The family of the late John Hartford has been busy! Starting with a newly re-tooled website, www.johnhartford.com, that features a unique timeline chalk full of John Hartford history and notes, the site is loaded with music and Hartford merch. The family of John Hartford manages the site and are steadily researching and releasing newly discovered music, and also re-mastering and re-releasing many old John Hartford recordings. While pouring through the archives, the family unearthed over 60 handwritten music journals he had been using to compose fiddle tunes since the early ‘80s. Katie Harford Hogue tell us, “I suspect the journals contain over 1,000 tunes. It’s fascinating to look through them. Jamie worked with Dad in reading and writing music and Dad got busy right away. Dad amassed a lot of research and stuff, and he was a prolific creator. One of the interesting challenges we’ve had over the years is figuring out how to take his unfinished projects and ideas and develop them into ‘new’ material to continue his legacy. The fiddle book idea has been bouncing around in our heads ever since we discovered the journals.” John Hartford’s Mammoth Fiddle Tune Collection came to fruition in 2018 and was released at the 8th Annual John Hartford Memorial Festival, held each spring in Bean Blossom, IN. (hartfordfest.com)
Complete details, along with 176 solo tunes from the book, recorded by original John Hartford Stringband member, Matt Combs, can be found at http://hartfordsmammothcollection.com/. Moving forward, Eric Hogue and Katie Harford Hogue (John’s daughter), are completing a recording of songs featured in the book. The CD will be released this spring. It features the likes of -Tim O’Brien -Chris Eldridge -Alison Brown -Noam Pikelny -Ronnie McCoury -Brittany Haas -Former members of the Hartford String Band, including Matt Combs, Chris Sharp, Mike Compton, Mark Howard, and Dennis Crouch -Tristan Scroggins -Megan Lynch Chowning, Paul Kowert, Jordan Tice, and Dominick Leslie. This project is currently a part of a Kickstarter program. To learn more and pre-order, visit hartfordsmammothcollection.com
