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Across the Blue Ridge #58- Frank Bode, a versatile old time singer and guitarist

by Paul Brown

Frank Bode (second from left) played with most of the top old time string bands in northwest North Carolina and southwest Virginia. His music is featured on this edition of Across the Blue Ridge. (L-R Barbara Poole, Frank Bode, Ginger Bode, Terri McMurray, Paul Brown, Verlen Clifton) Bettie Clifton

This week, we hear a fine selection of bluegrass and old time songs and tunes. Melodic bluegrass banjo player Alan Munde; singers Dale Ann Bradley and Emily Spencer; and ace fiddle-banjo duet Johnny Warren and Charlie Cushman get things started. And we celebrate the music of Frank Bode, an early performer on Across the Blue Ridge back in the 1980s and 1990s and a singing and guitar-picking stalwart of award winning bands in the Blue Ridge region. He passed away recently at age 77. Listen to Frank with host Paul Brown and the Toast String Stretchers; with Benton Flippen and the Smokey Valley Boys; with Robert Sykes and the Surry County Boys; and with renowned North Carolina fiddler Tommy Jarrell. Whether it was fiddle tunes, gospel songs, or guitar-mandolin instrumentals, he turned in compelling performances.  Fortunately, many were recorded, and we sample the trove this week. 

Episode 58 Playlist

  1. Tennessee Wagoner
    Alan Munde
    Bue Ridge Express
     
  2. Rain On The Roof
    Dale Ann Bradley
    Old Southern Porches
     
  3. Fortune
    Camp Creek Boys
    Old Time String Band
     
  4. Katy Cline
    Kyle Creed & Emily Spencer
    Liberty
     
  5. Rose In The Mountain
    Adam Hurt
    Artifacts
     
  6. Going Down The Road Feelin' Bad
    John Jackson
    Don't Let Your Deal Go Down
     
  7. Sippin' The Whiskey
    Johnny Warren & Charlie Cushman
    Purely Instrumental
     
  8. Break 1 - Zeke Backus' Waltz
    James Bryan & Carl Jones
    Two Pictures
     
  9. Tempy
    Toast String Stretchers
    Wanted!
     
  10. Little Maggie
    Toast String Stretchers
    Wanted!
     
  11. Rank Stranger
    Frank Bode
    Been Riding With Old Mosby
     
  12. Let Me Fall
    Frank Bode
    field recording
     
  13. More Pretty Girls Than One
    Benton Flippen
    Old Time New Times
     
  14. Break 2 - Redwing
    ASH & F
    From The Old School
     
  15. Freight Train
    Toast String Stretchers
    Wanted!
     
  16. Old Crossroads
    Robert Sykes & The Surry County Boys
    Black-Eyed Susan
     
  17. Black-Eyed Susan
    Robert Sykes & The Surry County Boys
    Black-Eyed Susan
     
  18. Sunny Side Of The Mountain
    Frank Bode
    Been Riding With Old Mosby
     
  19. Piney Woods Gal
    Tommy Jarrell & Frank Bode
    Been Riding With Old Mosby

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