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Kilby Snow

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Kilby Snow
Birth nameJohn Kilby Snow
Born(1905-05-28)May 28, 1905
Grayson County, Virginia, United States
DiedMarch 29, 1980(1980-03-29) (aged 74)
GenresAmerican folk music
OccupationMusician
InstrumentAutoharp
Years active1910s – 1970s
LabelsFolkways

Kilby Snow (May 28, 1905 – March 29, 1980) was an American folk musician. A virtuoso Autoharpist, he was awarded the title of Autoharp Champion of North Carolina at the age of 5, but recorded only a single album for Folkways Records in the 1960s.[1]

He was known for his "drag note" playing style,[1] a technique that relied on his left-handedness to produce slurred notes that would be impossible for a right-handed player to recreate due to the reversed relationship between thumb and finger.[2]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b Kilby Snow at AllMusic. Retrieved January 2, 2013.
  2. ^ John S. Wilson, "Snow Shows Style on the Autoharp", The New York Times, December 20, 1970