Preston Young is one of a group of Depression-era musicians who, although able to make recordings, benefited very little financially from them and wound up much less well-known than some of the songs they recorded, such as in Young's case "Rollin' in My Sweet Baby's Arms." Young learned music from his banjo-picking father, and as a youngster used his whittling knife to fashion crude imitations of the instrument. As a teenager he learned autoharp from an uncle, Walter Spencer, then took up guitar in time to have an influential meeting with old-time legend Charlie Poole. It was Poole who suggested Young take up the banjo again.
© 2008