Betty Baker from Beehive Cathedral by Joseph Decosimo, Luke Richardson, Cleek Schrey

Betty Baker: From the playing of Clyde Davenport (1921-2020). Joseph first visited Clyde and Lorene Davenport in 2003 and continued to visit them in Jamestown, Tennessee and later in Monticello, Kentucky. A National Heritage Fellowship recipient, Clyde maintained one of the largest repertoires of the remaining older players in the region. His fiddling and banjo playing were artful and expressive—smooth bowing, subtle intonational shadings, a smoky and slippery tone—informed by the music of his father Will Davenport (1868-1950) and a handful of skilled local fiddlers, especially Leonard Rutherford. Versions of “Betty Baker” or “Over the Hill to See Betty Baker” can be found in Kentucky and West Virginia. We assume that Clyde’s setting came from his father. JD - fiddle, LR - 6 string banjo, CS - hardanger d’amore

plays rare fiddle/banjo tunes and sings old songs, especially fiddle/banjo music from the Appalachian South. Joseph has made a deep study of the the music of the Cumberland Plateau/East TN/Western NC regions and has performed and taught it around the world with the Bucking Mules. Beyond trad music, his fiddle/banjo can be heard on projects by Hiss Golden Messenger and others.

josephdecosimo.com