The Opera House Story Sessions Opera House Story Sessions

In this episode, I sit down with Mary Sue Burns. She is best known for her Paleozoic banjo picking, shaping young minds, and playing in groups like Juanita Fireball and the Continental Drifters. We will also hear about the first women in banjo and how she found a silver lining in the pandemic when she picked back up the fiddle.


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In this episode, we will hear from my conversation with Dwight Diller. Dwight is a banjo player and teacher known for the "sledgehammer" banjo style and for documenting the stories and songs of the Hammons family. It is because of Dwight and people like Carl Fleischer and Alan Jabbour that we have records of the songs that were born out of these hills and hollers.


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Today we’ll hear from Homer Hunter. Homer is known locally for his tall tales, kindness towards others, and booming voice that he learned later in life to meld and weave into bluegrass tunes — playing and harmonizing with others in a truly special way. 


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Today we’ll hear from Dave Bing, the fiddle-playing brother of the old-time band, The Bing Brothers. We interviewed Mike Bing, the mandolin-playing brother, on an earlier podcast episode. But today, we focus on Dave. Like all the musicians who’ve played for the story sessions, Dave came to the Opera House to bow a little for us and tell stories. Still, Dave has such an immense library of tunes stored in his mind that we did have to take a few breaks — So bear with us as we chat both on stage and off with Dave in this story session. Dave shares tales of the old-time music family, the Hammons, and we chat about how Irish and Scottish tunes have influenced his playing and the dynamic tradition of passing down tunes in person. Our conversation wanders, much like the Williams River, which lured Dave’s father to Pocahontas country when Dave was just three years old. The three boys and their dad would camp on the Williams, known for trout fishing.


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In today's episode, we’ll sit down with Mandolin player Mike Bing. He is one of three brothers who together formed the old-time band, The Bing Brothers, but he is one-of-a-kind. His mandolin chops and the band's prowess have carried him as far away as Ireland and Australia, but his roots are dug deep into the Appalachian soil.  So far on the Story Sessions, we’ve covered both Old Time and Bluegrass musicians, but Mike says the Bing Brothers’ music lies somewhere between both genres.


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Mike Burn's first foray into Old-Time music was as a spoons player in the West Virginia University Forestry Club jug band. He soon moved on to guitar. The Forestry Club led him to Elkins for the Forest Festival where he heard Dwight Diller play in the banjo contest. It was the first time that Mike heard the clawhammer style of banjo playing and he instantly knew that was what he wanted to play. Back in Morgantown, Mike found Ron Mullenax and Jack Ramsey (who became his banjo mentor). Mike heard Highwoods at WVU around the same time and credits Highwoods fiddler, Walt Koken, as a major influence.

Travelling to many old-time festivals held throughout WV, afforded Mike the opportunity to meet Melvin Wine, Glen and Delano Smith, Wilson Douglas, Woody Simmons, Carlos Dalton, Mose Coffman, and Sherman, Burl, Maggie, and Mr. Lee Hammons. In following years, he visited these folks at their homes and couldn’t get enough of their music and stories. At a festival held at Pipestem State Park in WV, Mike heard Odell McGuire, Scott Nelson, Andy Williams, Brad Leftwich, Al Tharp, and David Winston playing some great, hard driving old time that reminded him of the Highwoods sound. Mike says, “I was now hooked on their brand of music. I followed the music to Lexington, Virginia for the 1975-76 Breaking up Christmas parties. Odell McGuire invited me to stay and I did.” During his time in Lexington, Mike met and became friends with Bruce Molsky, Chad Crum, James Leva, Steve Seal, and so many others. He started playing the fiddle after Odell McGuire told him there were too many banjo players in Lexington. He claims that he still plays the fiddle like a banjo: less notes and lots of rhythm.

Mike met his wife, Mary Sue playing in a music session at “Breaking Up Christmas” in Lexington. Mike eventually got a “real Job” as a forester in central West Virginia and once again hooked up with Melvin Wine and Wilson Douglas with whom he played at several of the early Vandalia Gatherings. By 1980, Mike and Mary Sue had settled in Pocahontas County, both with teaching jobs. For an extended time, jobs, kids, and school activities distracted them from serious music playing.

Encouragement from musician friends, especially Jay Lockman and Norris Long, and, in Mike’s case, the desire to prove wrong his doctor’s hopeless pronouncement about the recovery of a broken finger, propelled them back into the music. Their band, “Juanita Fireball and the Continental Drifters” debuted at the Pocahontas County Opera House in 2008 and has been playing ever since. Additionally, Mike and Mary Sue have joined other friends to play Blacksburg Square Dances and the Floyd Country Store. They recently participated in a recording project titled “Dolly & the Devil Festival Season” with musician friends from North Carolina and Virginia.


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