Ben Cockman is a flatpicker and mandolin player from Sherrills Ford, North Carolina. He won the National Flatpicking Championship at Winfield, Kansas, in 2014 and placed third in the National Mandolin Championship there in 2022. He plays guitar, mandolin, and baritone vocals in the Cockman Family, a bluegrass gospel band that has performed and recorded for more than three decades.
Why Cockman matters
Cockman won Winfield out of a family gospel band, not a touring bluegrass act. His 2012 run through the regional contests, then the 2014 national title, shows a path most pickers can still follow: state contests, then MerleFest and Wayne Henderson, then Winfield. His contest sets pair a slow air with a fast standard, a useful model for any two-tune set.
Life and career
Cockman grew up in Sherrills Ford, in the foothills of North Carolina. The Cockman Family band is made up of his father, John Cockman Sr., on guitar, his sister, Caroline Cockman Fisher, on lead vocals, and his brothers John Jr. on fiddle, Billy on banjo, and David on bass. Ben plays guitar and mandolin and sings baritone. The band appeared on the PBS special Maker of the Stars: A Cockman Family Christmas. The North Carolina Folklore Society gave the family its Community Traditions Award in 2011, the year the band released Dedicated.
In 2012 Cockman won a string of guitar contests: the MerleFest flatpick contest, the Wayne C. Henderson guitar contest, the West Virginia state flatpick contest at the Robin Kessinger festival, and the New England flatpick contest at the Ossipee Music Festival. He has also won the South Carolina state flatpick contest.
His brother Billy won the National Banjo Championship at Winfield in 2013 after placing third in 2012. Ben won the National Flatpicking Championship there in 2014 and took home a Collings Winfield Model guitar. In 2022 he won the Wayne C. Henderson contest a second time and placed third in the Winfield mandolin contest behind Holten Doucette and Ethan Batan. The family band is in the Blue Ridge Music Hall of Fame and released A Letter from Home in 2020.
Playing style
Cockman’s contest videos show a player who leans on tone and melody rather than speed. A 2014 contest set paired Danny Boy, a slow air that leaves nowhere to hide, with Blackberry Blossom. He won the 2022 Wayne Henderson contest with Danny Boy again. In the band he plays behind his sister’s lead vocal, so his lead playing stays tied to the song.
Influences and legacy
Cockman learned in a family band with his father on guitar and his brothers on fiddle, banjo, and bass. His brother Billy is a Winfield banjo champion.
Signature tunes and songs
Danny Boy Blackberry Blossom.
Essential recordings
Dedicated, The Cockman Family (2011) A Letter from Home, The Cockman Family (2020)
Awards and honors
National Flatpicking Championship, Walnut Valley Festival, first place (2014) National Mandolin Championship, Walnut Valley Festival, third place (2022) Wayne C. Henderson guitar contest, first place (2012, 2022) MerleFest flatpick guitar contest, first place (2012) West Virginia state flatpick guitar contest, Robin Kessinger festival, first place (2012) New England flatpick contest, Ossipee Music Festival, first place (2012) South Carolina state flatpick guitar contest, first place
Watch and listen
Cockman plays Danny Boy to win the 2022 Wayne C. Henderson guitar contest. Listen for how he holds the long notes without losing the pulse.
His set from the 2014 Flatpick Guitar Challenge, Danny Boy and Blackberry Blossom, filmed the year he won Winfield.
What to learn from Cockman
Learn Blackberry Blossom as the fast half of a two-tune set, then pair it with a slow air. The technique to steal is his slow playing. A slow tune exposes tone, sustain, and timing in a way a fast one hides. Play Danny Boy with a metronome until every note rings its full length.
Sources
Winners archive, alphabetical, Walnut Valley Festival Ben Cockman, Pickers Paradise The Cockman Family, Wikipedia The Cockman Family official site Contest winners at the 50th annual Walnut Valley Festival, Bluegrass Today A Letter from Home, The Cockman Family, Bluegrass Today
Related players
See the guitar players hub and the guitar guide for more flatpickers. Holten Doucette won the mandolin contest the year Cockman placed third. Allen Shadd has also won the Wayne Henderson contest more than once. Bryan McDowell is another western North Carolina player who came up in a family band.