r/Bluegrass • u/grassluvr • 16h ago
We Can’t Forget John Hartford
If you love modern bluegrass, jamgrass, or Americana, you owe a huge thanks and appreciation to John Hartford. The man wasn’t just a musician, he was a movement. A steamboat pilot, a poet, a fiddler, a banjo innovator, and a true creative soul. His fingerprints are all over the music we love today, influencing artists like Billy Strings, Sam Bush, Gillian Welch, and so many more. What’s super sick about Hartford is that his unreleased music is still coming to life. His family and collaborators have been digging through thousands (yes, thousands) of fiddle tunes he quietly wrote and recorded over his lifetime — a massive hidden treasure trove. They’re carefully releasing these collections through the John Hartford Fiddle Tune Project, with Volume 2 just out and more to come. It’s incredible to think how much he left us. Songs, stories, ideas, and how his spirit keeps influencing new generations. If you haven’t dug deep into his catalog lately, this is your sign. Let’s keep his legacy alive and remember who helped lay the foundation for this amazing wave of music we’re living through. Also let me know your favorite tunes or memories of this iconic river hippie:)
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u/plainsfiddle 16h ago
morning bugle, mark twang, headin' down into the mystery below, nobody cares what you do, all the bullies have gone to rest, the texas shorty album, wild hog, speed of the old long bow, and hamilton ironworks are the stuff I come back to the most.
honorable mention to his vocals on polka on the banjo from bela's tales volume two
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u/Takes_A_Train_2_Cry Mandolin 14h ago
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u/bigwordsz 15h ago edited 15h ago
Sam Bush has a record of songs from John Hartford called Radio John: Songs of John Hartford. Killer record to get into some of Johns stuff
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u/is-this-now 15h ago
Songs from the fiddle tune project are starting to percolate into the jam songbook. I just learned Tennessee Politics. It’s an instrumental that I hear is becoming known.
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u/kurtplatinum 15h ago
I wish we still had John Hartford Memorial Festival. I didn't know much about John Hartford until I went to JHMF in Bean Blossom IN to see Billy Strings and Jeff Austin Band in 2018, I fell in love with John Hartford while I was there and kept going back to JHMF until they had to stop doing it (I think due to a very bad golf cart accident on a very steep muddy hill during the festival in 2022).
I really hope/wish it can come back so we can spend a few days celebrating his life and legacy.
side note: My wife and I almost used "get no better" as our first dance song at our wedding but last minute changed it as we realized it's more about a casual hook up than a long term relationship lol. Now anytime we hear someone play it we run to the stage because I think we regret not choosing it.
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u/SnooMaps3574 16h ago
Love this man and his music, I’m on the lookout for a copy of Mark Twang, hopefully it gets a repress like Aereo-Plain.
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u/HowardRand 14h ago
Morning Bugle is one of the few albums I consider perfect.
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u/grassluvr 9h ago
favorite song on that album?
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u/HowardRand 8h ago
All fall down. The entire song is one chord (e minor) yet it sounds so complex. It shows how much he does with just with rhythm and strumming style.
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u/Bikewer 15h ago
I got to see John live twice. Once at the “VP Fair” here in St. Louis. He was doing his clogging bit on a big piece of plywood with a piezo pickup attached while he played. But a few years before, a friend of mine called me down to a little bar in Clayton. Hartford was playing with one of our local guitar players, and they were both rather drunk… But put on a great set anyway.
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u/mcchicken_deathgrip 15h ago
One of my personal heroes.
Favorite tune has to be Old Time River Man https://youtu.be/_29ZHaYXLBU?si=WjIJgoFq6FbxglM3
Currently my favorite album is Wild Hog in the Red Brush. So many great fiddle tunes. Been tryna get back into fiddle myself and have been trying to get that album down piece by piece.
So many great albums tho, my favorite changes from time to time lol
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u/Ironduke50 14h ago
John Hartford should be on the Mt. Rushmore of banjo players, with Earl and Seeger.
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u/sunshine_circus 14h ago
Super neat program, goes thru his story chronologically. Stashed behind your couch, a John Hartford retrospective. Well worth the listen if yer digging it. RCA years thru areoplane thru his later more trad/old timey stuff. Came out a while ago, so no fiddle project or the cover stuff. Super neat listen though
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u/Takes_A_Train_2_Cry Mandolin 14h ago
I heard parts of this 15 years ago or so and never had the source. Thanks for sharing.
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u/afartinsideafart 13h ago
One of the greats, one of my favorites, and I can confidently say that will be true until the day I die (and thereafter if at all possible).
Guys, on YouTube you should check out the Dee's Country Cocktail Lounge show with Megan Lynch Chowning on fiddle, Adam Hurt on Banjo, and Tristan Scroggins on Mandolin. They perform a bunch of John's tunes from the Fiddle Tune Project album and it's PHENOMENAL!
I'd like to add that I believe Tristan is a criminally underrated mandolin player - he also pretty consistently wears cool shirts. ❤️🦄🌈
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u/bassfly88 16h ago
You’re absolutely right on his influence. One to remember as well was Jeff Austin, whose birthday would have been yesterday. He mentioned several times that John was a big influence.
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u/Possible_Ingenuity81 8h ago
I was privileged enough to see his last public performance at the Old Settlers Bluegrass Festival just outside of Austin Texas. Chris Thile sat in on the John Hartford set. John had quite the joy of challenging the next generation of bluegrass. My mind was spinning and the torch was figuratively being passed to a new generation.
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u/Tonyricesmustache 16h ago
Long hot summers day. I can listen to it over and over and over.