Brad Leftwich
| Brad Leftwich | |
|---|---|
| Born |
March 27, 1953 Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States |
| Genres | |
| Years active | mid-1970s–present |
| Labels |
|
| Associated acts | Plank Road String Band; Leftwich & Higginbotham; Tom, Brad & Alice; Hogwire Stringband; The Humdingers |
| Website | bradleftwich |
Brad Leftwich (born 1953) is a prominent American old-time fiddle and banjo player and teacher. He is originally from Oklahoma.
Leftwich was a founding member of the Plank Road String Band in the mid-1970s. He has recorded for the Rounder, County, Copper Creek, and Marimac labels.
He has written a book on the Round Peak clawhammer banjo style that is published by Mel Bay, and has released two old-time fiddle instructional videos.
Leftwich grew up in a musical family. His mother played piano and sang in church, and he first learned to play some old-time guitar from his father when he was 8 or 9 years old. Probably the greatest musical influences in his family were his grandfather Rush Leftwich on banjo and great uncle George Leftwich on fiddle. Originally from Carroll County, Virginia, Rush and George played the traditional style of old-time music that was common in their area. Though Rush and George died before Leftwich could learn from them directly, they had already shaped his desire to learn to play old time music.
Leftwich asked for his first banjo when he was 15, and by the time he left to study anthropology and sociology at Oberlin College, he had developed some proficiency in bluegrass banjo, as well as some clawhammer banjo and a bit of fiddle.
While in college, Leftwich traveled during summer breaks to old-time fiddle conventions to learn more about the musical style. It was during one of these summer breaks that Leftwich and a friend first visited noted old-time fiddler Tommy Jarrell at his home in the Mount Airy region of North Carolina. Tommy took a liking to Leftwich that was enhanced by the discovery that Brad and Jarrell's wife were distant relatives.
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Wikipedia