Eric and Suzy Thompson

Photo by Chuck Rogers

 

"Eric Thompson took up the guitar as a teenager in Palo Alto, California in the early 1960's, at a time when very few folk guitarists were playing more than basic rhythm guitar. Among his earliest bands were the Black Mountain Boys (with Jerry Garcia and David Nelson) and Mother McCree's Uptown Jug Champions. He quickly became nationally known as an exceptional lead flatpicker, winning the World Championship Cup at Union Grove, North Carolina with the New York Ramblers (which also included David Grisman and Winnie Winston) and flying to Nashville, Tennessee to record "Beatle Country" with the Charles River Valley Boys (reissued on Rounder)."

 

"During the 1970's, Eric continued to play old-time music and can be heard with the Spare Change Boys on the recently released Folkways CD, "Classic Oldtime Music". He also took up the tenor banjo, organized the Graineog Celidh Band around two master musicians from County Clare, Joe Cooley and Kevin Keegan, and spent six months in the west of Ireland, visiting and learning from older traditional musicians there."

 

"Eric's first solo LP, "Bluegrass Guitar", featured an all-star band including David Grisman and Tony Rice, and was released in 1979 on Kicking Mule; it was recently reissued, with additional duet tracks with David Grisman, as "Thompson's Real". A duet album with guitarist Alan Senauke, "Two Guitars", featured a more eclectic mix ranging from American bluegrass to Irish reels to Greek rembetika; it has also recently been reissued in tandem with the Blue Flame Stringband album. "

 

"In the 1980's Eric toured extensively nationwide and abroad with the Blue Flame Stringband (with Kate Brislin, Alan Senauke, and Suzy Thompson) and the Backwoods Band, recording with both bands. Between tours, he traveled to southwest Louisiana, pursuing his newest musical interest, Cajun music. In 1983 he formed the California Cajun Orchestra and can be heard on their two award-winning Arhoolie CDs. More recently he has recorded with the Todalo Shakers and of course with the Bluegrass Intentions on their debut CD, "Old As Dirt". Eric also appears as a sideman on recordings by Mike Seeger, Alice Gerrard, the Savoy-Doucet Cajun Band, Mac Benford, Jody Stecher, Jane Voss, and Frankie Armstrong, among others."

 

"Eric is a knowledgeable and patient teacher, who has been a staff member at Puget Sound Guitar Workshop, Bluff Country Gathering, Augusta Heritage Old-Time and Cajun-Creole Weeks, Port Townsend Festival of American Fiddle Tunes, Ashokan Fiddle & Dance Camp, and Lark In the Morning. His latest writing project is "Playing Bluegrass Guitar", published by Backbeat Publications. Eric's guitar instructional materials are distributed by Stefan Grossman's Guitar Workshop. He is featured in the Mel Bay publication Flatpicking 2000 and has also written instructional columns for Flatpicking Guitar and Acoustic Guitar magazines."

 

"Suzy Thompson is one of the rare musicians today who has mastered the acoustic blues violin, following in the footsteps of Lonnie Chatmon, Clifford Hayes and Eddie Anthony. A powerful blues singer in the styles of Memphis Minnie and Bessie Smith, Suzy is unique in her ability to fiddle and vocalize at the same time. In 2003, after thirty years as a working musician, Suzy Thompson released her first solo CD, “No Mockingbird” which features blues songs (including the title track, which has been described as “Memphis Minnie on acid”) and oldtime fiddle rags. Suzy is backed on the album by an all-star cast including Maria Muldaur, Fritz Richmond, Geoff Muldaur, and Mike Seeger. Her followup CD, "Stop & Listen", released by Arhoolie Records in 2005, is a live concert recording with Del Rey, Eric Thompson, and the Thompson String Ticklers."

 

"Over the past three decades, Suzy has been a leading force in many influential roots music groups, including the California Cajun Orchestra (two award-winning CDs on the Arhoolie label), the Blue Flame String Band (with Kate Brislin and Alan Senauke), Klezmorim (who started the klezmer music revival in the 1970’s), the all-woman Any Old Time String Band (featured on the Grammy-winning Arhoolie box set), and most recently, the Bluegrass Intentions (with banjo ace Bill Evans.) She has also worked with Darol Anger, Laurie Lewis, Beausoleil, Peter Rowan, Maria Muldaur, Jody Stecher, Del Rey, Geoff Muldaur, Alice Gerrard, D.L. Menard, Jane Voss, Rinde Eckert, the Savoy-Doucet Cajun Band, Sukay, and Frankie Armstrong, among others."

 

"Suzy currently records and performs in a duet with her longtime musical partner, reknowned flatpicker Eric Thompson, with the Aux Cajunals (a Cajun/blues band, in which Suzy plays Cajun accordion as well as fiddle and guitar), and with the Thompson String Ticklers."

 

"Suzy discovered the music of Bessie Smith, Sippie Wallace, Memphis Minnie, Victoria Spivey, and other classic blues moaners in the winter of 1975, when a friend of a friend of a friend stored his LP collection in her room. She began learning and performing some of this early blues material, accompanying herself on the guitar. The next year, she formed the Any Old Time String Band, an all-woman quintet with a repertoire that included classic blues, oldtime country music, and Cajun music."

 

"In 1976, Suzy's interest in Cajun music was sparked by seeing the Balfa Brothers perform. She traveled to southwest Louisiana, receiving an NEA Fellowship in 1980 to apprentice with Master Cajun Musician, Dewey Balfa; she also studied with Cajun fiddle legends Dennis McGee, Cheese Read and Wade Fruge. The 1980s saw Suzy touring and recording with the Blue Flame Stringband and the Backwoods Band, appearing on the Prairie Home Companion radio show, and touring throughout the U.S. and in Europe."

 

"In 1983, Suzy formed the California Cajun Orchestra, featuring Louisiana-born accordionist Danny Poullard. The CCO's debut album, on Arhoolie, was awarded the prestigious Prix Dehors De Nous by the Louisiana French Music Association; their follow-up CD won a NAIRD Indie for “Best Cajun-Zydeco Album of the Year.” Suzy has performed with many of Louisiana's finest Cajun musicians, including D.L. Menard, Beausoleil, Michael Doucet, Dewey Balfa, and Marc and Ann Savoy. She appears in Les Blank's film on Cajun and Zydeco music, J'ai Ete Au Bal."

 

"Suzy's vast repertoire of quirky old-time country tunes and songs was learned from rare field recordings and old 78s, and she is particularly adept at the ragtime and blues-influenced playing of hillbilly musicians of the 1920's and 30's, such as the East Texas Serenaders, Fiddlin' Arthur Smith, Doc Roberts, and others of that ilk. Suzy's passion for old-time music caused her to start the Berkeley Old Time Music Convention , which has become a four-day celebration attended by oldtime musicians who travel from all over the U.S. to join in the fun!"

 

"In 1994, Suzy represented the U.S. on a Masters of the Folk Violin Tour in Scotland and England. In addition to performing, she has been an instructor at many festivals and music camps, including Centrum’s Country Blues Week, Augusta Heritage Cajun-Creole and Old Time Weeks, Californa Bluegrass Association Music Camp, Port Townsend Festival of American Fiddle Tunes, California Coast Music Camp, Puget Sound Guitar Workshop, and Lark In the Morning."

 

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