Trenton Caruthers, of Cookeville, is highly regarded as one of the state’s finest young traditional musicians. Although just in his early 20s, Trenton has been playing music actively for a decade, with a specific focus on the fiddle and banjo music of the Cumberland Plateau. As part of the Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program in 2018, Trenton studied with master fiddler Michael DeFosche, of Whitleyville. DeFosche was one of the most respected old time musicians of his generation in Tennessee, with forty-five years’ experience playing fiddle, banjo, and guitar. DeFosche spent decades studying the traditional fiddle repertories and playing styles of Cumberland Plateau fiddlers like Clyde Davenport, John Sharp, Bob Douglas, and Leonard Rutherford—and passed this repertoire and these techniques to Trenton during the apprenticeship program and beyond. Sadly, DeFosche died in 2018 and Davenport, another of Trenton and Michael’s mentors, died in 2020, at age 98.
Trenton, thus, feels a direct responsibility to continue to play and now teach this music. “This style/art form is rare in every sense of the word,” Trenton explains. “I can only think of 2 other living artists that have really delved deep into Cumberland Plateau banjo music. I’m sad to say that the banjo music is now rarer than the fiddle music.”
As part of the Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program this year Trenton is teaching Cumberland Plateau banjo music to apprentice Jordan Judkins, of Smithville. “I feel that it is mandatory we get this music back out into the forefront where it belongs,” Trenton says. “This music is on the ‘endangered arts list’ in my opinion. And without people like Jordan, this music is doomed. I take this music with me wherever I go. And within this past year I have taken Jordan with me.”
Jordan, a talented musician on several instruments already, is eager to take on this opportunity and share in Trenton’s mission. “I want to work with Trenton because I am familiar with him personally, and I believe he is the best and most knowledgeable on the art form,” Jordan says. “I want to become a master of the Cumberland Plateau style of banjo and help to share, preserve, and pass on the tradition and heritage. I was influenced by Trenton, Clyde Davenport, Michael Defosche, and Bobby Fulcher. But anything that I’ve wanted to learn was shown to me one on one in person by Trenton Caruthers.”
*This team is funded through a special partnership with the South Arts’ initiative In These Mountains: Central Appalachian Folk Art & Culture.
