Elkville String Band

Photo courtesy of Elkville String Band.

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• Oldtime

Elkville String Band

Oldtime band

North Wilkesboro, NC (Wilkes County)

The Elkville String Band, from Wilkes County, performs old-time mountain music, playing mostly older music, but also some newer compositions from band members Drake Walsh and Jeff Michael. The band consists of Drake Walsh (fiddle and mandolin), Herb Key (guitar and singing), Bill Williams (harmony singing and bass), and Jeff Michael (banjo, fiddle, guitar, and singing). Band members are very interested in local and regional music. The band served for three years as house band for the Wilkes Playmaker's annual production of Tom Dooley, a Wilkes County Legend. The Elkville String Band has also won two Paul Green Multimedia Awards presented by The North Carolina Society of Historians, Inc. In 2006, they recorded a version of the ballad "Otto Wood" on the 75th anniversary of the year Otto Wood was shot. The song was released as a single and was included on the album Carolina Scrap Book - Volume Two, which was produced by the Kruger Brothers and features Wilkes County and regional musicians.

Band member, Drake Walsh, son of 1920s RCA and Columbia recording artist, Dock Walsh, started playing banjo when he was about six or seven years old, and he has been playing traditional mountain music ever since. Drake remembers listening to Clarence Ashley and many other musicians who visited the Walsh home to play with Dock. Drake performed with Dock in his father's later years, and he has played with a number of local and regional bluegrass and old-time bands over the years. Fiddle and mandolin have become Drake's primary instruments, but he is also a great harmonica, guitar, and banjo player.

Herb Key grew up in a musical family in Wilkes County. He has played music for most of his life and has spent more than thirty years making, repairing, and restoring instruments. Herb was surrounded by music played both on the radio and by his mother and uncle. When he was sixteen, his parents bought him his own Silvertone guitar, which Herb still owns today. Herb has also made a number of instruments. In addition to having his own shop, Herb works at Wayne Henderson's shop doing the repair work so Henderson has time to build new instruments. Over the years, Herb has played in a number of groups including the High County Ramblers, with Larry Pennington, which won in the bluegrass band category at the Galax Fiddlers Convention the year they formed.

Jeff Michael has been pickin' and singing in this area all his life. He is a multi-talented musician who can play any instrument. His singing talents are known throughout this area and beyond. Jeff's primary band is Big Country Bluegrass but he finds time to pick with Elkville String Band on most of its appearances. Jeff has performed on The Grand Ole Opry with Bill Monroe, Charlie Louvin, and Big Country Bluegrass. He plays banjo, fiddle, and guitar and sings lead and harmony. He has also recorded a CD with Elkville String Band.

Bass player Bill Williams moved to Wilkes County from Florida in 1976, and he has immersed himself in the mountain music of the region. He was a founding member of Steve Kilby's Sunday Night Band, which later became Kingsberry Run. Bill plays with a number of groups in the area which call him from time to time when they need a bass player. Bill plays primarily with Elkville String Band, and he serves as the contact person for the group.

Availability:

The Elkville String Band is available for performances.