Frank Lawes

[Jon Lawes]

Hi there, my name is Jon Lawes, and I am the great grandson of a Banjo Composer called Frank Lawes. I was directed here from another forum called Banjo Hangout.

I am trying to find out a little more about him; he died 9 years before I was born but I recently found his old car on some of our property, and would love to know more about him. My dad has fond memories of him, but he kept his Banjo very much out of his personal life, so my father was only vaguely aware he did it. It was only when I saw him mentioned in an old copy of Melody Maker that I realised anyone outside of our family knew who he was.

I know its unlikely, but if anyone has any information on his past, especially other musicians he may have played or written peices with, I would love to hear from you.

Thanks for letting me into the forum despite my banjo playing being rather amateur! (I have a good ear, maybe thats his legacy).

Thanks,

Jon Lawes.

[thereallyniceman]

 

Hi Jon,

Frank is famous on here. He is probably one of my favourite composers for classic style banjo. Most of his compositions are available and some have been performed on here too.  Check out Syncopatin' Shuffle in the videos section to hear my shaky and Mike Moss's excellent performances!

Here is a notice in the BMG magazine of January 1971 that you probably don't want to see, but it gives some history for you.

[Jon Lawes]

Wow, what a great little obiturary, thank you very much for sharing it! I would love to know which other artists I may have heard of he might have played with, if thats something that might have happened. Thank you very much for sharing it. Incidentally, it mentions his two sons and daughters; his son is my grandfather (still very much alive, living in Ottawa I think) and his daughter is very happily living in the house he lived in, in Surrey. Thats where we found his car.

 

[thereallyniceman]

Here is a picture of Frank from c1956. Sorry about the quality. The original was not much better!

 

Frank composed and played Classic Style  5 string scores ..on a 4 sting banjo!  Very odd!

 

"Fifthless Frank"  :

 

[Jody Stecher]

Did Frank Lawes use steel or gut strings on his banjo?

thereallyniceman said:

 

Frank composed and played Classic Style  5 string scores ..on a 4 sting banjo!  Very odd!

 

"Fifthless Frank"  :

 

[thereallyniceman]

Hmmm Jody,

Maybe Frank was ahead of his time?  From the same 1956 BMG there is a handy tip for the "wise player of fingerstyle banjo"

 

Mono-filament Frank?

[Jody Stecher]

I wonder what is meant by "an ordinary loop".  I've never had any trouble tying a bowline with any type of nylon string. Was this article written by Frank Lawes? There's no visible indication of the author.

[thereallyniceman]

I don't think it the article can be attributed to Frank, it appears to be just an editor's filler for the page. I copied it as you asked if Frank used gut or steel strings... obviously  by 1956 they were experimenting with nylon (if only for the third) too. I wonder when nylon was first used as banjo strings?

[Jody Stecher]

I see. So does anyone know if Frank Lawes used the usual set of steel strings that are normally found on a plectrum banjo (on which he used fingers instead of a plectrum)  or whether he used *soft* strings be they gut, nylon, silk, or noodles?

 

[Trapdoor2]

I dunno about Mr. Lawes, but Mr. van Eps was using nylon (full set) in the '50s.

[thereallyniceman]

The mentions of Frank go back a few more years to 1946!

 

[Jon Lawes]

Wow, thank you, you are really digging up some Gems! I'm amazed there is so much about him.

[Jon Lawes]

This search has inspired me to have a crack at the Banjo myself, started last week. I can now noodle my way through a couple of simple Bluegrass tunes (I know, I know, but I'm trying to keep things simple!) at a relatively slow pace, but I am amazed at how quickly its possible to pick it up. Great Grandad would be proud! (unless he would be vehemently opposed to my trying out bluegrass classics!).

 

Thanks,

Jon.