Cameron DeWhitt
Host of Get Up in the Cool
Cameron DeWhitt is a clawhammer banjoist and Old Time musician living in Philadelphia. He hosts the weekly podcast Get Up in the Cool, which features conversations and musical collaborations with some of Old Time's heaviest hitters, like Ken Perlman, Adam Hurt, Spencer & Rains, and Jake Blount. As an interviewer, Cameron balances an effusive curiosity for the potential of traditional music with a dogged respect for its origins. Serving as audience surrogate, Cameron asks illuminating questions to Old Time's best and brightest while telling the larger story of the tradition's modern era. And with over 80 episodes released and no signs of slowing, Get Up in the Cool is quickly becoming one of the largest available archives of new Old Time recordings.
Cameron is the innovator behind "pitchfork-style" banjo, a three-finger clawhammer technique that allows the player unprecedented access to melody, harmony, and rhythms typically roped off from clawhammer players. With pitchfork-style, he improvises over tunes in a way that most old time banjoists would only attempt with meticulous arrangement. In Cameron's hands, traditional melodies are transformed from repeated statements into philosophical discussions, accelerating the folk process in a single performance.
Cameron DeWhitt has hosted 440 Episodes.
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Episode 72: Scott Mathis and Linda Askew (Music from the Tohono O'odham Nation)
December 20th, 2017 | 46 mins 27 secs
clawhammer banjo, guachi, guitar, mandolin, tohono o'odham nation
Welcome to Get Up in the Cool: Old Time Music with Cameron DeWhitt and Friends! This week’s friends are Scott Mathis and Linda Askew, and they brought with them GuAchi music from the Tohono O’odham nation!
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Episode 71: Joel Brown (Folk Punk, Crooked Tunes, and Community)
December 13th, 2017 | 55 mins 6 secs
clawhammer banjo, fiddle, old time music
Welcome to Get Up in the Cool: Old Time Music with Cameron DeWhitt and Friends! This week’s friend is Joel Brown! This interview was recorded in August at Joel’s house in Portland, OR, when I was in town to see my family.
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Episode 70: Chris Dalnodar & Andy McLeod (Live at the Philadelphia Podcast Festival)
December 6th, 2017 | 43 mins 2 secs
american primitive, clawhammer banjo, fiddle, finger-style guitar, guitar, old time music, ragtime
Welcome to Get Up in the Cool: Old Time Music with Cameron DeWhitt and Friends! This week’s friends are Chris Dalnodar and Andy McLeod, and we recorded this interview and jam in front of a live, modestly-sized audience at the Philadelphia Podcast Festival.
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Episode 69: Jake Blount and Cameron DeWhitt (Live at John Salmon's House PART II)
November 29th, 2017 | 47 mins 8 secs
banjo duet, clawhammer banjo, old time fiddle, original tunes
Welcome to Get Up in the Cool: Old Time Music with Cameron DeWhitt and Friends! This week’s episode is part II of my show with Jake Blount at John Salmon’s house.
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Episode 68: Jake Blount and Cameron DeWhitt (Live at John Salmon's House)
November 22nd, 2017 | 51 mins 36 secs
clawhammer banjo, fiddle, old time music, original tunes
Welcome to Get Up in the Cool: Old Time Music with Cameron DeWhitt and Friends! This week’s friend is Jake Blount, and today’s episode is a show that we played as a duo in Philly at John Salmon’s house.
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Episode 67: Candace Showalter (Rockbridge 2017)
November 15th, 2017 | 48 mins 5 secs
clawhammer banjo, fiddle, old time music
Welcome to Get Up in the Cool: Old Time Music with Cameron DeWhitt and Friends! This week’s friend is Candace Showalter!
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Episode 66: Sasha Hsuczyk and Lyle Werner (Marcus Martin Tunes)
November 8th, 2017 | 54 mins 37 secs
clawhammer banjo, marcus martin, old time music, twin fiddling
Welcome to Get Up in the Cool: Old Time Music with Cameron DeWhitt and Friends! These week’s friends are Sasha Hsuczyk and Lyle Werner from The Leveetoppers! When I asked what tunes they wanted to play, they said Marcus Martin tunes!
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Episode 65: William Seeders Mosheim (Maker of Banjos and Tunes)
November 1st, 2017 | 57 mins 29 secs
banjo duet, clawhammer, fiddle, old time fiddle, old time music, original tunes
Welcome to Get Up in the Cool: Old Time Music with Cameron DeWhitt and Friends! This week’s friend is William Seeders Mosheim, of Seeders Instruments and Carling and Will! We recorded this in front of a live audience at Black Creek Fiddlers’ Reunion, and I’ve been eager to share it with everyone who couldn’t make it in person!
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Episode 64: Hen's Teeth (Jane Rothfield and Nathan Bontrager)
October 25th, 2017 | 58 mins 24 secs
cello, clawhammer banjo, fiddle, new old time tunes, old time fiddle, old time music, twin fiddling
Welcome to Get Up in the Cool: Old Time Music with Cameron DeWhitt and Friends! This week’s friends are Jane Rothfield and Nathan Bontrager, AKA Hen’s Teeth! We played some old time music that I’m excited for you to hear.
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Episode 63: Hunter Walker (Dulcimer Ambassador)
October 18th, 2017 | 44 mins 57 secs
clawhammer banjo, fiddle, flatpicking, guitar, lap dulcimer, mountain dulcimer, old time fiddle, old time music
Welcome to Get Up in the Cool: Old Time Music with Cameron DeWhitt and Friends. This week’s friend is Hunter Walker from Long Point String Band, with special guest guitarist and also friend Brian Bell! Hunter plays the mountain dulcimer, an instrument I haven’t had much exposure to, so… I’m probably not qualified to say this, but I think he’s probably the best.
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Episode 62: Agnes Brogeby, Erling Bronsberg, Kristian Herner, Lydia Malmqvist (My New Swedish Pals)
October 11th, 2017 | 57 mins 45 secs
banjo duet, clawhammer banjo, fiddle, guitar, washboard
Welcome to Get Up in the Cool: Old Time Music with Cameron DeWhitt and Friends! I have a lot of friends this week! Agnes Brogeby, Erling Bronsberg, Lydia Malmqvist, and Kristian Herner, from the bands The Rockridge Brothers, Six String Yada, and Friendly Neighborhood Stringband. And they’re all from Sweden!
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Episode 61: Chirps Smith (Midwestern Fiddler)
October 4th, 2017 | 1 hr 6 mins
banjo, clawhammer, clawhammer banjo, fiddle, midwest fiddle tunes
Welcome to Get Up in the Cool: Old Time Music with Cameron DeWhitt and Friends! This week’s friend is Chirps Smith! And I’m really excited to be able to say that.
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Episode 60: John Lane (Missouri Fiddle Tunes)
September 27th, 2017 | 56 mins 4 secs
banjo, clawhammer banjo, fiddle, midwest fiddle tunes, old time music
Welcome to Get Up in the Cool: Old Time Music with Cameron DeWhitt and Friends! This week’s guest is John Lane, and we’re going to play some Missouri tunes for you, and tell you which tunes you know and love have been Missouri tunes all along.
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Episode 59: Lucas Pasley (First Hand Tunes)
September 20th, 2017 | 58 mins 3 secs
alleghany county, banjo, clawhammer banjo, fiddle, guitar, old time music
Welcome to Get Up in the Cool: Old Time Music with Cameron DeWhitt and Friends! I’m really excited for you to hear my interview with this week’s friend, Lucas Pasley, because Lucas has a real, personal connection to this music, and it’s rare to interview someone who studied so close to the source.
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Episode 58: Sonya Badigian (Four Syllables–Hard G)
September 13th, 2017 | 1 hr 9 mins
clawhammer banjo, fiddle, old time music
Welcome to Get Up in the Cool: Old Time Music with Cameron DeWhitt and Friends! This week’s friend is Sonya Badigian. I’m not sure exactly when I met Sonya; probably at Clifftop a few years ago, but I really got to know her when she invited me to her birthday party last fall back when she lived in Charlottesville, and I decided to go, on a whim, even though I barely knew her. Old Time music is cool like that.
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Episode 57: Craig Edwards (Feed Your Loa)
September 6th, 2017 | 1 hr 10 secs
blues, blues guitar, clawhammer banjo, fiddle, guitar, old time music
Welcome to Get Up in the Cool: Old Time Music with Cameron DeWhitt and Friends! This week’s friend is Craig Edwards! We recorded this interview at the Harry Smith Frolic at the tail end of a thunderstorm, which I maintain is one of my favorite settings for recording this show.