The History of Bluegrass in North Georgia
North Georgia Bluegrass
Robert "Allen" Sisson was born 8/31/1873 in the mountains of North
Georgia. His uncle (a fiddler), Ira Arnold Sisson, influenced him to play the
fiddle. Before his teens, Allen was considered the best fiddler in North
Georgia and in 1921 became the Tennessee State Fiddle Champion. In
that contest Allen won a Jacob Stainer fiddle, it is the fiddle (I played as a
teenager) that I was loaned to play on my cd project recognizing the works
of Allen Sisson and Tommy Magness, fiddlers that I share a North Georgia
heritage with.
In 1925, Sisson used that fiddle at the Edison studios in East Orange, New
Jersey to record ten tunes he had written. At that time, recordings were
made on the thick 78 rpm records using Edison Blue Ameberol cylinders.
The recordings included: Walking Water Reel, Kentucky Waggoners,
Greg Eagle, Katy Hill Reel, Cumberland Gap, The Rocky Road to Dublin,
Farewell Ducktown, Kaiser's Defeat Jig, Sally Brown, and Rymer's Favorite.
This is his only known recordings made by Allen. At the time, a reel with
two songs sold for a dollar. He died 9/22/1951 and is buried in the
Mountain View Cemetery just outside of Mc Caysville, Georgia.
The fiddle is easily recognizable because it still has the original short neck
(indicating that it was made prior to 1830) and old metal violin tuners as in
the picture.
When I was a teenager learning to play fiddle, a neighbor loaned me the
Allen Sisson fiddle. His father played fiddle and was a close friend of Allen,
who gave him the fiddle. I played the Sisson fiddle in the Fannin County
High School FFA band, for four consecutive years we won the state FFA
String Band Competition. Our sponsor/teacher, Mr. J. P. Henry, still makes
appearances at the Blue Ridge Grass shows. As my neighbor grew old
and was getting his affairs in order, he asked for the fiddle back, intending
to leave it to his son. I was heartbroken. It was thirty years later when I
was recording the cd project that I contacted Mr. Chapman who had the
fiddle. He agreed to let me use the fiddle. Over the years, it was seldom
used. If you play fiddle or any instrument, you understand that the more it
is played the sweeter it sounds. However, when I brought my bow across
the strings, the fiddle proved that it had retained its strength despite the
fact it had been stored for so long.
Now that I am older, not only do I appreciate the personality and volume
that the fiddle releases when it is played, but I appreciate the history the
fiddle carries with it. As a teenager I did not understand that. Although I
never had the privilege to make music with Mr. Sisson, I played in a band
with his grandson, Tommy Godfrey
Tommy had played with his grandfather and helped me to learn some of
his tunes.
Tommy's daughter, Sarah Verner, is the director of the Blue Ridge
Mountain Arts Association in Blue Ridge. My band, Blue Ridge Grass,
works with Sarah at several of the BRMAA annual events.
"The fiddle" and I have spent hours learning music as a teenager. Since I
have been reacquainted with the fiddle, again I have spent lots of hours
learning Allen's tunes that were recorded using the fiddle. Some of them
are on my cd project. The cd project and this information are based on
what I learned about Allen from his grandson, Tommy, who helped to
sharpen my skills as a fiddler. Fortunately, I have some of the old 78 vinyls
recorded by Allen that I play on my Victrola. I also have cassettes of
Allen's tunes that I made copying Tommy's 78's that he had of his
grandfathers music. With todays technology, I have utilized the internet to
access a couple of the tunes that I did not have a recording of as well as
personal information about Robert "Allen" Sisson.
Not only do I play fiddle, but I build hand made fiddles. Using the
measurements of the Allen Sisson fiddle, I built a replica of it using curly
maple wood that I cut from the Burgertown area of Copperhill, TN. Only I
made a regular size neck on the fiddle so that it would have a standard
scale to play from. The cd project recognizing Allen and Tommy has been
a very rewarding undertaking. Recording, taking pictures, coordinating the
schedules of the 15 people on the project so we could record, research,
learning the tunes note for note as Allen played them, meeting new people,
sharing information of the project, building two fiddles as a result of the
project, creating you tube videos featuring the Allen Sisson fiddle and
Allen's tunes, losing the hard drive on the computer after 18 pages of cd
info had been created, and most thrilling was getting reacquainted with the
Allen Sisson fiddle.
Georgia. His uncle (a fiddler), Ira Arnold Sisson, influenced him to play the
fiddle. Before his teens, Allen was considered the best fiddler in North
Georgia and in 1921 became the Tennessee State Fiddle Champion. In
that contest Allen won a Jacob Stainer fiddle, it is the fiddle (I played as a
teenager) that I was loaned to play on my cd project recognizing the works
of Allen Sisson and Tommy Magness, fiddlers that I share a North Georgia
heritage with.
In 1925, Sisson used that fiddle at the Edison studios in East Orange, New
Jersey to record ten tunes he had written. At that time, recordings were
made on the thick 78 rpm records using Edison Blue Ameberol cylinders.
The recordings included: Walking Water Reel, Kentucky Waggoners,
Greg Eagle, Katy Hill Reel, Cumberland Gap, The Rocky Road to Dublin,
Farewell Ducktown, Kaiser's Defeat Jig, Sally Brown, and Rymer's Favorite.
This is his only known recordings made by Allen. At the time, a reel with
two songs sold for a dollar. He died 9/22/1951 and is buried in the
Mountain View Cemetery just outside of Mc Caysville, Georgia.
The fiddle is easily recognizable because it still has the original short neck
(indicating that it was made prior to 1830) and old metal violin tuners as in
the picture.
When I was a teenager learning to play fiddle, a neighbor loaned me the
Allen Sisson fiddle. His father played fiddle and was a close friend of Allen,
who gave him the fiddle. I played the Sisson fiddle in the Fannin County
High School FFA band, for four consecutive years we won the state FFA
String Band Competition. Our sponsor/teacher, Mr. J. P. Henry, still makes
appearances at the Blue Ridge Grass shows. As my neighbor grew old
and was getting his affairs in order, he asked for the fiddle back, intending
to leave it to his son. I was heartbroken. It was thirty years later when I
was recording the cd project that I contacted Mr. Chapman who had the
fiddle. He agreed to let me use the fiddle. Over the years, it was seldom
used. If you play fiddle or any instrument, you understand that the more it
is played the sweeter it sounds. However, when I brought my bow across
the strings, the fiddle proved that it had retained its strength despite the
fact it had been stored for so long.
Now that I am older, not only do I appreciate the personality and volume
that the fiddle releases when it is played, but I appreciate the history the
fiddle carries with it. As a teenager I did not understand that. Although I
never had the privilege to make music with Mr. Sisson, I played in a band
with his grandson, Tommy Godfrey
Tommy had played with his grandfather and helped me to learn some of
his tunes.
Tommy's daughter, Sarah Verner, is the director of the Blue Ridge
Mountain Arts Association in Blue Ridge. My band, Blue Ridge Grass,
works with Sarah at several of the BRMAA annual events.
"The fiddle" and I have spent hours learning music as a teenager. Since I
have been reacquainted with the fiddle, again I have spent lots of hours
learning Allen's tunes that were recorded using the fiddle. Some of them
are on my cd project. The cd project and this information are based on
what I learned about Allen from his grandson, Tommy, who helped to
sharpen my skills as a fiddler. Fortunately, I have some of the old 78 vinyls
recorded by Allen that I play on my Victrola. I also have cassettes of
Allen's tunes that I made copying Tommy's 78's that he had of his
grandfathers music. With todays technology, I have utilized the internet to
access a couple of the tunes that I did not have a recording of as well as
personal information about Robert "Allen" Sisson.
Not only do I play fiddle, but I build hand made fiddles. Using the
measurements of the Allen Sisson fiddle, I built a replica of it using curly
maple wood that I cut from the Burgertown area of Copperhill, TN. Only I
made a regular size neck on the fiddle so that it would have a standard
scale to play from. The cd project recognizing Allen and Tommy has been
a very rewarding undertaking. Recording, taking pictures, coordinating the
schedules of the 15 people on the project so we could record, research,
learning the tunes note for note as Allen played them, meeting new people,
sharing information of the project, building two fiddles as a result of the
project, creating you tube videos featuring the Allen Sisson fiddle and
Allen's tunes, losing the hard drive on the computer after 18 pages of cd
info had been created, and most thrilling was getting reacquainted with the
Allen Sisson fiddle.
Greg Brooks is privileged to play
the same fiddle used by Allen Sisson
decades ago. Here is Greg's story...
the same fiddle used by Allen Sisson
decades ago. Here is Greg's story...
This is Part 1 of a special series on the history of bluegrass in North Georgia.
Katy Hill Reel ...Greg Brooks was thrilled with this opportunity. He is
playing Katy Hill Reel, written by Allen Sisson, on the same fiddle that
Sisson won in a fiddling contest in the early 1920's and then used to record
Katy Hill Reel at Edison Records in 1925.
Pictured in the background is one of the Edison vinyl records of Katy Hill
Reel and a picture of Allen Sisson holding the fiddle that Greg is playing.
Josh Brooks is backing his dad up on the guitar. This video is dedicated to
Roy Chapman who was kind enough to let Greg use the fiddle that Sisson
himself played to record Katy Hill Reel in 1925.
New News:(October, 2009)
It has been announced that BlueRidge Grass is to be inducted into the
Georgia Country Music Hall of Fame. Congratulations!
playing Katy Hill Reel, written by Allen Sisson, on the same fiddle that
Sisson won in a fiddling contest in the early 1920's and then used to record
Katy Hill Reel at Edison Records in 1925.
Pictured in the background is one of the Edison vinyl records of Katy Hill
Reel and a picture of Allen Sisson holding the fiddle that Greg is playing.
Josh Brooks is backing his dad up on the guitar. This video is dedicated to
Roy Chapman who was kind enough to let Greg use the fiddle that Sisson
himself played to record Katy Hill Reel in 1925.
New News:(October, 2009)
It has been announced that BlueRidge Grass is to be inducted into the
Georgia Country Music Hall of Fame. Congratulations!
| Ellijay SEBA Chapter, Ellijay, GA |
