kilby
My grandfather, Cranor Kilby, grew up playing old-time
music in Wilkes County, North Carolina. His birth name was Presley Paris
Kilby but he was known as Cranor because at a young age he fell from
a barn loft and broke his leg and the local doctor, Dr. Cranor, set
the leg wrong. It grew back stiff and would not bend so the other kids
called him Cranor just to tease him and the name became his.
Here we hear him tell of growing up and learning about playing music,
the tunes he played, his family, the places he played, the instruments
he used, the singing schools he attended and taught, plus little insights
he had about his music and the way things used to be. The musical portions
of this were recorded in his home on Kilby Branch Road during 1968 –
69 with a small home recorder. I had been playing guitar for about two
years and was just learning how to play these tunes. The interview portions
were done in 1975 as a class project for the broadcasting class of Wilkes
Community College which my fellow interviewer Keith May and I attended.
Grandpa and I had a chance to reminisce about these tunes and stories
shortly before he passed away in 1979. I’m glad we did and am
very thankful for the influence he had on my life.
Steve Kilby, 2002
Old Time Music and Stories from Kilby Branch -
$17.95
(includes postage and handling) |
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| 1. |
The Instruments
Here we learn what a “french harp”
is and also how a banjo picker grew up to be a fiddle player. |
| 2. |
A Childhood Christmas
This is the small town version of entertaining
the audience during scene changes in the school play. |
| 3. |
Remembering The Old Tunes
Most of the tunes my grandfather
played as a boy, such as Arkansas Traveler, Johnson Boys and Sourwood
Mountain have become major mainstays of Old-Time music. They must have
been pretty good tunes. |
| 4. |
Turkey Buzzard
Sometimes during this tune, Grandpa would
pause with the fiddle and sing “Shoot that Turkey Buzzard”
then repeat that line with the fiddle. |
| 5. |
The Family
It’s hard to imagine that these fiddle,
banjo, and french harp tunes all were learned from a lady who played
the accordion. |
| 6. |
Home Sweet Home
This was one of the first tunes my grandpa
taught me to play. I still enjoy playing it. |
| 7. |
The Shindig
On this cut we hear about going to Cicero Yates’
place and watching sparks fly from nails in the floor and playing for
a cross-eyed girl who danced backward all the time. Must have been a
lot of fun. |
| 8. |
From Buffalo to Washington
A couple of years after learning
Grandpa’s version of this song, I heard Bill Monroe play White
House Blues and discovered they were the same song. It’s a small
world after all. |
| 9. |
Singing School
Grandpa was very serious about learning to
sing shaped notes. He thought everyone should learn to sing. |
| 10. |
Fox Chase
You sure you can hear the hounds in this tune
but some people swore they could even smell a fox when my grandpa played
this one. |
| 11. |
The First Guitar
I sure am glad the miller’s wife
asked Grandpa to tune her guitar so that when I came along he could
teach me how to tune one. |
| 12. |
Teaching Singing
My grandpa loved to teach people to sing
and he would teach anyone who would listen, Unfortunately, I didn’t
pay much attention to singing. I wanted to play those guitar tunes.
I still have the Sacred Harp and James D. Vaughan books he used to teach
from. |
| 13. |
Wildwood Flower
A pretty peppy version of the Carter Family
classic played here on the ‘french harp”. |
| 14. |
Arkansas Traveler
Grandpa played this tune in the key of
G, so I learned to play it on the guitar in G. When I started going
to Fiddlers Conventions, I found other fiddle and guitar players playing
it in the key of D, so I had to transpose it on the spot. Guess I was
lucky because now I can play this tune in either key. |
| 15. |
Old Groundhog
Sometimes the banjo would cease and Grandpa
would sing “ Great God A Mighty What a Pretty Ground Hog, Groundhog”.
I think of it every time I see a groundhog in the field behind the house.
Today one of Grandpa’s homemade banjos with a groundhog head is
one of my most treasured possessions. |
| 16. |
Going To The Show
I felt about the same way the first time
I went to the movies. |
| 17. |
Careless Love
Grandpa loved to sing and here is one of my
first feeble attempts to sing harmony with him. I just barely could
do it then and can just barely stand listen to it now. I hope you enjoy
it. |
| 18. |
Love Somebody
This tune bears a strong resemblance to Soldier’s
Joy. The fiddle would sometimes stop at a point in the song and Grandpa
would sing out “Love Somebody But They Don’t Love Me”. |
| 19. |
Old Molly Hare
“Old Molly Hare, what ya doin’
there, sittin’ in the corner with ya hair so fair”. I remember
hearing Grandpa play and sing this even before I started learning to
play the guitar. I’ve never heard anyone else sing this verse
so maybe it was his alone. |
| 20. |
Sally Ann
This is the Kilby Branch version of an old-time
classic. I didn’t know the actual chords back then, so I just
did something that matched his notes. He said it sounded fine to him
so we went with it. |
| 21. |
The Talking Machine
We hear him tell the story of the first time
he heard recorded music on a “Talking Machine” with a little
dog picture on it. It didn’t sound like he cared too much for
that little dog. |
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Hear the stories about
watching sparks fly from nails in the floor, playing for a cross-eyed
girl who danced backward all the time and hear tunes like Fox Chase and
Turkey Buzzard from Wilkes County fiddler, Cranor Kilby.
Yours truly,
Steve Kilby
Musicians who played
on this CD
Cranor Kilby - fiddle, banjo and french
harp
Steve Kilby - guitar
Track List
1 – The Instruments - 1:36
2 – A Childhood Christmas - 2:36
3 – Remembering The Old Tunes - 1:20
4 – Turkey Buzzard - 2:24
5 – The Family - 2:35
6 – Home Sweet Home - 2:23
7 – The Shindig - 3:26
8 – From Buffalo to Washington - 2:50
9 – Singing School - 5:45
10 – Fox Chase - 1:50
11 – The First Guitar - 4:21
12 – Teaching Singing - 1:57
13 – Wildwood Flower - 2:28
14 – Arkansas Traveler - 3:00
15 – Old Groundhog - 4:07
16 – Going to the Show - 1:04
17 – Careless Love - 2:01
18 – Love Somebody - 1:38
19 – Old Molly Hare - 1:30
20 – Sally Ann - 2:23
21 – The Talking Machine - 3:10
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