Wade Mainer, RIP
By In comments to my Bill Monroe post, RM notes that the great Wade Mainer died today at the age of 104. I assumed he had died a long time ago.
A legendary banjo player, Mainer was one, if not the, last major links with the world of old-time music. He came of age in the pre-war, pre-bluegrass years, where country and string bands became regionally popular, occasionally breaking into a national audience like The Carter Family. This was wonderful music, though its power is often lost on the modern listener because of poor recording quality.
A sad day.