CRASE, NOAH (1934-2010)

The pioneer five-string banjo player in the southwestern Ohio area, Noah Crase played a lot of the bars around Dayton with Red Allen, Carlos Brock, Dorsey Harvey, and Frank Wakefield, as well as appearing at some of the outdoor bluegrass shows with Paul “Moon” Mullins. Early on, he recorded with Dave Woolum on the Excellent label and was one of Bill Monroe’s Blue Grass Boys between 1954 and 1956. He was later a member of the Valley Ramblers, the Nu-Grass Pickers, the Boys from Indiana, and the Bluegrass Legends. Bill Keith has been quoted as saying that some of Noah’s licks on “Noah’s Breakdown” led him on the path to his melodic “Keith Style” of banjo playing.