The Ebony Hillbillies

Lore & Background

During the 1980s, Henrique Prince began putting together a band due to 'an idea of specializing in dance music, because I really liked the idea of the violin as a dance instrument.' He also wanted to make 'music African Americans used to perform and dance to before they found the blues and jazz and the other stuff became associated with grizzled mountain white guys.' Based in New York City, The Ebony Hillbillies began performing on New York subway platforms. As the band continued to perform they were invited to perform in venues such as Carnegie Hall, the Lincoln Center, Washington state's Wintergrass Festival, and the Kennedy Center.

Members have included Henrique Prince (violin, vocals), Gloria Thomas Gassaway (bones, lead vocals), Reggie 'A.R.' Ferguson (washboard, 'cowboy' percussion kit), William 'Salty Bill' Salter (acoustic bass, voice), Newman Taylor Baker (washboard), and Allanah Salter (vocals). Additional members have included Ricky 'Dirty Red' Gordon (washboard, percussion), Dave Colding (acoustic bass, vocals), Iris Thomas (vocals), and AW (banjo, bass). Deceased member Norris Washington Bennett played five-string banjo, mountain dulcimer, and lead vocals.

Reader's Guide

The Ebony Hillbillies are significant for reclaiming and performing a style of African American dance music that predates blues and jazz, challenging the common association of old-time string band music with white Appalachian musicians. Their origins on New York City subway platforms and eventual performances at prestigious venues such as Carnegie Hall, the Lincoln Center, and the Kennedy Center illustrate a trajectory from street performance to institutional recognition. The inclusion of their recording in the Smithsonian Institution's archives underscores their cultural and historical importance. The band's instrumentation—including violin, bones, washboard, and acoustic bass—reflects traditional folk elements, while their explicit mission to highlight pre-blues African American music contributes to a broader understanding of American musical roots. Their discography spans from 2004 to 2017, and they have been referenced in academic works on improvisation, country music, and African American presence in folk genres.

Did You Know?

• A recording of their music is held in the archives of the Smithsonian Institution's Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage.
• The band began performing on New York subway platforms.
• Henrique Prince formed the band in the 1980s with the idea of specializing in dance music featuring the violin as a dance instrument.
• The band has performed at Carnegie Hall, the Lincoln Center, the Wintergrass Festival, and the Kennedy Center.

Founding Vision & Musical Purpose

In the 1980s, violinist Henrique Prince set out to assemble a group with a very specific artistic mission. He wanted to center dance music, driven by his deep appreciation for the violin as an instrument meant to make people move. Equally important to his vision was a desire to spotlight a musical tradition that predated the popular associations of African American music with blues, jazz, and other genres that had, over time, become linked in the public imagination to white Appalachian performers. Prince saw old-time string band music as belonging to Black communities long before that narrative took hold. The result was The Ebony Hillbillies, an American old-time string band rooted in New York City. The name itself signals the project's dual identity: 'Ebony' honoring the Black heritage of the music, and 'Hillbillies' reclaiming a term long used to describe rural, often white, string band traditions. From the start, the band positioned itself as both a celebration of dance and a corrective to a narrow cultural story.

From Subway Platforms to National Stages

The Ebony Hillbillies did not begin in concert halls. Their earliest performances took place on the platforms of the New York City subway, where the band played for commuters and passersby in the heart of the city's daily transit life. That grassroots, street-level origin gave the group an energy and accessibility that would carry through their entire career. As word spread and their reputation grew, invitations began arriving from increasingly prestigious venues. The band went on to perform at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center in New York, both iconic institutions of American musical life. Their reach extended well beyond the city: they played Washington state's Wintergrass Festival, a gathering dedicated to traditional string band music, and took the stage at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. This trajectory—from the rumble of subway trains to the acoustics of national performance spaces—reflects a band that earned its way upward through sheer musical conviction and community presence rather than industry gatekeeping.

The Ensemble & Its Distinctive Sound

The Ebony Hillbillies built their sound around an instrumentation that blends traditional old-time instruments with percussive, homegrown elements. Henrique Prince anchors the group on violin and vocals, while Gloria Thomas Gassaway contributes bones and lead vocals. The rhythm section is particularly distinctive: Reggie 'A.R.' Ferguson plays washboard alongside a self-described 'cowboy' percussion kit constructed from organic wood and metal materials, and Newman Taylor Baker adds another layer of washboard. William 'Salty Bill' Salter handles acoustic bass and voice, and Allanah Salter contributes vocals. The band's roster has also included Ricky 'Dirty Red' Gordon on washboard and percussion, Dave Colding on acoustic bass and vocals, Iris Thomas on vocals, and AW on banjo and bass. The late Norris Washington Bennett brought five-string banjo, mountain dulcimer, and lead vocals to the ensemble. Together, these voices and textures create a sound that is at once rooted in Appalachian string band tradition and unmistakably its own.

Recording Legacy & Scholarly Recognition

The Ebony Hillbillies have released five studio and live recordings, all on their own EH MUSIC label, spanning from Sabrina's Holiday in 2004 through 5 Miles From Town in 2017. The collection includes I Thought You Knew (2005), Barefoot and Flying (2011), and the live album Slappin' A Rabbit (2015), documenting a band whose creative output stretched over more than a decade. Beyond their discography, the group's cultural significance has been recognized at the institutional level: a recording of their music is preserved in the archives of the Smithsonian Institution's Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, placing their work alongside other foundational American musical traditions. Their story also resonates within a growing body of academic scholarship. Works by scholars such as Diane Pecknold, who examined the African American presence in country music, and Daniel Fischlin, who explored improvisation and co-creation ethics, situate the band within broader conversations about who has historically been credited with old-time and string band traditions.