About the Zingers
“...Music is molasses on my biscuit, ham in my black eyed peas, strawberries on my shortcake, and vinegar on my collard greens.”
— Maggie
The Flatland Zingers are traditional musicians that enjoy entertaining folks by performing lively acoustic string-band music and having FUN! Based in Washington, NC, the Zingers met through their involvement in the BCTMA (Beaufort County Traditional Music Association), and began playing as a group in 2013.
The Flatland Zingers' appearance is old-timey rural, their sound is Appalachian earthy, and their performances are good-time fun. Fiddle tunes, old love songs, and silly sing-a-longs as well as original tunes encourage hand-clappin', foot-stompin', flat-footin', and shoutin' activities so folks attending a Zinger show participate in the FUN!
The Zingers all sing and play a variety of instruments. Most of the time songs are played old-time style with mandolin, claw-hammer banjo, guitar and upright bass. Tunin' happens regularly (there's usually a banjo involved).
The Flatland Zingers are:
“Maggie” (Linda Boyer) plays the banjo claw-hammer style when she's not busy trying to get it tuned. She also plays mandolin and sometimes a little-bittie guitar. Maggie will tell you that she “ain't never had too much fun” and that is very evident whenever she plays and sings, (and hoots and cackles).
“Cap'n Rob” (Rob Cuthrell) picks the flat-top and sometimes the mandolin (fast and loud). He does most of the talking between songs (because Maggie's busy trying to get her banjo in tune) and is highly regarded as being among the worst joke tellers on planet earth.
“Farmer Clem” (Eric Holmes) blissfully plunks on “Bertha” the dog-house bass and smiles the whole time he's doing so (well most of the time, anyway). You can tell that as he's playing, his mind is constantly concocting his next hilarious comment - so be ready for it!
The Flatland Zingers got their name from the region where they live (there ain't many hills in eastern NC) and their joy of playing and singing with wild abandon. The Zingers believe that the most FUN there is - is when there's music being played with gusto, with grinning enthusiasm, that's got lots of spice and Zing!
flatlandzingers.com by jamesecasey