AUCTION

From Every Stage Photo Exhibition

As seen in the

Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, Nashville,

Lincoln Center's New York Public Library for the Performing Arts,

International Bluegrass Music Museum, Owensboro KY

The 40 prints from the above exhibition will be auctioned off individually in the coming months via eBay. Thumbnails of the images can be viewed below. More info will be posted soon here as to sizes, etc. on each.

All prints are signed by Stephanie P. Ledgin; 12 are custom-framed, museum quality; nearly all remaining images are matted, ready for framing, with 8 prints "ganged up" at two each on a mat. All are from the companion book, From Every Stage: Images of America's Roots Music, by Stephanie P. Ledgin, Foreword by Charles Osgood.

Questions or more info requested, please email spl@fiddlingwithwords.com.

Click on each panel to enlarge and view "rough" thumbnails. See captions below for identification.

Stephanie P. Ledgin: From Every Stage Exhibit photo captions

1/2. Folk icon Pete Seeger, on stage and silhouetted against a sound truck back stage, his trademark long-necked banjo instantly recognizable. On stage in the background are Josh White, Jr., and Ronnie Gilbert (obscured). Festival of American Folklife (now Smithsonian Folklife Festival), Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., June 25, 1982.

3/4. In a somewhat rare appearance together, half-brothers Mike (left) and Pete Seeger share a pensive moment on stage. Pete gestures animatedly while relating a story. Virginia Festival of the Book, Culbreth Theatre, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, March 21, 2001.

5/6/7. “America’s Favorite Cowboys” Riders in the Sky. Far right, Ranger Doug appears amazed, perhaps at Too Slim’s face-playing abilities (far left) or maybe at Woody Paul’s lariat-twirling talents. The Bottom Line, New York City, February 4, 1988.

8. The Fairfield Four and the Nashville Bluegrass Band harmonize a cappella on a gospel number. International Bluegrass Music Association Awards Show, RiverPark Center, Owensboro, Kentucky, September 24, 1992.

9. Cajun performer Steve Riley fronting his Mamou Playboys. Crawfish Fest, Waterloo Village, Stanhope, New Jersey, June 5, 1999. FRAMED

10. Snuffy Jenkins, prominent North Carolina three-finger banjo stylist. It is this approach to playing banjo (versus two-finger technique) that fellow North Carolinian Earl Scruggs brought to Bill Monroe’s Blue Grass Boys when he became a member of that group in 1945. “Scruggs style,” Earl’s energized three-finger playing, is what has come to be identified with bluegrass music. Dressing room, Carnegie Hall, New York City, November 17, 1984. FRAMED

11. "King of Bluegrass" Jimmy Martin, with Sunny Mountain Boys Audie Blaylock, mandolin, and Chris Warner, banjo. Waterloo Bluegrass Festival, Waterloo Village, Stanhope, New Jersey, August 1986. FRAMED

12. New Grass Revival, groundbreaking innovative bluegrass group. (left to right) Béla Fleck, John Cowan, Sam Bush, and Pat Flynn. The Bottom Line, New York City, June 9, 1988. FRAMED

13. Scottish fiddler Johnny Cunningham, pictured while a member of Silly Wizard. This photo was snapped in a split-second moment when Cunningham stopped playing to mug for the camera. Triplex Theater, Borough of Manhattan Community College, New York City, June 1, 1985. FRAMED

14. Legendary guitarist Doc Watson. Here he is encoring with “Dixie,” accompanying himself on harmonica. The Bottom Line, New York City, September 14, 1986. FRAMED

15. Folk and blues stylist Odetta. Note the swirls of smoke coming off the end of her guitar peghead, where she has a stick of incense burning. A Folk Celebration, Carnegie Hall, New York City, May 17, 1985. FRAMED

16. The Soldier’s Fancy. (left to right) Doreen D’Amico, Marie Mularczyk, Debra Cerruti, and Jane Przybysz. This all-women ensemble was known for its tightly woven a cappella harmonies. First Annual Village Voice Festival of Street Entertainers, Astor Place, Greenwich Village, New York City, September 9, 1984. FRAMED

17. John Hartford and Roy M. Huskey. When he passed away in 2001, Hartford, whose passion was fiddle, was working on a book about fiddler Ed Haley. Huskey, who died at age 40, was the son of “Junior” Huskey, bassist on the original Will the Circle Be Unbroken album. The younger Huskey, whose bass playing can be heard on hundreds of country and bluegrass recordings, appeared on Circle Vol. 2. These two extraordinarily gifted musicians shared a subtle, intuitive musical chemistry. The Bottom Line, New York City, June 12, 1986. FRAMED

18. Woodstock folk-rock veteran Richie Havens. Lincoln Center Out-of-Doors Festival, Damrosch Park, New York City, August 24, 1986. FRAMED

19/20. “Zydeco” Queen Ida, playing accordion (left) and rub board (right). Zydeco music takes its name from the Creole French word for “snap bean,” due to the rhythmic “snapping” beat of the highly danceable music. Philadelphia Folk Festival, Schwenksville, Pennsylvania, August 26, 1989.

21/22. At left, Piedmont blues stylists “Bowling Green” John Cephas, guitar, and Phil Wiggins, harmonica, join legendary guitarist Doc Watson on stage, along with world-renowned fiddler Mark O’Connor. Merle Watson Memorial Festival (now MerleFest), Wilkesboro, North Carolina, May 1, 1993. 

At right, National Heritage Fellowship recipient John Jackson, also a Piedmont blues practitioner, who was a grave digger by trade. He did both until his death in January 2002. Clearwater’s Hudson River Revival, Croton Point Park, Croton-on-Hudson, New York, June 1999.

23. The Johnson Mountain Boys. This photo was used on the front cover of The Johnson Mountain Boys At the Old Schoolhouse, recorded live in Lucketts, Virginia; it was the 1990 International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) Record of the Year and a 1989 Grammy Award finalist for Bluegrass Album of the Year. However, the “real story” is that the image was actually shot at the Lone Star Café, New York City, December 6, 1987.

24. Peter Rowan. A one-time Blue Grass Boy for Bill Monroe, the renegade bluegrass singer and songwriter is expert at taking the genre beyond its borders, into Tex-Mex, country and folk-rock contexts, among others. Lone Star Café, New York City, March 27, 1985.

25. Comedienne Minnie Pearl feigns a demur pose while telling a story to “King of Country Music” Roy Acuff (back to camera). 61st Birthday Celebration of the Grand Ole Opry, Nashville, Tennessee, October 11, 1986.

26. The John Cowan Band, with guests Sam Bush on electric mandolin and Led Zeppelin guitarist John Paul Jones. L-R: banjo player Rex McGee, young fiddle ace Luke Bulla, Bush, John Cowan (center, in a red shirt), Jones, guitarist Jeff Autry, and Wayne Benson, mandolin. MerleFest, Wilkesboro, North Carolina, May 1, 2004.

27. Jens Krüger. Originally from Switzerland, he and his brother Uwe became so enamored and devoted to playing bluegrass music that they moved their families across the ocean to North Carolina. The Krüger Brothers have become famously popular with acoustic music fans in America. On a farm, Stetten, Switzerland, August 2, 1985.

28. Multi-instrumentalist John Hartford wanders into the audience while fiddling. Hartford composed “Gentle On My Mind,” one of the most played songs ever. Waterloo Folk Festival, Waterloo Village, Stanhope, New Jersey, September 3, 1984.

29. Audie Blaylock “rages” with bluegrass superstar Rhonda Vincent. Delaware Valley Bluegrass Festival, Woodstown, New Jersey, September 1, 2001.

30. Progressive bluegrass group Hot Rize. (left to right) Pete Wernick, Nick Forster, Tim O’Brien, and Charles Sawtelle. The Bottom Line, New York City, June 12, 1986.

31. Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys. Monroe was not often captured out of his usual suit-and-tie stage dress. In the frame with Monroe are Bob Black, banjo, Randy Davis, bass, and Wayne Lewis, guitar. Out of view is fiddler Kenny Baker. The New Deal, Madison, Tennessee, June 10, 1976.

32. Avant-garde songwriter-singer Peter Rowan. Midnight Jam, Merle Watson Memorial Festival (now MerleFest), Wilkesboro, North Carolina, May 1, 1993.

33/34. At left, Pat Cannon’s Foot and Fiddle Dance Company. (left to right) Germaine Goodson, Margaret Morrison, Pat Cannon, and Debbie Thomas. Queens Bluegrass Festival, Queens Farm, Floral Park, New York, August 15, 1987. On right, the Fiddle Puppet Dancers. Eileen Carson (facing camera) and Amy Sarli are joined by Rodney Sutton for some hamboning and play-party songs. Waterloo Bluegrass Festival, Waterloo Village, Stanhope, New Jersey,  August 24, 1985.

35. Alan O'Bryant of the Nashville Bluegrass Band. O’Bryant lifts up his banjo to make his vocals “shine” or reflect off the banjo head into the microphone for projection and effect, initially done to take the weight off his diaphragm to improve vocal projection. Winterhawk (now Grey Fox) Bluegrass Festival, Ancramdale, New York, July 22, 1989.

36. Mike Seeger, a founding member of the New Lost City Ramblers, playing jaw harp. Traditional Music Festival, Grand Opera House, Wilmington, Delaware, June 9, 2001.

37/38. On left, country and bluegrass singer-songwriter Jim Lauderdale. MerleFest, Wilkesboro, North Carolina, May 1, 2004. At right, James Reams and the Barnstormers. A transplanted Kentuckian, Reams brought his heartfelt and genuine style of bluegrass to New York City when he moved there some years ago. (left to right) Mickey Maguire, Mark Farrell, James Reams, and Carl Hayano. World of Bluegrass, Galt House, Louisville, Kentucky, October 2002.

39. Green Grass Cloggers. “Sort of” left to right: the leg of Phil Jamison, Tricia Cook (yellow dress), Gordy Hinners (frontmost male dancer), Andy Deaver (green dress), Cherie Sheppard (blue dress), and Van King in red-and-white shirt. The Green Grass Cloggers were founded in 1971 and changed personnel many times over the years. They introduced choreographed routines based on four-couple western square dance figures, unlike the freestyle clogging done by traditional teams of the era. In 1972 and 1974 they took world championship honors at the prestigious "Fiddler’s Grove" in North Carolina. They continue to perform today with a reunion team of dancers. The accompanying musicians, some of whom are visible in the lower right of the photo, include Raymond W. McLain (fiddle), Michael McLain (banjo), Jerry Douglas (dobro), Sharon White (guitar), Mark Hembree (bass), Buck White (mandolin). McLain Family Festival, Big Hill Farm near Berea, Kentucky, August 1982. FRAMED

40. Hee Haw star Roy Clark performs while Roy Acuff looks on. 61st Birthday Celebration of the Grand Ole Opry, Nashville, Tennessee, October 11, 1986. FRAMED