By Daniel Pulliam

Archives Reprint

   dan.pulliam@roanoke.com

   381-1664

    GLEN LYN - Brandon Kelley struggles to keep the brisk tune on his fiddle. Around him, longtime players such as James Reed and Alan Jabbour confidently pluck and strum their way through quick-tempoed old-time tunes, tapping their heels to the twang of three banjos, a guitar, a bass and four fiddles.

    The tune is "Over the Waterfall," a Henry Reed melody. The cheery, harmonious music - played in 4/4 time and in the key of D - brings a smile to all under the tent. Like most old-time songs, it consists of two parts, each repeated twice in an endless circle.

    Played by thousands of musicians, "Over the Waterfall" is often used as a melody for lyrics involving an old man pushing his wife into water.

    This is Brandon's first fiddling jam, and the 16-year-old is enjoying himself at the Henry Reed Memorial Fiddlers convention at Glen Lyn Park Friday night.

    Two hundred or so musicians have come to play in various competitions, but when rain delays the contests, they cluster instead under tents pitched next to campers and jam the night away. Behind a cluster of trees, the New River serves as a backdrop for the campground. An occasional coal train's rumble and whistle offers its own music behind the jammers.

    Brandon isn't upset that the evening's competition was postponed until the morning. He soaks up the old-time rhythms and watches with quiet awe as veteran musicians amiably pluck and fiddle. A deep bass plucks away in the background, providing a foundation for the quick-moving melodies.

    n n n

    Two years ago, Brandon, a Weyers Cave resident, told his father he wanted to play violin. Now he is learning the long-bow, syncopated style of celebrated musician Henry Reed. This style holds special significance for those who gathered at last weekend's second-annual Henry Reed fiddlers convention.

    According to the Library of Congress, Reed's influence on old-time music helped start a revival of the style in the late 20th century. He was the only person known to play tunes such as "Over the Waterfall" at one point, but now these songs are played all over the world.

    Regardless of Reed's international prominence in folk music or his 126 recordings in the Library of Congress, Brandon is a significant link in continuing Reed's legacy.

    Alan Jabbour, the foremost authority on Henry Reed's music, is the former director and founder of the Library of Congress' American Folklife Center.

    A Washington, D.C., resident, Jabbour said that when he recorded Reed in 1966, the tunes went out to the world. He spent his career learning and emulating Reed's style and producing several compact discs. But the local community in Glen Lyn didn't recognize Reed's music.

    "But now they are recognizing it," Jabbour said. "The tunes were down to one grain of sand in the hourglass, but now it's all over the place. I know it'd be a thrill for Henry Reed to hear this."

    n n n

    For a moment under the tent the music steps away from Reed's repertoire. Brandon and his brother, Chad, 15, begin a duet composed of Brandon's fiddle and Chad's soprano recorder. Everyone

   puts down their instruments for about 90 seconds as the teenagers play "Amazing Grace" from memory.

    Everyone claps and Brandon proposes "Shoes and Stockings," a tune he knows in the key of A credited by Henry Reed to Civil War-era musician Quince Dillion.

    Nobody plays. So Brandon asks again and Jabbour tells him to wait a minute.

    Brandon is revving to go, but Jabbour explains that you can't switch keys so quickly with banjo players in the group - it's not proper etiquette. Banjo players have to adjust their tunings, and for a fiddler to ask for a change of key, he has to ask the banjo players politely.

    This is part of Brandon's education.

    n n n

    Brandon's music schooling started with James Reed, the ninth child of Henry Reed.

    John Kelley, Brandon's grandfather, lived minutes from James Reed in St. Mary's, W.Va., and James Reed invited Brandon's family to the convention.

    With the help of James Reed and Henry Reed's compact discs slowed down on a computer, Kelley slowly started learning the style.

    "He didn't know any fiddle tunes until he had that CD," said his father, Les Kelley.

    Another Reed son, Dean Reed, 75, said his father's ability to teach others made him special, along with the 220 tunes he could play from heart.

    "I think he was one of the greatest musicians," Dean Reed said. "He taught us all to play, and if any of the kids came around to play music, no matter what he'd be doing, he would go in and work with them."

    Henry Reed had plenty of his own children to teach. He and his wife, Nettie Ann Virginia Mullins, raised 12 while Reed worked at the Appalachian Power Co. power plant. They lived in Glen Lyn from 1907 until his death in 1968.

    "He's done everything for everybody and that is what this is about," Dean Reed said. "We're trying to carry these fiddle tunes on."

    Chris Via, a local crafter of banjos and organizer of the convention, said everyone knows the tunes, but not the style.

    "It's the long-bow, syncopated style," Via said. "Henry Reed used to tell his sons that people in the Civil War used to play that way."

    Gene Reed, Dean's twin brother, said seeing children like Brandon play this music means the tradition is continuing.

    "It sounds awful good," Gene Reed said. "Just stick with it and don't let the old-time music up."

    n n n

    Another song wraps up, and Brandon asks if perhaps the group played it too quickly.

    "Let's try the same tune again, only a little slower," Jabbour says.

    "There we go," Brandon says, concluding the tune a second time more confidently than the first.

    Brandon enthusiastically proposes "Kitchen Girl," a song he has heard on the "A Henry Reed Reunion" compact disc.

    James Reed, 79, prepares to leave for the evening.

    "I'm amazed," he says. "I'm training these kids to play my daddy's music."

    The evening of fiddling has thrilled Brandon, who looks forward to doing it again.

    "It was awesome," he says. "I never played with a group like this. It's almost overwhelming to play with them. It's so fast and it's hard to keep up. ... I'm just learning, just following along." He heads off to his parent's camper for the night.

    But first, he chats with Reed.

    "You going to win the competition tomorrow?" his mentor asks.

    "Of course," Brandon says confidently.

    Reed pats him on the shoulder and says, "If you play smooth, you'll be fine. You want to play it smooth and don't get nervous. Play it like you've always played."

    "I never played with a group like this. It's almost overwhelming to play with them. It's so fast and it's hard to keep up. ... I'm just learning, just following along."

    Brandon Kelley

    on the fiddler's convention

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