Henry Reed (musician)

Henry Reed
Birth name	James Henry Neel Reed
Born	April 28, 1884 Mercer County, West Virginia
Died	February 8, 1968
Genres	Old-time music
Instruments	Fiddle

James Henry Neel Reed (28 April 1884 – 16 June 1968) was an American fiddler and banjoist in the Appalachian music tradition. Reed became known for his fiddle tunes only after Alan Jabbour and the Hollow Rock String Band spread his music. Henry Reed never had a professional career as a fiddler but was able to influence many other musicians through a relationship with his apprentice Alan Jabbour.

Henry Reed was born in Mercer County, West Virginia on April 28, 1884. He was the youngest of the eight children of Marion Reed and Sophia Catherine Underwood Reed. Henry spent most of his life in the area surrounding his birthplace. At the age of 23 Henry married Nettie Ann Virginia Mullins on December 11, 1907. They settled down in Glen Lyn, Virginia just a few miles from Mercer County. Reed spent the next few years working at the Appalachian Power plant and raising his family, which eventually grew to twelve children.

Henry Reed is one of the few Appalachian musicians that became known for his music without playing professionally. Reed was recognized for his fiddling shortly after meeting Alan Jabbour in 1966. Jabbour was an apprentice to Reed, listening, recording and learning Reed's tunes on the Fiddle and harmonica.Alan Jabbour's band, the Hollow Rock String Band, used many of Reed's tunes in their music. As the band played Reed's tunes at more shows he became more of a public figure, and eventually began to be recognized for his music. In 1968, the Hollow Rock String band released a long-playing record, The Hollow Rock String Band: Traditional Dance Tunes. This record was made up of many tunes from Henry Reed and allowed many other musicians to be inspired by Henry Reed's music. The tune "Over the Waterfall" was produced by the Hollow Strings Band and is one of Reed's most well-known compositions.

Henry Reed's tunes include a variety of genres. According to Alan Jabbour's recordings, Henry often played "classic tunes, classic vintage, waltzes, schottisches, clogs, rag-like pieces from both grassroots and popular sources and several marches from the nineteenth-century fifing tradition." Not all of the techniques Reed used to produce these genres were common among many fiddlers. Reed held the fiddle under his chin allowing his left hand to be free. Freeing up his left hand made it possible for him to achieve notes in the third position which included keys like a high D or C. Henry Reed also had a particular way of holding the bow at the frog rather than choking it up higher like other fiddlers do. By gripping the bow on the frog Reed was able to achieve slurs into his playing; This style was referred to as the "longbow style." Slurs are multiple notes in the same stroke of the bow allowing for a more diverse sound to come from the fiddle. The most unusual feature of his bow technique was the placement of his fifth finger underneath the nut rather than on the top of it.

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