Wade Ward

Wade Ward (1892 – 1971) was an American old-time music banjo player and fiddler from Independence, Virginia.[1] He was especially renowned for his clawhammer banjo playing. He was a frequent winner at the Galax, Virginia Old Time Fiddler's Convention.[2] His instrument, a Gibson RB-11 5-string banjo, is now housed in the Smithsonian Institution. Along with Kyle Creed, Wade Ward is thought by many to embody the 'Galax' style of clawhammer banjo playing.

Wade Ward
Wade Ward in 1937
Background information
Birth name	Benjamin Wade Ward
Also known as	Uncle Wade
Born	October 15, 1892 Independence, Virginia, U.S.
Died	May 29, 1971 (aged 78) Independence, Virginia, U.S.
Genres	Old-time
Occupation(s)	Farmer
Instruments	Banjo, fiddle
Years active	1919 - late 1960s
Labels	Okeh, Folkways, Biograph, FRC
Associated acts	Buck Mountain Band, Bog Trotters Band

Biography

Ward began performing in public in 1919, at age 26. His first group, the Buck Mountain Band, included Van Edwards on fiddle and Van's son Earl on guitar.[3] In 1925, Ward recorded four solo tunes (unreleased) for the Okeh label during a field recording session in Asheville, North Carolina.[4] In October 1929 he and the Buck Mountain Band recorded four more tunes for Okeh in Richmond, Virginia, two of which were released.[5] In the early 1930s, Ward joined a band called the Ballard Branch[6] Bogtrotters, formed by his older brother Crockett, who was twenty years his senior. Ward played banjo, Crockett and his neighbor Alec "Uncle Eck" Dunford played fiddles, Crockett's son Fields played guitar and sang, and the Wards' family doctor W. P. Davis managed the group and occasionally played autoharp.[7] Folklorist John A. Lomax discovered the group in 1937 at the Galax Fiddlers' Convention and recorded them for the Library of Congress. John's son Alan Lomax recorded Wade in 1939, 1941, and again in 1959; nearly 200 recordings of Ward are archived at the Library of Congress' American Folklife Center.[7] Other folklorists including Mike Seeger and Peter Hoover made additional field recordings in the 1950s and 1960s.[8] The Bogtrotters appeared at festivals during the folk revivals of the 40s and 50s.

Despite his musical gifts, Ward made his living as a farmer.[9] He died in 1971 in Independence, Virginia, and is buried in the Saddle Creek Primitive Baptist Church Cemetery a few miles west of town.[10]

Discography

Year	Title	Label	Number	Notes
1929	"Don't Let the Blues Get You Down" / "Yodeling Blues"	Okeh	45428	78 rpm
1962	Music of Roscoe Holcomb and Wade Ward	Smithsonian Folkways	F-2363
1968	Fields and Wade Ward: Country Music	Biograph	RC-6002
	The Original Bog Trotters	Biograph	RC-6003
1972	Uncle Wade - A Memorial To Wade Ward: Old Time Virginia Banjo Picker, 1892-1971	Smithsonian Folkways	F-2380
2004	Uncle Charlie Higgins, Wade Ward & Dale Poe	Field Recorders' Collective	FRC-501	recorded 1959
2007	Wade Ward: Banjo & Fiddle	Field Recorders' Collective	FRC-507	recorded 1959-1961

• Many other recordings by Wade Ward have been released on compilation albums from Smithsonian Folkways, Biograph, Rounder, County and other labels.

See also

• Alan Lomax
• Charlie Higgins
• Clawhammer
• High Atmosphere, 1975 Rounder Records compilation
• Old-time music

References

1. Poole, Steve (November 10, 2003). "Poole & Mason Family". Rootsweb. Retrieved May 10, 2009.
2. "Winners". Old Fiddler's Convention, Galax, Virginia. Retrieved May 10, 2009.
3. Baycu, Ahmet. "Amazing Facts from the Roots of American Fiddle Music". HeaHeah. Retrieved May 10, 2009.
4. Laird, Ross; Brian Rust (2004). Discography of OKeh Records, 1918-1934. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers. pp. 141, 584. doi:10.1336/0313311420. ISBN 978-0-313-31142-0.
5. Huber, Patrick (2008). Linthead Stomp: The Creation of Country Music in the Piedmont South. Chapel Hill: UNC Press. pp. 297. ISBN 0-8078-3225-1. wade ward born 1892.
6. "Google Maps". Google.com. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
7. Baycu, Ahmet. "The Bogtrotters". HeaHeah. Retrieved May 10, 2009.
8. Hoffman, John. "The Peter Hoover Collection". The Field Recorders' Collective. Retrieved May 17, 2009.
9. "Banjoist Wade Ward To Be Remembered". The Roanoke Star. October 8, 2013. Retrieved October 11, 2016.
10. Weaver, Jeffrey (April 2008). "Saddle Creek Primitive Baptist Church Cemetery". New River Notes. Retrieved May 17, 2009.

Further reading

• Davidson, Eric; Rigg, Jane (2001). "Uncle Wade: A Memorial to Uncle Wade Ward, Old-Time Virginia Banjo Picker [1892-1971]". In Titon, Jeff Todd; Carlin, Bob (eds.). American Musical Traditions. Vol. 3, British Isles Music. New York: Schirmer Reference. pp. 94–100. ISBN 0-02-864624-X.
• Lornell, Kip (1989) Virginia's Blues, Country, & Gospel Records 1902-1943: An Annotated Discography. University Press of Kentucky, p. 207, ISBN 0-8131-1658-9.
• McGee, Marty (2000) Traditional Musicians of the Central Blue Ridge: Old Time, Early Country, Folk and Bluegrass Label Recording Artists, with Discographies. McFarland & Company, Inc., p. 180-4, ISBN 0-7864-0876-6.
• Russell, Tony, and Bob Pinson (2004) Country Music Records: A Discography, 1921–1942. Oxford University Press, p. 939, ISBN 0-19-513989-5.