Real Music: Cag Young,
Chip Daniel & R.L. Boyce
play "Drum Boogie"

From a field recording by Bill Steber.

Drummer Abe "Cag" Young learned drumming as a child by beating on an old gas tank in his front yard. Now in his late 60's, Young is one of a handful of musicians in the Northeast Mississippi hill country that keep alive the centuries-old African fife and drum tradition. His father Lonnie and uncle Ed Young were among the first musicians of this music to be recorded in 1940 and 1957 by folklorist Alan Lomax for the Library of Congress.

Cag Young has played for most of his musical career with fife player Otha Turner and other drummers at rural hill country picnics as well as at blues festivals in the US and Europe. Young recently retired from his job as a plantation tractor driver and is devoting more of his time to his music.