Ken Perlman is an internationally known player and teacher of the 5-string banjo style known as "clawhammer," an innovative fingerstyle guitarist, and an independent folklorist who has spent over two decades collecting tunes and oral histories from traditional fiddle players on Prince Edward Island in Eastern Canada. He pioneered an approach to banjo called “melodic” clawhammer that has transformed the style (also known as “frailing”) from an accompaniment to a solo style of banjo playing. He has toured throughout most of the English-speaking world and in Western-Europe, both as a soloist and – over the last fifteen years – in a duo with renowned Appalachian-style fiddler Alan Jabbour. An acclaimed teacher of folk-music instrumental skills, Ken has written some of the most widely respected banjo and guitar instruction books of modern times, and he has also served as director for several banjo-instructional camps including American Banjo Camp, Midwest Banjo Camp, and Suwannee Banjo Camp. His work on Prince Edward Island has resulted in two major works: a music collection called “The Fiddle Music of Prince Edward Island” and an ethnography entitled “Couldn’t Have a Wedding Without the Fiddler: The Story of Traditional Fiddling on Prince Edward Island. He is also curator of Bowing Down Home (bowingdownhome.ca), a new website devoted to the music of traditional Prince Edward Island fiddlers, and based largely on the field recordings he collected.
