97th Regimental String Band

[John Flynn]

These guys are going to be in town this weekend. It seems they are out of Florida. They do authentic Civil War music on guitar, banjo and mando. Below is a link to thier website. It looks like they have been around for a while and have several CDs out. Anyone know of them?

http://www.the97th.com/

[CountyFarm]

Used to have one of thier tapes, and saw em at a few reenactments, pretty good stuff.

[Nathan Sanders]

You will enjoy the 97th! They are fun guys. My band has shared the stage with them several times. Be sure to check out their "shrine to capitalism" and buy some CDs.

[withak]

If you are looking for more of the same music, then check out the 2nd South Carolina String Band (http://www.civilwarband.com/) as well.

[fatt-dad]

Looks like an interesting stringband. But, notice that the mando player is working on a pancake - ha! That's my kind of picker.

f-d

[Bob DeVellis]

I'm kind of surprised to se re-enacters, usually sticklers for accuracy in the last detail, including a mandolin (especially a flat-back) in their Civil War era music. Weren't no such critter in the 1860s. I don't mean this as a criticism and I'm glad to have the mandolin included from a musical perspective.

I remember seeing a guy at that pub in Colonial Williamsburg playing a bowl-back mando. Most of the Williamsburg staff are also very finicky about historical accuracy, so much so, that some of them won't even answer questions that include references to things that didn't exist in the late 18th century; they'll just give you a puzzled look like they have no idea what you're talking about. Well, I seriously doubt there was a single bowl-back mandolin in Williamsburg in the colonial period, although I thoroughly enjoyed hearing him play his. "Artistic license,"I guess.

[John Flynn]

bobd:

I take your point, but I am not sure I fully agree. It is true that the mando in the picture is either a Gibson Army/Navy or a knockoff, which means WWI or later. But the section on this site "A Brief History of the Mandolin" indicates that mandolins in general were very much in vogue in this country by the 1850's. The novel (forget about the movie) "Cold Mountain," which was meticulously researched, makes mention that mandolin was one of the instruments that some of the main characters would like to learn to play someday. So I think the idea of having a mandolin in such an ensemble is not out of line. But, as you suggest, it would have more likely been a bowlback.

As to mandolins in the 18th century, there are historical references to mandolins that go back well into the 1600's and we know that Antonio Stradivari himself made some mandolins in the 1680's. Colonial Williamsburg professes to depict the era from 1699 to 1780. So while it may be unlikely that there were mandolins there, it is not historically impossible.

[Nathan Sanders]

I sold a Flatiron 1CH to a re-enactor in Colonial Williamsburg. With its plain look and dark brown color the 1CH fit right in, although not historically correct. However, the re-enactor I sold it to said it was easier to tote around the Flatiron than it would be a bowlback. So I guess practicality won out over historical accuracy.

For what's it worth, the band I am a part of has played many living history events over the years, typically Civil War era up to the early 1900's. I've used both my Flatiron army-navy and my F-5 and my dreadnaught guitar, none of which were correct for the era, but no one complained.