Using fiddle, banjo, banjolin, mandolin, guitar, bowed bass, and vocals, the band performed a varied program of American rags, gallops, breakdowns, marches, songs, and minstrel tunes, giving brief
historical notes throughout the program. The Skirtlifters hailed from Northwest Arkansas, where the musical influence of the early settlers was still felt.
Unlike many contemporary performers who sought a musical fusion of various styles ( jazz, country rock, etc.), the Skirtlifters sought authenticity and the preservation of the traditional genres as they wee performed in their historical settings. As banjoist Clarke Buehling noted, "That doesn't make an evening with the Skirtlifters dull...this old time music," he said, "is exceptionally dynamic, exciting, and spirited when it is performed as it was originally intended." Audiences always had a good time hearing these authentic American sounds, often for the first time.
Greetings...
Although ladies have been known to shriek and faint at the mere mention of our name, the Skirtlifters are in fact a roundup of crackerjack musicians, who play the kind of old-time string band music found throughout America in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Using the fiddle, banjo, guitar and upright bass, we offer a varied program of rags, breakdowns, ballads, minstrel tunes, and weird songs of unknown origin. You can sit and listen or get up and dance, be it contra, square, hot hash or hoe down.
We believe in the historical importance of these musical traditions, and we seek to promote a greater understanding of the nature and worth of classic American dance and parlor music among young and old, urban and rural, knowledgeable and naive. We strive to educate, but we concentrate on entertaining, for this music is, after all, fun; we know it is for us.
***taken from Skirtlifter promotional material***
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"The music is entertaining and is played with a verve and fidelity that shows these players really understand the o
riginal tunes".... Hank Sapoznik Old Time Herald 2/1989
"...The Skirtlifters were the most remarkable act we had on that year....In one mighty swoop that night they captured the hearts of every acoustic music lover in mid-America." ....Bob Everhart, President National Country Music Association
"The Skirtlifters trouped on stage in vintage 1890's duds: frock coats, vests, and plug hats, and proceeded to dazzle the audience. They not only looked grand, but they put on a fine show and played an incredible blend of square dance tunes, bizarre old songs, and early ragtime and pre-ragtime banjo pieces" ....Bob Bovee Inside Bluegrass
"The Skirtlifters will lift your spirits...The group is quite good and any fan of bluegrass or traditional American music would enjoy them..."
...Mark Marymont Arkansas Gazette, November 13, 1988
Like all of the band members, Bill plays several stringed instruments. His rock-solid guitar rhythm is the keystone of the Skirtlifters. When not performing with the band he builds banjos and produces tapes of his fiddle and banjo playing under the Phippsburg Banjo Company name.
Clarke Buehling: Banjo and Vocals
Recognized widely for his faithful renditions of classic, finger-style banjo solos, Clarke is equally adept at demonstrating the obscure dance rhythms of the early minstrel stage banjos. Much of the material of the Skirtlifters is based around his collection of nineteenth century banjo, mandolin and violin instruction books and sheet music. Clarke teaches banjo, fiddle, mandolin and guitar in Fayetteville, Arkansas, performs with the North Arkansas Symphony and is Orchestra Director for the American Banjo Fraternity.
Jim Lansford: Fiddle and Mandolin
A native of northern New Jersey, Jim's understanding of numerous fiddle styles has led him to tour professionally throughout the country with several Ozarks-based music shows. He has lived in the Ozarks of Arkansas and Missouri for the last fifteen years. Jim is a collector of antique stringed and free-reed instruments.
Richard "Curly" Miller: Fiddle and Mandolin
Curly's able assistance on both mandolin and violin adds to the rich texture of our arrangements. His inventiveness and understanding of music comes from being born into a musical family, from practical ensemble
experience and from a wide interest in ethnic music.
Pete Howard: Bass
Pete, a native Arkansan, studied violin at the University of Arkansas, and has performed as a member of the Fort Smith and North Arkansas Symphony Orchestras as well as several folk ensembles in Fayetteville. He has as ongoing interest in folk music of all areas of the globe, and is currently teaching in the Fayetteville Public Schools
*taken from promotional Skirtlifters material of the 1990's
SKIRTLIFTERS STORE
RECORDINGS:
FIRE ALARM (1990)Footlight Favorites
Old Joe/Indian Ate A Woodchuck
The Hartford Jig/A Creole Dream/The Fire Alarm
The Smiler (Joplin Rag)
Texas Gals/Pike's Peak
By The Watermelon Vine (Lindy Lou)
Buckley's Walk Around
The Washington Post March
March "Impromptu"
Garden City Reel
Dixie Girl
I've Got A Bulldog/Fort Smith Breakdown
Whistling Rufus
Old Bowery Jig/Wabash Jig
The Celebrated Skirtlifter Waltz (Otto's Waltz)
Fire Alarm $15.00 + s&h
SOMEWHERE IN DIXIE (1987)| Side A | Side B |
| To the Front | Somewhere in Dixie |
| Old Grey Goose | The Clam Soup Man |
| Pond Creek Bottom | Down Georgia |
| Honolulu Cakewalk | Booth Shot Lincoln |
| A Creole's Dream | Cotton Pickens |
| Plantation Jig | Going Around This World |
| I'm Going Over the Mountains | Tommy Turner's Jig |
| Getting Upstairs / Sandy Boys | The Wounded Hoosier |
| On the Mill Dam (Gallop) | The Wild West (Gallop) |
|
The Musicians: Billy Mathews - Guitar, Banjo, Banjolin Clarke Buehling - Banjo, Vocals Marie Wade - Fiddle Bass David Harlan - Bowed Bass Hawk Hubbard - Fiddle, Guitar, Banjolin |
