Cathy Moore romps through picturesque musical landscapes with the grace of a gazelle. Clawhammer banjo tunes seem to roll off her fingertips and dance with a life of their own.

 

Cathy’s music draws from an aesthetic terrain of diverse cross-cultural influences. Pushing the boundaries of traditional clawhammer banjo, she explores Turkish, French, Swedish, Bulgarian, English and Macedonian tunes - making them all come to life, with

a refined touch and an expressive joyousness.

 

And while her imagination loves to explore the exotic music from many lands, Cathy’s

repertoire also overflows with a plenitude of traditional old-time tunes.

 

“I learned to play banjo when I was a teenager,” she told me. “I played old-time music out of books for about a year. Then I discovered the Balkan dance scene in Chicago, so I just went dancing all the time and didn’t play banjo anymore. I did Balkan dance and other types of European dance – taught it and played the music – for the next 30 years.

 

The instrument I played most was the hurdy-gurdy. I also played flute, zurna (a Turkish double-reed instrument), gaida (a bagpipe from the Balkans) and dumbek (a Middle Eastern hand drum).”

 

“Then I moved to Bloomington, Indiana and in order to have other people to play with I started playing old-time music on the banjo again. After a few years of that, I began bringing in Balkan and Northern European music into my banjo playing, with the idea of trying to make the banjo do multiple things.”

 

“Odd rhythms really float my boat. Since I’ve spent so many years dancing, teaching dance and playing for dancers, I’m a little obsessed with rhythm and drive. I started syncopating in 2/4 then I thought, what the heck, let’s just go to 7 and 9, and really have a party!”

 

Cathy Moore is a creative performer whose music just won’t sit still; it’s got to get up and dance. Developing her artistry in a most inspiring way, she continues to expand the possibilities of where clawhammer banjo can go. Her website Banjo Meets World http://banjomeetsworld.wordpress.com/ is full of tunes and tabs for adventurous clawhammer banjo players.

 

 

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More Articles	Our Favorites of Cathy's Video's	Interesting Tabs
New Creative Opportunities with the Cello Banjo - Cathy Moore	Clawhammer on the Cello Banjo
	Moth Hunter- Original Tune by Fred Pribec
	Betsy Likens in 7/8 on cello banjo
Bob Carlin - Banjo Missionary	Cello Banjo Sampler

 

 

Cathy Moore , Clawhammer Banjo, Cello Banjo
From Bloomington, Indiana

Visit Cathy's website Banjo Meets World at http://banjomeetsworld.wordpress.com