When Joseph Decosimo last graced these pages, Glenn Kimpton was praising the Durham, NC fiddler, banjoist and interpreter of Southern vernacular music for leaning into “the weird and psychedelic side of Old-time music” on his third solo album, Fiery Gizzard. Released by Dear Life Records in August 2025, the record went on to feature in KLOF Mag’s Albums of the Year 2025, with its self-described “trusting open-door policy” drawing in collaborators from fiddler Stephanie Coleman to musician Andy Stack (who also feature on the new Trippers & Askers album). Together with 2023’s solo set Slumbering and the 2024 trio album Beehive Cathedral with Luke Richardson and Cleek Schrey, it confirmed Decosimo’s gift for finding the strange currents underneath traditional repertoire and letting them carry the song to somewhere special.
He returns to the UK this month with fresh evidence of that approach: a solo guitar reading of the Appalachian classic Cumberland Gap, filmed in his Durham backyard, and a run of dates with multi-instrumentalist Joe Danks (Jim Ghedi/Old Spot). The video grew out of a long fascination with the playing of Eastern Kentuckians Roscoe Holcomb and Morgan Sexton, and in particular with Holcomb’s habit of carrying banjo logic across to the guitar through adapted tunings. Decosimo follows that thread, mapping Sexton’s version of Cumberland Gap onto six strings using a tuning that takes its cues from the banjo — preserving the drones, fingerings and rolling picking patterns of the original.
In his own words:
“I’ve long been obsessed with the banjo playing of Eastern Kentuckians Roscoe Holcomb and Morgan Sexton. Holcomb’s playing can be ferocious. Sexton’s can be celestial. Holcomb played some wonderful pieces on the guitar, utilizing guitar-adapted banjo tunings to maintain certain drones, picking, and fingering patterns. I’ve followed his lead and mapped Morgan Sexton’s magical Cumberland Gap onto the guitar, using a tuning that takes cues from the banjo. I grew up on the southern end of the Cumberland Plateau, and have long had an interest in the many collected versions of Cumberland Gap. I filmed this on a spring evening in my backyard in Durham, NC while the white throated sparrows, one of my favorite springtime visitors, made their way through and graced us with their song. If you listen closely, you can hear them.”
A national old-time banjo champion and PhD folklorist who learned directly from elder musicians in his native Tennessee — including the late Clyde Davenport — Decosimo is a central figure in Durham and Chapel Hill’s folk and indie scenes, with credits alongside Alice Gerrard, Hiss Golden Messenger, Wye Oak and Jake Xerxes Fussell. Following his 2025 London debut with Broadside Hacks, it’s great to have him back once again with Joe Danks. The Leeds date on May 26th doubles as a UK reunion of sorts, with Nora Brown and Stephanie Coleman — Fiery Gizzard‘s guest fiddler — joining the bill. Full dates below.
Joseph Decosimo — UK Tour, May 2026 (with Joe Danks)
May 21 — London, Chats Palace
May 22 — Bristol, Cafe Kino
May 23 — Nottingham, The Grove
May 24 — Norwich, The Holloway
May 25 — Sheffield, Cafe No. 9
May 26 — Leeds, The Attic (with Nora Brown and Stephanie Coleman)
May 27 — New Brighton, SUP
May 28 — Aberystwyth, The Bank Vault
May 29–30 — Aberystwyth, Fire in the Mountain Festival
Ticket Links: https://www.josephdecosimo.com/tour-dates