Bob Carlin
Producer, Performer, Teacher & Researcher

Bob Carlin has spent almost forty years in the music business, with over seventy five recordings to his credit. Peruse the list below for the highlights of Carlin's musical career & check out the Recording Resume for more details about Bob's producing.

From Mali to America
With Cheick Hamala Diabaté, 5-String Productions, 2007

Bob Carlin's latest recorded outing as artist and producer features Malian Jeli Cheick Hamala and shows the connections between African and Early African and Anglo-American music, with Bob's gourd, minstrel and metal strung banjos included in the ensemble.

N'Be Magni -
Hamilton Iron Works- John Hartford Rounder Records, 2001 Grammy Nominee

John Hartford's last studio recording before his untimely death in 2001. Recorded live in the studio, and cut very quickly, this tribute to John's musical roots features the Hartford Stringband, with Bob on banjo.

Woodchopper's Breakdown-
Traditional, arranged and published by John Hartford, published by John Hartford Music, BMI. © 2001
Broke-King Wilkie  Rebel Records, 2004

Bluegrass music's great young hope, with one foot in the tradition and another in the modern world. We crafted this, their first real studio CD, with months of rehearsals and reshaping of material, allowing the band to knock out these tracks in rapid succession.

All Night Long-
® 2004 Ted Pitney
Clifftop Notes Vol.1 -Mark Simos 5-String Productions, 2006

Mark Simos is one of the great songwriters of our time, placing five song with Alison Krause and others with Laurie Lewis and Del McCoury. Mark is also a fine crafter of fiddle tunes, and this is the first of two volumes featuring his tunes played with a traditional string band. And, although it's hard to believe, I didn't realize (although Mark claims he had) that we were referencing the Beatles on this arrangement.

Cliffhanger-
Kèlè Manyi Dé-Cheick Hamala Diabaté Mali Music, 2006

Malian Jeli musician Cheick Hamala recorded these tracks in a DC-area recording studio that his wife had chosen out of the phone book! John Plymale and I went into Overdub Lane and shaped the raw tracks into a rocking, tradition-based CD. Includes Cheick's own playing of guitar and West African lute (ngoni) along with balaphon (xylophone), kora (harp), vocals and lots of percussion.

Madame Thiam Assa-
X-Rey Guitar-Del Rey Hobemian Records, 2000

The dominatrix of the Spanish resophonic metal bodied guitar, Del Rey gathered some of Seattle's finest for this rockin' collection of originals and acoustic blues and swing classics.

Space Needle-
Composition & Arrangement by Del Rey (Saxophone Arrangement by Hans Teuber) © 2000
Family Tradition- Joe Thompson Rounder Records- 2000

Live in the studio again, with the last of the North Carolina African-American fiddlers. Bob is on banjo, along with guitar and string bass.

Georgia Buck-
Traditional, arranged by Joe Thompson/ Happy Valley Music, BMI. © 1999
Livin' Reeltime, Thinkin' Old-Time-
The Reeltime Travelers,
Yodel-Ay-Hee- 2002

The band to watch, with one foot in oldtime fiddle music and another in the alt-country camp. Fiddle and banjo tunes, along with old country gems, combine with great original songs and singing on the band's sophomore release.

Little Bird of Heaven-
Composed by Martha Scanlan and arranged by the Reeltime Travelers ©2002


All track on this page were recorded and/or mixed at Overdub Lane, Durham, NC; engineer: Wes Lachot, except, Tom Mohbat recorded the Reeltime Travelers, Nevelle Pearsall recorded Del Rey and Tim Brown recorded Bob and Cheick. All mastered by David Glasser, except Matt Sandoski mastered the Reeltime Travelers at Airshow Mastering, Boulder, Colorado, and Charlie Pilzer mixed and mastered Bob and Cheick at Airshow East in Springfield, VA.

2401 W. Center Street Ext. • Lexington, NC 27295
(336) 248-6202 • e-mail