Old-timey string musician Benton Flippen (b. 1920) was raised on a farm in Surry County, North Carolina, where he first played the banjo during his childhood (listen to track "June Apple"). His father was an accomplished old time banjo picker as was his uncles and brothers. It was during his youth, he visited his fiddling uncle John Flippen and quickly turned to playing the fiddle and started playing with the area's noted bands and musicians, among them the Green Valley Boys led by Glenn McPeak, and Esker Hutchins and Leak Caudill (listen to track "Raggedy Anne"). Esker became an important influence on Benton's fiddling style which includes a heavy bow shuffle and bluesy notation. In the late 1960's he was asked to fiddle in the Camp Creek Boys after Fred Cockerham's departure. From the 1970s on, Flippen belonged to the Smokey Valley Boys, an outfit that has preserved Flippen's unique musical abilities on recordings (listen to tracks "Sally Ann" and "Polecat Blues"). The band also earned awards at numerous fiddling competitions, before disbanding in 1985. In 1990, the North Carolina Folk Heritage Awards honored Flippen, who is recognized for a unique style of string fingering. Flippen is also renown for his original compositions which include "Benton's Dream" (listen to track "Benton's Dream"), "Fiddler's Reel", "Sally in the Turnip Patch", and "Smokey Valley Breakdown". In the late 1990's Flippen reorganized his Smokey Valley Boys with new and previous members. The current lineup of his band includes Frank Bode singing and playing guitar, William Flippen (Benton's grandson) on guitar, and Andy Edmonds playing banjo and guitar (listen to "Cumberland Gap"). For booking info please contact Andy Edmonds at
[email protected].
To purchase one of Benton Flippen's CD's click the following links:
Fiddler's Dream ,
Band In Transition Featuring Benton Flippen ,
Old Time New Times
