LOTUSWIGHT-BANJO lotus wight stakes his claim as the most prolific and visible banjo picker in the Kawartha Lakes region. His style of picking falls under the category of “clawhammer”, sometimes referred to as frailing. This past December Wight was called upon to fill the principal banjo chair with the Peterborough Symphony Orchestra, under conductor Michael Newman, for the presentation of Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue.” Song List 01- Winin’ Boy -5:23 02- F & D -2:44 03- Rich Gal Blues -4:16 04- Blake’s Cake -4:12 05- Little Baby Cried Mammy -2:53 06- Dallas Rag -2:54 07- Pig Ankle Rag -2.49 08- Jackson Stomp -2:24 09- I Belong to the Band -3:39 “I’ve known Sam (a.k.a.Lotus Wight) for a heck of a long time and I can say with out a doubt that he is the real thing. Over the years I ‘ve seen high-stepping go from a fairly obscure anachronistic sub-genre to the hippest craze to sweep the nation...lots of cats are jumping on the Old-time bandwagon these days but these fellers high-step and clawhammer their way through the hottest of the Good-time, Ragtime, and black stringband repertoire your ears will hear. Hire them, hear them, cook them a meal, just don’t forget your dancing shoes!” -Chris Coole Toronto, 2006

Fiddlin' Jay Edmunds, Diamond Dave, TinCan Chris, Lotus Wight Highsteppin' it at the Peterborough Folk Festival Main Stage! The completion of the 2005 release “Ragtime High-Steppers” marks the first recorded installment of the Lotus Wight story. A collection of old-time pieces from the southern string band repertoire features clawhammer banjo and fiddle playing stomps, rags, tunes and a couple of good-time songs from production team Sam Allison and Chris Culgin. “I wanted to make a musical snapshot of the sounds that have obsessed me for the last few years..” said Lotus in a phone interview from den Hague, Holland. “I have been in and out of the American south constantly for the last six years and I’m musically a very different person because of it.” Lotus is referring to the extensive touring schedule that his alter-ego, Sam Allison has endured for six years as the bass player for Canadian fiddlers, Flapjack with Fiddlin' Jay Edmunds. “We have been playing workshops, dances and clinics all over North America, and had the chance to teach, learn and meet with so many amazing traditional musicians.” says the banjo player.”People like, Joe Newberry, Mike Seeger, Peggy Seeger, Jon McCutcheon, Richie Sterns, Judy Hyman, Joe Herrman, John Herrman..” Lotus’ second offering due for release in 2006, “The Food of My People” will be less focused on the string band sound and more on combinations of other acoustic instruments including banjo, pump organ, bass harmonica and celesta. Conductor Michael Newman and Lotus Wight “Put on Lotus Wight’s ‘Ragtime Highsteppers’ and listen to the lost sounds of the American stringband. Lotus and Fiddlin’ Jay have distilled their fiddle and banjo sounds into a fine blend that gets better with age. It is simultaneously bluesey, good-timey, Old-timey, ragtimey and dusty enough to evoke those old 78s in the back closet. I’ve been waiting for this record to come out ever since they changed their name from the Sugarbush Boys back in ‘99.” -Washboard Hank Peterborough, 2005