In 1952, Mike Seeger recorded a blues guitarist from Norbeck, Montgomery County, Maryland named Joe Lee. Mike included a tune he learned from him on his album “Early Southern Guitar Sounds.” He called it “Joe Lee’s Tune.” I have been researching the former African American community in Norbeck called Mount Pleasant for several years now. On August 6, 2025, I had the pleasure of meeting Joe Lee’s family and played Mike’s field recording of their grandfather. Last week, I visited Joe Lee’s grave in a cemetery in Aspen Hill and played this recording over it, in his honor.
Category Archives: Music
Will Adams, Fiddler of Ken-Gar
Video of virtual talk from February 15, 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GULm_6pTFM
Introduction
In 1953, two people from different worlds met in Ken-Gar. Will Adams was an elderly African American man from Ken-Gar, a predominantly Black neighborhood wedged between Kensington and Garrett Park in Montgomery County, Maryland. Mike Seeger was a young White man from upscale Chevy Chase, the son of two prominent music scholars. His older half-brother was Pete Seeger, the famous folk singer and banjo player. Mike Seeger made field recordings of Will Adams playing the fiddle, and old-time music history was made.
I wanted to know more about Adams, where he came from, and how he might have learned his music. While doing this research, I realized that his ancestry offers a glimpse into African American life in Montgomery County from the final years of slavery into the mid-twentieth century. In addition, the musical legacies of both men – Will Adams and Mike Seeger – live on to this day. Continue reading Will Adams, Fiddler of Ken-Gar