Recordings

In May 1996 Reed sat down in his living room with Don Anderson and recorded 90 banjo tunes in 7 hours. Some of these were released on cassette in 1997; a CD version containing 37 tunes was released a year later. As great as the music is, the liner notes are equally wonderful and read like the words of a master story teller.  There are currently only a few hundred of these left and I don't know if there are plans to produce more.

Old Time Banjo is now available through County Sales, Elderly Instruments and House of Musical Traditions!

Or you can purchase the Old Time Banjo CD directly from Reed. Send $15.00 to:

Reed appears on several other recordings.

Bob Buckingham, Solo CD - "My Friend is a Mule in the Mines."   (1999)

Reed plays a civil war era fretless banjo tuned an octave low and contributes to four or five tunes on this CD.

The CD is available from Dark Holler Records for $12.00 including postage and handling. Send a check to Dark Holler Records, PO Box 131, Glenville PA 17329

For more information contact: darkholler@aol.com or Dark Holler Records PO Box 131 Glenville PA 17329

The Young Fogies     -      Heritage Records, 056.  1985 Re-released by Rounder -  CD 0319 (1994)

Ray Alden came to the Washington Folklife Festival about 1970. I think that was where we met. It may have been a fiddlers convention. He was easy to spot at all the musical gatherings with his smile and total love of string music. Thank God he carried a tape recorder and camera. So much music would have been lost had Ray not preserved it. He recorded me here and there and then one day out came The Young Fogies. Another old time music standard. Lots of musicians and lots of tunes. A booklet included with the two-record set told you about the musicians and how Ray met them. I am playing "Off to California" on an ancient fretless banjo. Ray says "Reed Martin is a very interesting banjo player. Both his right hand and heart play in the driving southern style, while his left hand and intellect tend toward the melodic style."

45th Annual Union Grove Fiddlers Convention 1968     -     Union Grove Records SS-3

John Burk, fiddle, Reed Martin, banjo and Bob Bell, guitar calling themselves "The Constitutional Wiretappers" made it to the old time   band finals and are recorded here playing "Mississippi Sawyers."

Mandolin Instruction   -     Folkways Records, CRB 16. 1977

Michael Holmes  produced a wonderful record set and 40-page book helping teach "Old time, country and fiddle tunes" for the            mandolin enthusiast. Banjo tracks by Reed Martin.

Old Time Banjo In America    -      Kicking Mule Records, KM 204. 1978

Art Rosenbaum came for a visit and recorded some tunes. From his collections of visits to banjo folks he put together a banjo standard with Thommy Thompson, Buell Kazee, Ola Belle Reed, Dan Gellert, Pat Dunford, Bob Winans, Buzz Fountain, Shorty Ralph Reynolds and Reed Martin. I am playing Cacklin' Hen, Policeman, and Snowdrop.