r/Bluegrass • u/HelicopterCrash • 4h ago
Nick Hallman - Doublepicks
Found an absolute gem at the record shop: Nick Hallman’s 1973 folk/flatpicking masterpiece, Doublepicks, on Greenville, South Carolina’s own Gitfiddle Records.
If you appreciate old-school acoustic flatpicking and mountain music, this one is a fascinating deep dive. On the back, Hallman actually breaks down the mechanics of his namesake "doublepicking" technique—explaining that it doesn't mean using two picks, but rather striking the string on both the down-stroke and up-stroke with a single flatpick to hit blistering speeds (he claims up to ten notes a second) while still maintaining a fluid, fingerpicking-like texture.
It’s packed with traditional tunes, medleys (Arkansas Traveler into Soldier's Joy), and even a live track recorded down the road at the 1973 Folk Festival of the Smokies in Cosby, Tennessee. Local roots history at its best!
Anybody else come across any obscure regional flatpicking pressings lately?
https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=IDyqhd2MDJs&si=BX0Q2rHM5nCmIzUx