Hammered Dulcimer

Luthier and washtub bass player

Piney Creek, NC (Alleghany County)

John Sturgill was born and raised in Maryland, but his family was from Alleghany County, and they made frequent trips home. John himself moved to North Carolina in 1970 to make his home in Alleghany County. John's father, "Uncle" Dave Sturgill, was a well-known banjo player and instrument builder in the area who taught himself to make a banjo at ten years old. "There was a lot of music around the house when I was growing up," says John. John spent a lot of time in his dad's basement workshop trying to make fiddles.

R.G. Absher

Bluegrass and Oldtime Musician

Elkin, NC (Surry County)

R.G. Absher was born in West Jefferson, in Ashe County, and he has lived in western North Carolina most of his life. He first remembers paying attention to the sound of a banjo at nine years old when he heard the soundtrack for the movie Bonnie and Clyde. He got interested in playing music himself and started learning from friends and older musicians in the area. R.G. spent time with Al Wood, a banjo player from Alexander County, Fred Weaver, an oldtime two-finger banjo player from Alleghany County, and Bill Young, a finger-style guitar picker who also played rock-a-billy.

Hammered Dulcimer

Junior Appalachian Musicians

John C. Campbell Folk School

Old Fort Mountain Music

Junior Appalachian Musicians

R.G. Absher

John Sturgill

Luthier and washtub bass player

Piney Creek, NC (Alleghany County)

R.G. Absher

Bluegrass and Oldtime Musician

Elkin, NC (Surry County)

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