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Frank Wakefield
Franklin Delano Wakefield was born on June 26, 1934 in Emory Gap, Tennessee. Frank began to play harmonica and guitar as a young child. Meanwhile, Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys were creating a new, exciting brand of country music built around tight, high-pitched harmony singing, Earl Scruggs’s new style of banjo picking, and the intense, blues-influenced mandolin style created by bandleaderMonroe. It was during this time in the early history of bluegrass music when a teenaged Frank Wakefield, living in Dayton, Ohio,
Instructional Videos:




got his first mandolin. Soon, Frank
began working with Red Allen, the
start of a musical collaboration which
was to last many years. They organized
a bluegrass band with Noah Crase on
banjo, which performed in the Dayton
area for some time. Frank later moved
to Detroit, where he played with Jimmy
Martin for about a year, until he left
Detroit to organize his own band. At
this time, Frank was beginning to write
and record original bluegrass material,
most notably the classic instrumental
“New Camptown Races.” In the late
1950’s, Frank worked briefly with the
Stanley Brothers. In the early 1960’s,
Frank moved to Washington D.C. ,
where he was joined again by Red Allen.
The two performed in clubs and on
WDON Radio in Wheaton, Maryland,
and recorded a classic LP for Folkways.
During the mid-to-late 1960's, Frank
was a member of the Greenbriar Boys,
playing several times at Carnegie Hall.

Thus began a period in Frank's career
in which his stylistic innovations and
formidable virtuosity brought him
wider exposure than a strictly bluegrass
setting could provide. Over the years,
Frank has recorded an impressive repertoire of original mandolin instrumentals. Frank's influence on mandolin playing is easily detected when listening to newer generations of mandolin stylists from David Grisman to Ronnie McCoury. "Don't Lie to Me", Frank's latest CD, includes original material written expressly for this album, his second on Patuxent. Several Wakefield classics, long out of print, are given new life as well.For those of you hearing Frank for the first time, know that you're getting a taste of music history. For old friends of Frank, know that he's alive and well and playing better than ever!      



Frank Wakefield, Mandolin     Bill Keith, Banjo    John Glik, Fiddle   Victoria McMullen, Bass 
 Jack Leiderman, Guitar     Plus Many Guest Artists

.      ~
El Nino * Don't Lie to Me * Early Morning Train * I Thought I Heard You Calling My Name *
Miss Marsha * My Aching Heart * Banks of the Ohio * Two Lonely Hearts * Bluegrass Mandolin *
White Silver Sands * Daughter of Midnight * Danny Boy

 

Frank Wakefield , Mandolin      Mark Delaney, Banjo     John Glik, Fiddle     Victoria McMullen, Bass
Jack Leiderman, Guitar     Plus Many Guest Artists

Midnight on the MandolinFaded Memory * Charl * The Convict and the Child *
Bluegrass Band No. 1(.ra) * Alone and Forgotten * The Greek * Affection * Hovanna * Faded Love *
 Darlin’ Cindy *   Countin’ on David

Also Available:
" The Kitchen Tapes"


"That Was Now - This is Then"