CURLY MILLER and CAROLE ANNE ROSE

by Eddie Collins, Fall 1996, 5-String Quarterly

Before 3-finger style banjo as popularized by Earl Scruggs, there was 3-finger "Classic Banjo." Not to be confused with classical music played on banjo, Classic Banjo is a distinct style developed from about 1885 - 1915. Requiring specific performing techniques, music was written specifically for 5-string banjo and banjo orchestras by composers of the era.

Two performers keeping this music alive today are Curly Miller and Carole Anne Rose. Their recent self-produced CD, Camp Meeting, includes several banjo duets where Curly plays lead and Carol Anne provides the rhythmic "2^nd banjo." The two work on their music while also working on their organic Shiitake mushroom and herb farm in the remote Ozark Mountains of Arkansas.

Carole Anne states that their isolation has had a profound impact on their music: "Farming is hard, physical labor. We lift 30,000 to 50,000 pounds per week, most weeks of the year! Our physical labor on the farm adds physical characteristics to our music, such as strength, power, endurance, and sometimes stiffness. Our isolation has allowed us to develop musically together according to our own inclination."

Richard "Curly" Miller remembers music as a big part of his upbringing (his grandfather was a music teacher in Schenectady, NY). He started classical violin at age 8, got his first guitar playing rock at 14, and learned how to fingerpick using his Thumb, Index, and Middle fingers at 2l (a la Leo Kottke and John Fahey). Curly also started playing Old Time standards on fiddle and credits a DeDannon performance at Winfield, KS for his subsequent pursuit of Irish fiddle which led him to perform with an Irish band for four years.

In 1987, Curly met Clarke Buehling who asked him to play bowed bass in The Skirtlifters. "I already had a bass and I thought it would be fun" says Curly. "This was my first exposure to Classic Banjo, Minstrel Banjo, and real Old Time fiddling." With The Skirtlifters, Curly traveled throughout the country, including performances at Brandywine, Piccolo Spoleto, Black Mountain, and the Old Towne School of Music in Chicago. As personnel changed, Curly also played mandolin and fiddle with the group and became increasingly interested in Classic Banjo and its possibilities.

Carole Anne Rose played keyboard accordion as a child and remembers her rather having a wonderful record collection with lots of banjo. In her adult years, she has experimented with folk and classical guitar as well as flute. "I love Old Time music, attending folk festivals, concerts featuring Old Time musicians, and listening to banjo playing," asserts Carole Anne.

In 1987, Carole Anne quit as a systems analyst for AT&T in New Jersey and moved to Arkansas to become a herb farmer. Falling for her new neighbor, Curly Miller, wasn't in her plans, but as Carole Anne muses, "When he showed up, built a huge bon fire, brought out home-made pizza and then a fiddle, guitar, and BANJO ... I had no choice!" Carole Anne found it exciting to play Old Time music with Curly and travel with The Skirtlifters. "It gave me the chance to listen to lots of banjo styles and begin my own 'banjo experience."

The banjos that the duo plays are from the turn of the century. Curly plays an S.S. Stewart Universal Favorite and Carole Anne's is "probably" a Lyon & Healy bottom-of-the-line lady's model. Each has nickel parts over a wood pot, calf skin head, La Bella nylon strings, and a 5-footed Classic Banjo bridge made by Bill Morris.

The Classic Banjo duet "The Jay Hawk" is a good example of each players approach to the banjo. Both perform without fingerpicks, most often using C tuning (strings 5 to 1: g CGBD). Curly picks most melodies and single-note runs alternating his Thumb and Index fingers. "I find it easy to remain comfortable and rhythmic with those fingers," explains Curly. "I often use the Middle finger to make picking patterns and to make 2- or 3-note chords."

Carole Anne also uses the 3-finger classic technique to play the 2nd banjo parts Curly writes and arranges. When backing up his fiddling, she plays a frailing style similar to Old Time guitar, emphasizing bass notes on the downbeats with chord strums on the off beat. Carole Anne is having a 6-string (5-string style) banjo made by Bob Momich which will allow her to play more bass notes and bass runs.

There is music available for Classic Banjo duets, but Curly often doesn’t care for the bass lines of the 2nd banjo. "They didn't have the "flow" I wanted to hear in support of the melody. The bass notes not only support the meter of the tune, but are critical in setting up the ensuing melodic lines." So Curly writes most of the 2nd banjo parts the duo plays. "I have arranged parts from piano sheet music, particularly ragtime pieces, and from old calliope recordings. When it comes to Carole, me, and two banjos ... all music is up for grabs!"

While changing original bass lines may not appeal to some Classic Banjo purists, Curly and Carole Anne’s CD has received complimentary reviews from The Five-Stringer (published by the American Banjo Fraternity), The Ozarks Mountaineer, Banjo NewsLetter, and Fiddler.

Recordings recommended by Curly for those interested in the Classic Banjo style are: Kings Of The Ragtime Banjo by Fred Van Eps and Vess Ossman; Buehling Banjos by Clarke Buehling and Bill Morris; and two by The Skirtlifters: Somewhere In Dixie and Fire Alarm. Also, the American Banjo Fraternity has a music library containing Classic Banjo tunes.

Curly and Carole Anne play for the monthly dances of the Fayetteville Traditional Dance Society. Hoping to travel and perform their music more often, they have recently hired a farm manager.