Frank Proffitt

Infobox musical artist
Name = Frank Proffitt


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Background = solo_singer
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Born = 1913
Reese, North Carolina, USA
Died = Death date and age|1965|11|1|1913|11|1
Origin = Beech Mountain, North Carolina
Instrument = banjo, appalachian dulcimer, guitar
Genre = Folk
Occupation = farmer, cultural guardian, infrequent songwriter
Years_active = 1930s – 1960s
Label = Smithsonian Folkways, Folk Legacy
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Frank Proffitt was an Appalachian old time Banjoist and performer at the 1963 Newport Folk Festival [ [http://www.folk-legacy.com/store/Scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=66 Frank Profitt Bio] Folk Legacy. Retrieved May 5, 2008] . He was a key figure in inspiring musicians of the 1960s and 1970s to play the banjo. He recorded the ballad Tom Dooley for Alan Lomax on one of his song collecting trips.

Frank was born in the Reese area of North Carolina where he worked in a variety of jobs and lived on a farm with his wife and six children. He grew tobacco, worked as a carpenter and in a spark plug factory. [http://www.folk-legacy.com/store/scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=15 Folk Legacy, Frank Proffitt bio] Folk Legacy, Retrieved May 5, 2008] He was known for his carpentry skill, Proffitt's fretless banjos and dulcimers were homemade.

In 1937, Frank Proffitt met Frank Warner. Warner was searching out a dulcimer builder, this began a 30 year friendship and song swapping. The Kingston Trio attributes their recording of Tom Dooley to a recording Frank Warner made of the ballad that he learned from Proffitt.

Discography

*Frank Proffitt of Reece, Folk Legacy [ [http://www.folk-legacy.com/store/scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=15 Frank Proffitt of Reese, NC CD-1 :American Folk Music, Music CD, Traditional Folk Music, Folklore, Sea Shanties, Folk Hymns, Folk Song, Folk Ballads Folk Legacy ] ]
*Frank Proffitt Memorial Album, Folk Legacy [ [http://www.folk-legacy.com/store/Scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=66 Frank Proffitt - Memorial Album :American Folk Music, Music CD, Traditional Folk Music, Folklore, Sea Shanties, Folk Hymns, Folk Song, Folk Ballads Folk Legacy ] ]
*Frank Proffitt Sings Folk Songs, Smithsonian Folkways Recordings [http://www.folkways.si.edu/search/AlbumDetails.aspx?ID=207 Frank Proffitt Sings Folk Songs] , Smithsonian Folkways, FW02360 1962 Retrieved on May 6,2008]

External links

* [http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0CZNGbFw3asXJQ Photo of a banjo] signed by Frank Proffitt

References