Highwoods string band biography

It's an engrossing story of how the group came together in the early 1970s and evolved into an incredibly popular high-energy old time band.
Biography.
In the early 1970s, The Highwoods Stringband was one of the first young groups to revive theclassic old time music sound, bringing their joyful.

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Biography

Highwoods Stringband
Fire on the Mountain

In the early 1970s, The Highwoods Stringband was one of the first young groups to revive theclassic old time music sound, bringing their joyful interpretations to audiences around thecountry. As John Lupton wrote in All Music Guide, “Their legacy is that, more than any other band of their time, they were responsible for drawing a legion of new, young fans into oldtime music by the force of their musicianship and the fact that they were having such a damn good time at it.” The music on this record was recorded in September 1972 after a summer ofplaying at festivals and fiddlers' conventions.

All the really important things about who we are and what we have to say are found in the music on this record.We come from all over the country, New Jersey to California, and we range in age from early twenties to early thirties.We were brought together by our common love for old-time music, the good times we have travelling
around the country in our old Ford panel trucks, and the joyous excitement we feel when we play music together.

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The Highwoods Stringband have been revived in a brilliant new documentary film produced by Larry Edelman. Featuring narration from Paul Brown, extensive interviews and plenty of archival footage of the Highwoods in action, Dance All Night — The Highwoods StringbandStory gives a straightforward account of the band's history and their influence on the old-time scene then and now.

In addition to interviews with bandmembers Walt Koken, Bob Potts, Mac Benford, Jenny Cleland and Doug Dorchug, the film includes commentary from a number of other notable musicians, such as John Cohen, Richie Stearns, Sammy Lind and others. The film chronicles how the Highwoods got together, their extensive festival performances, their discography and diverts into amusing tales from the road, such as the time one member hitched a ride with the New Jersey State Highway Police after being left behind at a rest stop.

Produced by Piggysnout Productions and Mudthumper Music, the idea for the documentary actually began almost a decade ago by Horse Archer Productions, the company that produced two doc

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Walt Koken

American musician

Walt Koken (born October 9, 1946, Columbia, Missouri) is an American claw-hammerbanjo player, fiddler, and singer, who received the Nashville Old-Time String Band Association's 2016 Heritage Award. Koken was prominent in the old-time music revival during the 1960s, and continues to be a leader and mentor in the old-time music community today.

Biography

Family

Koken's mother, Helen Hawkins Koken Pickel, was a classical pianist and a kindergarten teacher. Her family was English; the Kokens were from Germany. Koken's father, John C. Koken, was a math professor. The Koken family arrived in New Orleans in 1850, then traveled up the Mississippi River to St. Louis (Milliner 2017). By 1892, the Koken Barber’s Supply Company of St. Louis held two barber chair patents; one for the first reclining Koken chair and one for the first hydraulic lift chair (Creek). In 1915 Walter F. Koken received a patent for the first electric Barber’s Chair (Patents 1917).

Music

Koken started playing banjo at the age of 13. “In 1959, my brother