“Well, that’s about all we had to do when I was young,” Ted Boyd recalled to a British folklorist, “We’d just get together all weekend and play music.”  Ted, who carried the tradition of clawhammer banjo down the line in the infamous Boyd clan of Franklin County, learned to play from his brothers.  He would become a preserver and promoter of a unique style of rhythmic Blue Ridge clawhammer playing that has come to be called the “Franklin County Bounce.”It was a style that was forged I the context of Saturday night dances and house parties, where the banjo had to be loud enough and rhythmic enough to cut through the noise of a crowded room and carry the dancers at a harrowing clip.

            Ted was born into a region that was ripe with old time mountain music.  Endicott was chosen by many folklorists and “song catchers” who were seeking the remains of English and Scottish ballads that had come to the mountains with the early settlers.  Among the collectors who travelled to Endicott was Cecil Sharp, the renowned English folklorist, who came to hear the ballads of the Cannady family in 1918, when Ted was just 12.

            Ted quickly became adept at both the fiddle and banjo, and with family members and friends was a popular site at community gatherings.  His family, who had been among the earliest settlers in Franklin County, farmed hard, rocky and steep soil during the week and played music at parties, dances, and auctions during the weekends.  As Ted’s nephew, Jimmy Boyd once famously put it, “There’s something about us Boyd’s that just put the rhythm in us.”  In the Boyd’s style, the banjo is a “hard driving,” fast paced attack with a strong downbeat.  The banjo, for all practical purposes serves much like a drum.

            While farming was the Boyd’s primary source of income, the Boyd family was also notorious for their involvement in the moonshine culture of Franklin County.  Ted remembered meeting and playing a few dances with the infamous Charlie Poole, who was a frequent connoisseur of Franklin County’s finest, and often came to Ted’s family to purchase his whiskey.

Good, clean and clear rhythmic playing on the banjo and good, clean and clear alcohol seemed to go together well.

            In the early 1970’s Ted formed a musical relationship with Bill Cannady, a local fiddler and descendent of the Franklin County family that had given Cecil Sharp over 19 unique mountain ballads.  Ted and Bill formed “The Original Orchard Grass Band” that was dedicated to preserving the music of Franklin County.  The band, that until recently often played in the region, became a launching ground for many great players including clawhammer master Rhoda Kemp, who would replace Ted upon his death.  The band made several recordings, two of which appeared on Kyle Creed’s “Mountain” record label.

            In. 1979, another British music collector came to Franklin County.  Mike Yates trips to the region were motivated by finding songs, tunes and ballads that were “as close to the source” as was possible.  Mike recorded both Orchard Grass and in a separate session at his house, spent a day recording Ted’s banjo and fiddle as well as his singing.  Those recordings serve as a testament to the longevity of the “Franklin Bounce.”

             Ted was also a teacher. Perhaps his most famous two banjo students were his two nephews, Jimmy and Billy Boyd, who went on to become well known musicians.  Jimmy, another clawhammer master went on to found the seminal Franklin County string band, “The Dry hill Draggers” and became an icon of SW Virginia dance music.  Today, “The Twin Creeks String Band,” that includes clawhammer master Jared Boyd, Jimmy’s grandson, carries on the family tradition.  Ted Boyd’s influence still flows as strong as Franklin County ever clear.