Article Contributed by Mountain Home Music Company
Published on 2026-03-20
After his adventurous version of the Foo Fighters’ “The Pretender,” Ashby Frank returns to straight-ahead bluegrass form with his new Mountain Home Music Company single, “Stokes County Buck Dancing Man,” an irresistible, good-humored tribute to a true life character from the lively bluegrass scene of his native North Carolina.
“I wrote this song with my buddy Mason Via,” says Frank, who leads the track with his energetic mandolin. “We both attended fiddler’s conventions and bluegrass festivals in North Carolina and Virginia when we were kids, and of course, flat foot buck dancing and clogging are a big part of these events. There were always so many great musicians and dancers there, as well as some larger-than-life personalities, but Todd ‘The Bod’ Inman from Stokes County, NC, might have been the biggest and brightest character of them all.
“We wrote this song as a tribute to Todd, and we were able to send him a work tape version of it before he passed away from cancer in 2024. He loved being the life of the party and the star of the show, and he seemed to really get a kick out of our song about him. Galax Old Fiddler’s Convention will never be the same without his iconic dance moves and sense of humor.”
Starting with Matt Menefee’s banjo kick-off, “Stokes County Buck Dancing Man” quickly reveals its high spirits, clever wordsmithing, and classic bluegrass groove:
Who’s that feller in a cloud of dust
Just a’movin’ and a’shakin’ and a’causin’ a fuss
Down South in Westfield Caroline
‘Bout 2 miles from the Virginia Line
He’s Fred Astaire with a cold beer can
Look out! Stokes County Buck Dancing Man
With help from Frank’s erstwhile Mountain Heart bandmates, Travis Anderson (bass) and guitarist Seth Taylor, alongside former colleague Jim Van Cleve (fiddle) and ace studio drummer Tony Creasman, Frank’s performance moves along energetically to flesh out its affectionate portrait — not only of the title character, but, in a fiddle-and–banjo extended outro built around the classic tune, “Sally Goodwin,” the entire roots music community that has sustained the genre for the better part of a century.
“I was so pleased that Mason agreed to sing harmony with me on this track,” Frank enthuses, “and I’m so very proud of how it turned out. This one’s for The Bodman!”
“Stokes County Buck Dancing Man” is streaming in Dolby Atmos spatial audio on Apple Music, Amazon Music and TIDAL. Listen to it HERE.
