Re: Mandolin-Driven String Bands
Many of the old string bands had a mandolinist who was also a fiddler, and switched between the instruments. Have a look at the "Blues, Stomps, & Rags" entries on the Jazz, Swing, Blues, Bossa, Choro, Klezmer, Ragtime genre category down the Forum page, and you'll find plenty of string bands with prominent mandolin playing. Whether those bands are "mandolin-driven" is another question though.
Robert Johnson's mother, describing blues musicians:
"I never did have no trouble with him until he got big enough to be round with bigger boys and off from home. Then he used to follow all these harp blowers, mandoleen (sic) and guitar players."
Lomax, Alan, The Land where The Blues Began, NY: Pantheon, 1993, p.14.
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