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Introduction to Tom Joad's Banjo and Folk Music Archives

Edited by Paul Race for Creek Don't Rise?

For several years, Chris Erswell, a UK folk musician, was active in Internet folk circles, including the "Banjo Hangout." He often shared information under the name "Tom Joad," named for the fictitious hero of The Grapes of Wrath. Unfortunately, circumstances caused him to stop updating these pages several years ago, and the site subsequently went down.

As soon as we realized this, we requested permission to repost those pages here.

In the meantime, we've determined that most of the binary files posted on Chris' pages have been permanently lost. However, his ASCII files and a couple dozen of his MP3 files were stored in other places. So we've been on a sort of scavenger hunt, trying to restore what we can before those sites go down as well.

Some of the files are barely restored, as in we have the headings and a few paragraphs, but much left to do. We are posting what we have so far, but it is a "work in process." Please bear with us as we try to track down or - in some cases - recreate the missing resources, to make these pagse as useful as possible.

The files we have been able to partially restore so far are:

Conclusion

Chris' tabs and other other information are as valid today as when he wrote them years ago. Here's hoping that you find them just as helpful as his the rest of the banjo community did "back in the day."

Please contact us if you're hitting any brick walls and we'll try to help you get therough them.

Best of luck, all, enjoy your music, and support the arts.

Paul Race




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